One year to go: Are you ready for Nacha’s new rules?

• New Nacha rules require a proactive and risk-based approach—compliance is not one-size-fits-all.
• Many organizations are underestimating the time and resources needed to prepare.
• Fraud prevention must span the full customer lifecycle—from onboarding to payments—to be effective.

The National Automated Clearing House Association (Nacha) will be implementing extensive Fraud Monitoring rule changes in March 2026. Discover the steps you should be taking now to meet the deadline.

Nacha, the administrator of the ACH Network – the US payment system covering direct deposits and direct payments – will be implementing new rules to mitigate surging financial crime.

Both the value and volume of ACH payments – especially same day payments – continue to surge year on year: in 2024 ACH network payments in the US totalled over US$86 trillion.

The key objective of the new rules is to lower the success rate of attempted fraudulent activities, but with just one year to go, many organisations are experiencing challenges around timing and resources.

Brian Holbrook, Director, Product Strategy and Integrated Services, LSEG Risk Intelligence underscores that the rules will benefit everyone, and says it’s important to remember that there should be more than a minimum compliance objective. Rather businesses should welcome the changes as they have been designed to add layers of protection against rising levels of fraud.

Holbrook goes on to explain that companies should already be implementing a compliance plan, cautioning “if you haven’t started execution, depending on the size and breath of your enterprise, you may be falling behind. In 2025, you should be finalising your vendor selection, upgrading your fraud detection systems, and preparing for operational changes. Time is of the essence.”

Our webinar audience was asked: “How ready is your organization for the New Nacha 2026 Rules?” 80% said they are still assessing what's required or haven't started yet. Watch our latest webinar with Nacha and LSEG Risk Intelligence experts discussing the new Fraud Monitoring Rules.

The proposed amendments for the Fraud Monitoring Rules have staggered effective dates ranging from March 2026 until June 2026.

There are several key areas of change, which fit together like a puzzle designed to catch and prevent fraudulent transactions.

This rule requires each Originator, ODFI, Third-Party Service Provider, and Third-Party Sender to establish and implement risk-based processes and procedures intended to identify ACH entries initiated due to fraud.

The rules cover organisations of all sizes, which means that a one-size-fits-all approach to compliance does not exist. The key is to conduct a thorough risk assessment and apply a risk-based approach to help you identify abnormal activity within your own business.

Our four-step roadmap to compliance offers a quick view of where you should be right now:

• 2023: Assessing and understanding the changes
• 2024: Assessing your processes and evaluating vendors
• 2025: Resource planning, initiating technology and selecting suppliers
• 2026: Final compliance and testing

Wherever you are in your preparations, a key point is that fraud detection must be holistic – and that means it must be embedded into the entire customer lifecycle:

• Onboarding the customer: At the initial onboarding stage, you need to verify the customer’s true identity, verify bank account details and conduct AML screening.
• Change events: Change management is key. During change management events, such as account detail changes, you need to verify that the change request is coming from the legitimate account owner.
• Payments and disbursements: When payments are made, it is essential to carry out checks – including that the payment has been initiated by the true account holder, and screening recipient banks. Any red flags – such as velocities that are not in sync with the customer’s normal behaviour, should trigger additional reviews. 

Partnering with experts can not only help ensure that you are on track to meet the rule deadline, but can also deliver operational advantages.

In a recent real-world example, LSEG worked with a financial services institution to change their existing siloed environment, in which different areas of the organisation had different sets of requirements for the movement of funds. By implementing a unified approach – for example, when a customer wanted to open a new account, close an account or move money from one account to another – we were able to introduce substantial operational efficiencies.

The net results included new processes that apply friction where it is needed, but allow the free flow of funds from one account to another where that friction is not needed,  as well as significant reductions in the time call centre staff spend on low value queries and processes, which allows them to focus on high-risk transactions. Perhaps most importantly of all, the changes have led to better customer experiences.

• If you’re still assessing the rules, you’re behind, but it is not too late to catch up. Make a proactive start now.
• In 2025 start to finalise vendor decisions and upgrade fraud controls.
• Remember that fraud monitoring must cover the full customer lifecycle.
• Partnering with experts that can help you save time and costs, and ensure that you are on track.

Discover the insights shared by experts from Nacha and LSEG Risk Intelligence on the new Fraud Monitoring Rules and the essential preparation roadmap in our latest webinar. Don't miss out—watch the full webinar now.

As a Nacha Preferred Partner, LSEG offers the largest coverage of bank account data in the US – covering 95% of consumer and business bank account records. Our holistic solution is accessible via a single API, and delivers rapid authentication via a configurable waterfall approach and is backed by secure, reliable support.