PC-based Automated Clearing House origination: Dinosaur or niche application?

Abstract

As time marches forward, more and more financial institutions are moving their Automated Clearing House (ACH) origination offerings from PC-based to web-based platforms. With the emergence of high-speed internet service and remote working arrangements, most businesses have welcomed this shift. So is this the end of the line for PC-based ACH origination, or are there still compelling reasons for companies to use non-web-based ACH solutions? To explore this question, this paper begins by reviewing PC-based and web-based ACH origination, explaining how they have evolved and noting each method’s advantages and disadvantages for both financial institutions and corporate users. The paper reveals the results of U.S. Bank’s experience with customer origination preferences, explores some key characteristics that drive customer adoption of different solutions, and ultimately draws some conclusions about whether PC-based ACH origination will survive. Finally, the paper discusses corpor­ate best practices for both methods of ACH origination.