2026 Nacha Rules Changes (Part 1): Fraud Monitoring & Ops Bulletins
The ACH Network runs on precision formats, timing, authorizations, monitoring expectations, and rules that define what “acceptable” looks like for every participant.
Speaker
Donna K Olheiser
ACH payments trainer · Dynamic Mastership, LLC · Accredited ACH Professional (AAP)
Overview
This Part 1 session focuses on the 2026 rule changes that affect fraud monitoring and ACH credit monitoring, including who is obligated to do what based on the participant’s role in the ACH flow (ODFI, RDFI, Originator, Third-Party Service Provider, Third-Party Sender) and how the threshold-based approach drives the timing and applicability of requirements. We’ll translate the rule intent into operational clarity—what the changes are designed to accomplish, how expectations differ by entity type, and what ACH teams should be prepared to show from a process and oversight standpoint.
The program also covers the 2026 amendment to standardize Company Entry Descriptions, including the defined descriptions PAYROLL and PURCHASE. For ACH operations and risk teams, this is more than formatting it supports improved identification and monitoring of payment volumes for specific purposes, and it affects how transactions may be tracked, reviewed, and reported internally. In addition, attendees will gain clarity on funds availability requirements for non–Same Day ACH credit entries effective later in 2026, and how that change fits into operational readiness planning.
To ensure participants are not only current on rule amendments but also aligned with recent operational guidance, the session includes discussion of Nacha Operations Bulletins #1, #2, and #3 (issued in 2025). Examples will be used throughout to make the updates easier to interpret and apply so teams leave with a stronger grasp of what’s changing, why it matters, and how to prepare across both risk and operations.
Why attend: The 2026 Nacha Operating Rules updates go beyond “rule text”—they directly affect how ACH risk and operations teams monitor, document, and demonstrate compliance across origination and receiving. This session helps you cut through the noise and understand what’s changing, who it applies to, and when it becomes enforceable, so you can prepare with confidence. You’ll gain practical clarity on the two-phase Risk Management amendments (including thresholds and participant obligations), along with the standardized Company Entry Descriptions and what they mean for identifying and monitoring payment purposes. You’ll also walk away better equipped to interpret the intent behind the updates, align internal procedures, and reduce last-minute compliance scramble as effective dates approach. Finally, the program connects the rule changes to recent operational guidance by covering Nacha Operations Bulletins #1, #2, and #3 (issued in 2025), using examples throughout to make the new requirements easier to understand and apply in real ACH workflows.
What’s covered
- Describe which participant is affected and what parts of the Rule applies to whom and outlining the threshold limits for each.
- Define what’s changing with “commercially reasonable fraud detection system.”
- Provide details on the next level description of requirements – i.e., “reasonably intended to identify…” (including the requirements that apply “to the extent relevant to the role the entity plays.”)
- Outline how the Rule allows an ODFI to expressly consider steps other participants in origination are taking to monitor for fraud
- List other parts of the Rule relating to monitoring.
- Identify the requirement of an “at least annual” review of processes and procedures.
- Describe “when” to use the NEW “PAYROLL” and “PURCHASE” as the NEW Company Entry Descriptions
- Identify the IMPACTS and BENEFITS to the participants involved in this change to formatting.
- Define which participants are affected and what parts of the Rule applies to whom (the parties who didn’t meet the first threshold)
Who should attend
What you get
About the speaker
Donna K Olheiser, AAP, is the vice president of Education Services and founder of Dynamic Mastership, LLC. Donna is an enthusiastic and energetic Certified Master Trainer with over 14 years’ training experience. She has designed and facilitated over 100 training sessions each year with her expertise being the rules for companies and financial institutions when processing specifically ACH electronic payments, then scheduling the training events to facilitate/deliver the material through a variety of venues (webinars, teleseminars, in-person workshops, including regional and national conferences). Donna has over 24 years of experience in the financial services industry which includes 9 years’ experience as the education service director at a Regional Payments Association (RPA), where she managed and facilitated the entire education program for nearly 800 financial institution members. Prior to that, Ms. Olheiser spent 14 years in various departments with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and also holds the Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) designation (achieved in 2004).
More in Banking & Finance
See all 143 Banking & Finance webinars → Donna K Olheiser · 90 min
Construction Lending And Real Credit Administration: Evaluating, Underwriting, And Monitoring Construction Loans
Dev Strischek · 60 min
Accounting For Non Accountants : Debit, Credits And Financial Statements
Richard E Cascarino · 60 min
Unauthorized Transactions – Reg E vs Nacha Operating Rules
Donna K Olheiser · 90 min