UPDATING YOUR PAYMENTS STRATEGY

The 2025 AFP Digital Payments Survey found that 76% of all respondents expected to update their payments strategies within three years; however, timing the update can be difficult. As one respondent to the survey put it, “While we recognize the longterm benefits of digital payments — such as cost-savings, speed and transparency — the short-term disruption and upfront cost create a barrier to rapid adoption.”

The need to achieve compliance with the 2026 Nacha rule changes may provide the necessary catalyst. As all ACH payment originators need to comply, broadening the scope to a wider review of their payments strategy is wise.

The New Nacha Rules Explained

“ Customers are more adept and attuned to new payment rails. My recommendation is that we have a payment rail portfolio that is available for the majority of customers.”

– LEE-ANN PERKINS Head of Treasury Ankura Consulting Group

Reviewing existing practices

The first step in any strategy review is to map out existing processes and procedures to identify pain points and risks. Common pain points in corporate payments strategies include:

  • Multiple rekeying of data: Each touchpoint represents an additional risk of error and fraud. • Exceptions: Every exception takes resources away from necessary interventions and value-adding tasks while risking reputational and financial consequences.
  • Escheatment risk: The use of inaccurate payment information as a result of inefficient or poorly controlled data management is another source of reputational and financial risk.
  • Changed timing: While shortening settlement cycles (e.g., Same Day ACH and instant payments) helps to reduce settlement risk, it alters the nature of other payments risks, particularly with respect to error and fraud. For example, compared to ACH payments, the irrevocability of instant payments makes it harder to reclaim misdirected funds. Treasury practitioners should review existing processes to ensure they remain effective for managing payments with a shorter settlement cycle.
  • Access to data in real time. Having access to real-time data can improve efficiency in several areas, including working capital management, faster payment reconciliation for risk management and gaining a competitive advantage (e.g., dispatching goods upon notification of the receipt of payment). However, capturing real-time data can be challenging due to legacy internal systems or reliance on outdated data transfer methods with banks.

“ The corporates driving adoption are looking beyond speed; they are embracing technology that enhances their client experience, strengthens control and visibility while enabling more proactive decision-making.”

– SARAH BILLINGS Senior Vice President Head of Global Payments PNC Bank

Looking forward

A new or updated payments strategy should be developed with clear objectives in mind. In addition to addressing existing pain points and risk, the new strategy should provide treasury with the flexibility to respond to future developments, such as when new payment rails come online. Some objectives of the new strategy may include:

  • Simplify and standardize processes wherever possible. This makes it easier to train team members on best practices, as there are fewer variations to manage. While Nacha’s fraud monitoring rules explicitly apply to ACH payments, the same risk management approach can be applied to other outgoing payments, including wires and instant payments.
  • Automate to implement processes that are both controllable and scalable. Some organizations determine which payment instrument to use via a matrix with preset parameters for payment value, urgency and processing cost.
  • Streamline communication between the organization, its banks and any third-party payment providers. Taking advantage of APIs, ERP connectors and other integration tools to link the treasury workstation or payments solution with bank systems can enable seamless data flow, reducing error and fraud in payment initiation and improving access to transaction information for cash positioning and reconciliation.
  • Protect the company’s assets against evolving fraud risks. The strategy should incorporate the organization’s overall approach to risk management and, for all U.S. ACH originators, include regular reviews of exposure to fraud-related payment risk. It should also account for the changing nature of fraud and the availability of new anti-fraud tools, such as account verification services and end-to-end payment tracking.
  • Integrate the payments strategy with broader treasury and finance activities. For example, efforts to reduce the use of checks will affect cash forecasting, liquidity management and overall working capital.
  • Develop a cost-effective solution. For many organizations, reducing payment processing costs is a fundamental objective because those costs are easily quantifiable. These include both the direct cost per payment and operational costs, such as those associated with manual initiation, approval and reconciliation, as well as associated benefits related to customer relationship management.
  • Consider new payments solutions. The strategy should address emerging payment rails and digital currencies, such as stablecoins. The chosen approach will depend on factors such as the organization’s risk tolerance and the expectations of its customer base. For example, a company focused on B2B transactions may respond to stablecoin developments differently than one that handles high volumes of C2B payments.