SWBC partners with Mastercard’s Finicity for secure ACH ecosystem

By Pavithra R

SWBC, provider of insurance, mortgage, and investment services to financial institutions, individuals, and businesses has announced partnering with Finicity, a Mastercard company and leading provider of open banking solution, to utilize Finicity Pay for instant account verification of online Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments to satisfy the National Automated Clearing House Association’s (Nacha) 2021 requirements for ACH transactions, which allows for stronger anti-fraud controls.

Among SWBC’s its services, the firm offers an enterprise payment solution platform for receiving payments both ACH and card-based payments via interactive voice response (IVR), mobile, call-center, website, or cash.

Under the collaboration, SWBC will leverage Finicity Pay, an integrated solution set of Finicity’s open banking platform, to create a secure ACH ecosystem through instant account verification, which verifies account status and details required for an ACH transfer and supports the swift execution of ACH transactions. The solution replaces older methods of verification, such as micro-deposits and pre-notification.

SWBC will also utilize Finicity Connect, a simple, consumer-centric open banking experience, to enable their consumers to digitally authenticate and permission their bank account information to expedite an ACH bank payment securely. Finicity offers consumer-permissioned instant account verification that will be utilized by SWBC.

“The Nacha 2021 rule is intended to provide stronger anti-fraud controls leading to a more secure payment experience. Instant data verification is the best way to enable consumers to pay, get paid, or set up accounts. Our team is continually expanding our capabilities in money movement through our trusted open banking platform,” said Finicity CEO and Co-founder Steve Smith.

Nacha manages the development, administration and governance of the ACH Network, the backbone for the electronic movement of money and data in the United States. Both Finicity and SWBC are Nacha Preferred Partners and are recognized for offering products and services that align with it’s core strategies to advance the ACH Network.

“Providing secure and efficient access to the initiation of ACH payments is essential for today’s consumer. Our partnership with Finicity will allow SWBC to deliver new security capabilities protecting consumers and the institutions that serve them. In addition, instant verification allows for speedy enrollment and immediate access to ACH transaction initiation, a significant improvement to the user experience,” said SWBC Vice President of Product Strategy Tucker Stovall.

Beginning March 2021, Nacha will implement a new rule referred to as the WEB Debit Rule ,which will require businesses that debit funds via ACH for online orders to implement enhanced fraud protection through account verification. Under the rule, businesses need to include, at minimum, account validation on first-use as part of a commercially reasonable fraudulent transaction detection system.