Corporates Shift to ACH, Leaving Paper Checks Behind

Companies accelerated their shift away from paper checks last quarter, lifting business‑to‑business payments on the ACH Network 10% year over year as Same Day ACH usage climbed, according to new figures from Nacha.

In a Thursday (Oct. 16) press release, Nacha said B2B volume reached nearly 2.1 billion payments in the third quarter, with a total value of $16 trillion, up 8.8% from a year earlier. B2B accounted for 69% of all payment value on the network, underscoring how corporates are routing more invoices and supplier payments over ACH rails. Within that category, $585 billion moved via Same Day ACH, a 15% increase from the 2024 period.

The data lands alongside fresh evidence that checks keep losing ground in corporate payables. A September survey by the Association for Financial Professionals found the share of B2B payments made by check fell to 26% in 2024, down from 81% in 2004 — a long‑running decline that dovetails with Nacha’s growth figures.

“ACH is safer than a check in the mail, and it’s also faster,” said Nacha President and CEO Jane Larimer, citing both Same Day ACH and standard ACH options.

Beyond B2B, Nacha reported that overall ACH Network activity in the third quarter rose to 8.8 billion payments valued at $23.2 trillion, up 5.2% and 8.2%, respectively, from a year earlier. Through the first nine months of 2025, Same Day ACH volume is up 9.2% and value up 16.7%. September’s Same Day ACH tally exceeded 120 million payments. It’s the network’s highest monthly total of 2025 and more than 20% above September 2024, signaling continued demand for faster settlement in payroll, bill pay and B2B use cases.

PYMNTS reporting has tracked the network’s momentum and rulemaking. In April, Nacha said Same Day ACH value jumped 24.8% year over year in the first quarter as volume rose 19.1%. In July, we covered how second‑quarter Same Day ACH volume increased 15%, pushing its value near $1 trillion. And just this week, we noted Nacha’s rules changes aimed at smoothing international ACH transactions (IATs), part of its broader effort to expand use cases and cross‑border reach.

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