Nacha Top 50, Small Business Sales Up and Consumer Confidence Down in Report Roundup
- Roy Urrico
- 7 hours ago
- 5 min read
By Roy Urrico
Finopotamus aims to highlight white papers, surveys, blogs and reports that provide a glimpse as to what is taking place and/or impacting credit unions and other organizations in the financial services industry.
Here is a roundup of three recent financial reports.
Nacha’s 2024 Top 50 ACH Originators and Receivers
Reston, Va.-based Nacha, which governs the ACH Network, released its 2024 Top 50 rankings of financial institution originators and receivers of ACH payments.
Among originating institutions, the Top 50 were responsible for 29.7 billion ACH payments in 2024, up 7.4% from 2023. They accounted for 93.8% of the ACH Network’s total commercial payments volume. The top five originating financial institutions were Wells Fargo, JPMorganChase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Capital One.
The Top 50 receiving institutions reported nearly 22 billion ACH payments last year, an increase of 10.4% from 2023. These institutions accounted for 65.5% of total volume on the ACH Network, inclusive of payments received from the federal government. The top five originating financial institutions were Bank of America, JPMorganChase, Wells Fargo, PNC Financial Services Group, and U.S. Bancorp.
“Businesses and consumers nationwide rely on the ACH Network to deliver wages, pay bills and vendors, transfer funds, and much more. Financial institutions are the backbone in securely moving these funds through the ACH Network,” said Michael Herd, Nacha executive vice president, ACH Network Administration.
Financial institutions also processed 6.7 billion “off-Network” ACH payments in 2024. These are primarily “on-us” ACH payments for which the originating and receiving financial institution are the same and therefore are not submitted to an ACH Operator. Total ACH payment volume for 2024, including these off-network payments, was 40.2 billion, up 7.2% from 2023.
Among the credit unions cracking the 2024 Top 50 ACH volume lists: Veridian Credit Union, Waterloo, Iowa (ranked number 36), and Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Va. (50) were among the top ACH originators; and Navy Federal Credit Union (9), BECU (Boeing Employees' Credit Union), Tukwila, Wash. (31), America First Credit Union, Ogden, Utah (35), SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, Tustin, Calif. (36), Mountain America Credit Union, Sandy, Utah (39), Suncoast Credit Union, Tampa, Fla. (47) and RBFCU (Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union), Live Oak, Texas (48) were among the top ACH receivers.
Small Business Sales Spring Up in March
The Fiserv Small Business Index for March 2025, with the seasonally adjusted Index rising three points to 150, showed a “notable acceleration from February,” according to the Milwaukee based Fiserv, a provider of payments and financial services technology. The Index indicated growth was driven by strong demand for services and increasing restaurant foot traffic, even as restaurant spending declined.
“U.S. consumers spent locally despite the economic narrative,” said Prasanna Dhore, chief data officer, Fiserv. “March small business sales improved from February with a shift in consumer spending away from retail and into services and non-discretionary spending.”
Key Findings:
On a year-over-year basis, small business sales (plus 5.5%) and total transactions (plus 6.7%) continued to show healthy growth. Month-over-month sales (plus 1.8%) and transactions (plus 2.3%) also accelerated. Adjusting for inflation, sales grew (plus 3.0%) year-over-year and (plus 1.5%) month-over-month.
Sales at service-based businesses grew (plus 6.2%) year-over-year. The fastest-growing service categories were hospitals (plus 26.3%), information (plus 11.7%), professional services (plus 11.5%), and truck transportation (plus 11.4%). In contrast to last march, amusement, gambling and recreation (-3.3%), transit and ground passenger transportation (minus 2.1%), and accommodation (minus 0.1%) all declined year-over-year.
Compared to February 2025, information (plus 10.9%), insurance (plus 7.1%), and rental and leasing (plus 7.1%) services were the fastest-growing categories. the only category to decline was repair and maintenance services (minus 0.1%).
Consumer spending at small business restaurants declined (minus 0.6%) year-over-year despite transactions (or foot traffic) growing (plus 7.9%); the inverse relationship is driven by lower average ticket sizes (minus 8.5%) compared to 2024, continuing a trend that has persisted over the past quarter.
On a month-over-month basis, total restaurant sales (plus 2.7%) and transactions (plus 1.8%) grew. Average tickets (plus 1.0%) increased slightly compared to February.
Small business retail sales (plus 3.2%) and transactions (plus 3.6%) grew year-over-year, led by general merchandise (plus 11.4%), furniture (plus 6.7%) and building materials and garden supply (plus 6.1%). Gasoline stations (minus 3.0%) was the only retail category to see a year-over-year sales decline, a result of lower fuel prices (-4.8%).
On a monthly basis, retail sales were nearly flat (minus 0.1%) following a strong month of growth in February. Average tickets (minus 1.9%) were also lower in March as uncertainty may be driving some to be more budget-conscious. The most significant acceleration of sales growth came from general merchandise (plus 1.9%), building materials/garden supply (plus 1.6%) and grocery (plus 1.2%). Sales slowed across furniture, motor vehicle parts, and sporting goods.
In addition, the Fiserv Small Business Index found small business sales grew in 44 states, with the strongest growth in the Midwest and Southeast. The most year-over-year sales growth was seen in Georgia (plus 15.3%), South Carolina (plus 13.4%), North Dakota (plus 13.3%), and North Carolina (plus 12.4%). The top-performing states month-over-month were Illinois (plus 5.7%), Ohio (plus 5.3%), and West Virginia (plus 5.1%).
Large cities showing the most year-over-year sales growth were Atlanta (plus 17.3%) and Philadelphia (plus 6.3%). Month-over-month sales growth was strongest in San Francisco (plus 4.6%) and Los Angeles (plus 4.3%).
Consumers Not as Confident
The WalletHub Economic Index decreased by nearly 10% between March 2024 and March 2025. This means consumers are less confident about their financial outlook this past month than they were at the same time last year.
The WalletHub Economic Index is determined monthly based on survey responses that measure 10 components of consumer economic sentiment. These components revolve around how people feel about their finances, purchasing plans and employment opportunities.
Key Findings:
The share of consumers who expect to buy a car in the next six months is nearly 12% lower in March 2025, compared to March 2024.
The share of consumers who expect their credit score to increase in the next six months is roughly 9% lower in March 2025 compared to last year.
In March 2025, consumers’ likelihood of making a large purchase in the next six months is more than 8% lower than March 2024.
In March 2025, consumers’ optimism about whether their finances will improve in the next six months decreased by nearly 5% compared to last year.
The share of consumers who expect to have less debt after the next six months is around 4.7% lower in March 2025 compared to last year.
“The nearly 10% decrease in consumer sentiment over the past year is a worrying sign that our economic recovery may be stalling, and it demonstrates that people are not optimistic about their financial future. People who have low financial confidence are likely to spend less money, make fewer large purchases, and pay down less debt than people with high confidence. As a result, when consumer sentiment experiences a significant decrease, that is negative for the economy,” said Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst.