What's the Dilly-o with ACH, wires & real-time payments: a buyer's guide for credit unions

The Dilly-o

Our advice is to make sure your ACH and wire fraud monitoring is written down and risk-based, and that every alert reaches someone who acts on it, before you buy anything new. For instant payments, start with what your core and digital banking providers already offer, and bring in a payment hub only when they can't cover sending, wires or the volume you need.

How we'd size up a vendor

1. Rail coverage - does the vendor cover ACH, wires, FedNow and RTP for both sending and receiving, or only some of them? Ask for the date each rail went live for a credit union your size.
2. Fraud monitoring - does the screening cover every ACH entry type and instant payment, and who on your staff gets each alert? Ask for a sample alert report and the vendor's documented review steps.
3. System fit - has the vendor connected to your core and your digital banking platform before, and which credit unions run that setup today?
4. Resilience and exit - what happens to member payments when the vendor goes down, and what does it cost to leave? Get the outage plan and the deconversion fees in writing before you sign.

What changed this year

Phase 1 of Nacha's fraud monitoring rule took effect on March 20, 2026.² Phase 2 followed on June 19, 2026, for all other business originators and third parties, regardless of volume.²³ The rule requires "risk-based processes and procedures reasonably intended to identify ACH Entries initiated due to fraud."⁴ It reaches all ACH transaction types, where the old requirement covered only WEB debits and micro-entries.³ Monitoring before processing is optional, but you must review your processes at least once a year.² Nacha also requires the company entry description "PAYROLL" on wage credits and "PURCHASE" on online purchase debits.³ On the instant side, FedNow raised its per-payment limit from $1 million to $10 million in November 2025.⁵

Will it work with your systems?

We'd check what your digital banking platform already offers before you shop. Alkami's summer 2026 release added ACH, wire and payee file mapping, and its fall 2026 release added resubmission of expired wires and ACH transactions.⁶⁷ Ask your provider which rails it supports for sending versus receiving. Then ask which credit unions on your exact core and platform pairing are live today.

What other credit unions did

Veridian partnered with a service provider so it could send payments over The Clearing House's RTP network.⁸ AdventHealth Credit Union signed its FedNow forms on November 19, 2025 and went live on November 24.⁹

What your examiner will ask

NCUA's 2026 supervisory priorities name authentication, dual controls and monitoring in payment systems, along with monitoring to catch errors, fraud and unusual activity.¹⁰ For ACH, Nacha's rule calls for a documented, risk-based monitoring process that you review at least once a year.¹¹² NCUA also warns that some credit unions signed large buyout or termination penalties thinking they couldn't negotiate, when those terms often can be.¹² Bring your vendor due diligence file, the signed contract and your alert-handling procedures to the exam.

What it costs

One comparison puts both FedNow and RTP at $0.045 per payment sent and nothing to receive, with connection costs charged on top.¹³ DeNovo Treasury instead lists FedNow at $0.045 per payment received and typically $0.08 to $0.10 per payment sent, depending on message type.¹⁴ Since published figures differ, we'd confirm the current fee schedule with the Fed and your provider. Going through an aggregator usually adds a monthly platform fee plus about $0.10 to $0.15 per transaction, while core providers bundle RTP or sell it as an add-on.¹⁵¹⁶ DeNovo Treasury notes that pricing differs from one provider to the next.¹⁴ Plan on getting written quotes from each vendor you consider. Early termination fees can reach seven figures, and vendors may withdraw incentives and charge for deconversion and data migration.¹⁷¹⁸

Food for thought

The Fed listed 1,869 FedNow participants as of August 17, 2026, but its file doesn't show which ones can send or receive.¹⁹²⁰