National Automated Clearing House (NACH) is a platform created by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to facilitate fund clearing. NACH Credit and NACH Debit provide interbank high volume, high or low-value credit/debit bulk transactions that are recurring/repetitive through the electronic NPCI service. For example, if you make a purchase and every month an EMI amount gets auto-debited from your bank account.
Read on to know about NACH in banking, how it works, its features and benefits and how to set up a NACH mandate.
NACH’s full form in banking is National Automated Clearing House. It aims to facilitate high-volume transactions. The main objectives of NACH are:
NACH was launched by NPCI for simpler and faster processing of automated bulk transactions. Here’s a step-wise guide on how it works:
Step 1: Companies provide NACH mandate forms to consumers to get their consent for debiting their account at a certain frequency for a certain period of time.
Step 2: The Company will verify all details provided by consumers in their NACH mandate form.
Step 3: Upon successful verification, the company will forward the form to its respective bank.
Step 4: The bank will send the mandate form to NPCI.
Step 5: Once the details are fully validated, NPCI will forward the mandate form to the customer’s bank.
Step 6: Upon approval of the customer’s bank, the company is permitted to debit funds from the customer’s account.
Here are the features and benefits of NACH in banking:
For customers
For banks
For organisations
Also Read: 5 Best Ways To Quickly Repay Your Personal loans
NACH banking consists of two variants – NACH Credit and NACH Debit. Let’s understand them!
NACH Credit refers to an electronic payment facility that an institution uses to provide credits to a huge pool of beneficiaries in their registered bank accounts for paying pension, salary, interest, dividends, and more. It raises only a single debit to the user institution’s bank account (corporate enrollment for the NACH facility).
NACH Debit enables a corporation to collect insurance premiums, investments in mutual funds, EMI payments, tax/cess, water/electricity/telephone bills. A user institution receives these repetitive or periodic payments from a large pool of consumers.
Mandate means a set of instructions provided to a bank by a customer, which allows the bank to debit a certain amount at a specific interval. NACH helps banks, financial institutions and government bodies provide automated payment services.
e-NACH and e-mandate both perform the same duties as far as the end result is concerned but are implemented differently. Both are digital payment services launched by a joint venture of RBI and NPCI to make bulk payments smoother and faster which are repetitive in nature.
The only difference between e-Mandate and e-NACH is that e-NACH is managed by NPCI and covers 40+ banks while e-Mandate is governed by individual banks.
If you want to start a NACH mandate, follow these steps:
Step 1: Visit your bank’s website and fill up the NACH mandate form.
Step 2: You will get redirected to the destination bank’s website. Validate your request using your net banking credentials.
Step 3: The bank will verify your details and make a decision on whether to reject or accept your request.
Step 4: Upon approval, you can schedule your future transactions.
Step 5: You will receive a numeric code known as UMRN for later reference.
UMRN stands for Unique Mandate Reference Number which is automatically generated by NACH when creating a mandate. It is a unique numeric code that you can use for future reference. It can be used for tracking mandate details and for mandate cancellation and amendment.
NACH is a centralised digital payment system launched by NPCI to make the process of bulk payments of companies faster and simpler for destination banks. Repetitive payments such as EMIs, cash loans, subscriptions, etc., can now also be made using NACH.
Customers should fill up and submit NACH forms to authorise their banks to debit funds at a specified interval. After it goes through a multi-layer verification by the customer’s bank, NPCI and the destination bank, the auto-deduction process is initiated.
Here’s a list of a few major banks which provide NACH services:
NPCI manages and monitors NACH and its operations. It levies certain charges from banks and financial institutions for NACH services. The following are some of the standard charges levied by NPCI:
The process of NACH cancellation is a simple one. Here are the steps:
Step 1: Visit the website of your bank or financial institution.
Step 2: Log in to the net banking facility with your credentials.
Step 3: Go to the ‘Service Request’ page.
Step 4: In the ‘Account Related’ section, you will find the option for NACH service cancellation.
You can also cancel the NACH mandate through mobile banking. Or, visit the nearest branch of a bank or financial institution and submit a duly filled cancellation form to do the same task.
APB or Aadhaar Payment Bridge System for NACH was introduced by NPCI to help the government make its Direct Benefit Transfer schemes successful. It involves using the Aadhaar number to verify beneficiaries of government schemes.
It has managed to constructively channel the government subsidies and benefits to its appropriate beneficiaries. On one hand, the ABP system links the government banks and their sponsor departments. On the other hand, it connects beneficiaries with beneficiary banks.
Also Read: How Does GST On Personal Loans Work?
To check the NACH mandate status, you need to follow the given steps:
Step 1: Visit the website of the bank or financial institution.
Step 2: Log in to net banking using your credentials.
Step 3: You will find your NACH status under the ‘Service Request’ tab.
RBI has introduced the Electronic Clearing Service (ECS) mandate to facilitate periodic payments. It enables electronic debit and credit transactions at regular intervals from your account. Though you may think that it is similar to the NACH mandate, there are some significant differences between them.
ECS | NACH |
ECS is a manual procedure and takes time for transaction settlement. | NACH is a web-based and automated procedure. |
It has no committed dispute management system. | It has a committed dispute management system. |
Payment settlement may take up to four days. | Payment settlement takes place within a day. |
The registration procedure may take between 25 and 30 days. | Registration confirmation comes by the end of the day. |
It has a high probability of rejection and involves lengthy paperwork. | It involves a convenient application procedure and minimum paperwork. |
This process doesn’t give a reference number. | You will receive a UMRN (Unique Mandate Reference Number) for future references. |
NACH in banking offers timely payment of funds for the consumers and user institutions. Besides, it is less dependent on paper transactions, cheques and manual intervention. All organisations authorised under the RBI criteria can choose to utilise NACH Credit for sending substantial amounts to multiple recipients.
Ans: A corporate will have to register with NPCI to opt for NACH services. It will obtain a Utility Code (Unique Identification Code) for NACH facilities via the sponsor bank. A sponsor bank is a bank that initiates or lodges the transaction files for the distribution and collection of funds on behalf of a registered corporation.
Ans: A one-time registration procedure is known as a mandate. It is the permission given to your bank for debiting your account up to a fixed limit or with a specific amount. It is in accordance with the frequency you provided in the mandate form.
Ans: UMRN (Unique Mandate Reference Number) is allocated to every new mandate under NACH Debit. The system automatically generates it during the creation of the mandate. UMRN is required for all transactions, even at the time of mandate cancellation and amendment.
Ans: NACH transactions involve specific mandate charges. A destination bank, as well as a sponsor bank, will have to pay processing fees for e-mandates (online procedure). Further, a penalty charge is applicable for a destination bank in case the mandate is not processed within 10 business days.
Ans: If you are registered with NACH, you can alter your details after filling in the mandate form and choosing the ‘Modify’ option. Similarly, you can cancel your NACH registration by filling in the same form and selecting the ‘Cancel’ option.
Disclaimer: Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme-related documents carefully.
This article has been prepared on the basis of internal data, publicly available information and other sources believed to be reliable. The information contained in this article is for general purposes only and not a complete disclosure of every material fact. It should not be construed as investment advice to any party. The article does not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the information, and disclaims all liabilities, losses and damages arising out of the use of this information. Readers shall be fully liable/responsible for any decision taken on the basis of this article.
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