To the Editor:
A story in the February 5, 2003 issue, "
A new payment infrastructure is not needed. All the banking industry needs to do is use the existing payment infrastructures in innovative ways - for example, marrying the strengths of the ATM network with the ACH.
The ACH does not stifle innovation; what does so is lack of vision and conviction.
The article contained errors of fact. ACH payments do not take three days; a payment can be entered into the system as late as 2:30 a.m. and settle by 8:30 that morning. Most payments are cleared and delivered next-day. We are looking at same-day transactions for lockbox-converted checks.
In the future, we would like an opportunity to contribute to these articles. In the interest of fairness, Nacha should be consulted.
