Celebrated annually in May, Direct Deposit and Direct Payment via ACH Month seeks to raise awareness of the benefits of electronic payment options. Fittingly, the updated electronicpayments.org website will serve as a resource for financial institutions, businesses, and consumers designed to achieve the same goal.

"We are excited to be able to launch the revamped electronicpayments.org site in conjunction with the start of Direct Deposit and Direct Payment via ACH Month," said Janet O. Estep, president and CEO of NACHA. "The information, tools and resources available to financial institutions, businesses and consumers alike, will go a long way in helping to advance the use of electronic payment options."

The new electronicpayments.org site will contain specific sections for financial institutions, businesses, individuals, and small businesses. It will also include a revised Direct Deposit via ACH calculator and a new Direct Payment via ACH calculator to help merchants, billers, and processors quantify cost-savings of using ACH payments versus paper checks. Additionally, the site will feature downloadable materials such as fact sheets, logos, advertisements, and sample press releases to help promote and encourage the use of electronic payment options.

One key element of the new site is the addition of sample Direct Deposit via ACH and Direct Payment via ACH authorization forms. These downloadable forms will provide financial institutions and businesses with an easy way to enroll employees, consumers, and other businesses in Direct Deposit or Direct Payment.

Since the original launch of electronicpayments.org in 2006, the site has served as a source of information to help educate businesses and consumers about ACH transactions, such as Direct Deposit via ACH and Direct Payment via ACH. In 2012, NACHA undertook an initiative to streamline the site to make it more user-friendly and engaging; update the messaging to ensure a common undederstanding of the attributes and benefits of the NACHA Operating Rules, the ACH Network, and ACH payments; and provide new tools and resources to make it easier for businesses to promote and consumers to enroll in ACH payments.