ACH Volume Grows 20.9 Percent in 1st Quarter 2004

More than 2.14 billion transactions were conducted during the quarter, worth more than $5.27 trillion. These figures represent growth rates of 20.9 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, over the same quarter of 2003. The statistics include commercial inter-bank and Federal government transactions, but not on-us transactions. Commercial ACH payments (i.e.., excluding Federal government ACH payments) grew at an even faster pace - 22.4 percent over a year ago. There were 1.88 billion commercial ACH payments in the 1st quarter. Commercial debits exceeded 1 billion in a quarter for the first time, and now account for 54.5 percent of commercial ACH volume. Of particular note, ARC transactions nearly doubled over the previous quarter, from 73.9 million to 142.4 million, a 92.7 percent increase compared to the previous quarter and 650 percent over a year ago. ARC accounted for 53.5 percent of all ACH growth in the 1st quarter. The five consumer e-check applications combined for 395.4 million payments in the quarter, which is up 27.3 percent over the previous quarter and 123 percent over a year ago. E-checks now account for 21 percent of all commercial ACH payments and 42.8 percent of consumer ACH debits. The largest e-check application is the consumer-initiated Internet debit (WEB), with 163.8 million payments in the quarter, which is a 74 percent increase over a year ago. The dollar volume of WEB payments, which are primarily used by consumers to pay bills, was $51.5 billion. The Federal governments ACH volume increased to 259.1 million payments, which is a 12.7 percent increase over the previous quarter and a 10.9 percent increase over a year ago. Of the Federal governments ACH payments, 93.3 percent were Direct Deposits. The Federal governments Direct Deposit volume in the 1st quarter of 241.6 million was up 13.0 percent over the previous quarter and 10.8 percent over a year ago.