Nacha acquires Business Payments Directory Association
US-based Nacha, which manages the nation’s ACH network, has acquired Business Payments Directory Association (BPDA).
According to Nacha, BPDA will become an independent, member-led, self-governed group under its organisation.
Acronyms assemble in the US
The union will seek to improve business-to-business (B2B) payments through development and deployment of a B2B Payments and Remittance Directory.
In August, BPDA, in partnership with Discover Financial Services, began work on a proof of concept platform for a B2B directory built on blockchain technology.
Jane Larimer, chief operating officer of Nacha, says: “Businesses are often consumed with onboarding vendors, obtaining and maintaining accurate payment information and ensuring the proper remittance is included for cash application. As a strategic initiative, Nacha works to enable solutions that will support the easy routing, posting, and application of ACH and other payments, particularly in the B2B environment.”
She adds: “Aligning with BPDA will allow us to develop and deliver such a solution, leveraging the recognised work and expertise of BPDA.”
The directory will be structured as a network of credentialed service provider “sub-directories”, in which trusted and validated payee information will be stored.
Credentialed service providers will allow access to the stored electronic payment information, including ACH payment details and other payment methods.
Payers can query the directory to obtain information of a single payee or multiple payees, and payees can manage their information in real time to ensure payment details are current.
To support the capabilities of the directory, the platform will use open source technologies, blockchain/distributed ledger technology and APIs developed by the member-led organisation Afinis Interoperability Standards (formerly the API Standardisation Industry Group).
