When does the Nacha PAYROLL rule take effect?

On 20 March 2026. PPD credits that pay wages or similar compensation to consumer accounts must carry PAYROLL in the Company Entry Description (positions 54 to 63 of the batch header).

Can an ACH validator detect a missing PAYROLL description?

Only if it knows the payment purpose. A structural NACHA validator accepts SALARY or any other text; the IBANgen ACH file validator applies the rule to the purpose you declare.

What changed for IAT entries in September 2026?

From 18 September 2026 an entry is IAT when funds move through a foreign financial agency. The beneficiary name, currency or IBAN country alone does not make an entry IAT.

What is the 2026 funds availability rule?

From 18 September 2026, non-Same-Day credits must be available to the receiver by 9:00 a.m. RDFI local time on the Settlement Date, with published exceptions. It cannot be checked from the file alone.

US payments QA · reviewed 2026-10-14

Nacha 2026 rule changes for ACH file builders.

Q: What is the PURCHASE Company Entry Description?

Since 20 March 2026, WEB and TEL debits for online purchases of physical goods authorized by the consumer must carry PURCHASE in the Company Entry Description.

Six Nacha rule changes took effect in 2026. Two of them change what a correct ACH file looks like: the PAYROLL and PURCHASE Company Entry Descriptions, and the revised definition of an IAT entry. The others change processes and timing that a file alone cannot show.

Short answer: since 20 March 2026, PPD credits that pay wages to consumers need PAYROLL in the Company Entry Description, and WEB/TEL debits for online purchases of physical goods need PURCHASE. A structural validator cannot catch a missing one, because it does not know why you are paying.

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What changed in 2026

Change	Effective	Visible in the file?	What to do
PAYROLL / PURCHASE descriptions	20 Mar 2026	Yes, with your payment purpose	Map each payment type to its Company Entry Description and test it in CI.
Fraud monitoring, phase 1	20 Mar 2026	No, a process	Risk-based monitoring for larger originators and ODFIs. Nothing in the file proves it.
Fraud monitoring, phase 2	19 Jun 2026	No, a process	Extends monitoring to all remaining participants.
US Treasury in the ACH Contact Registry	24 Jul 2026	No, operational	No new file field.
Revised definition of IAT entries	18 Sep 2026	Partly, needs the route	Classify by whether funds move through a foreign financial agency, not by name, currency or IBAN country.
Funds availability, non-Same-Day credits	18 Sep 2026	No, needs bank timestamps	Credits must be available by 9:00 a.m. RDFI local time on the Settlement Date, with published exceptions.

The PAYROLL rule in the batch header

The Company Entry Description is positions 54–63 of the batch header (record type 5). For wage credits it must start with PAYROLL; the rest of the field may stay blank or carry a short suffix.

5220SYNTH COMPANY 1999999999PPDPAYROLL 261015 1021000020000001 5220SYNTH COMPANY 1999999999PPDSALARY 261015 1021000020000001

Both lines are structurally valid NACHA. Only the first one is correct for a payroll credit to a consumer account. A space before PAYROLL also fails, because the word must start at position 54, the left edge of the field.

PAYROLLPPD credits (transaction codes 22, 32) paying wages, salary or similar compensation to consumer accounts.

PURCHASEWEB and TEL debits (27, 37) for online purchases of physical goods authorized by the consumer.

Business accountsCCD and other corporate payments are outside these two descriptions.

Before 20 March 2026Files with earlier effective dates are not judged by the new rule.

Check your file in one step

The ACH file validator reads your file with the open-source Moov ACH engine, reports structural errors with line numbers, then applies the PAYROLL / PURCHASE rule for the purpose you declare. Files up to 25 entries are free. It never shows account numbers or names.

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Coming next

The Nacha calendar lists further changes: IAT contact and character rules (January 2027), IAT date of birth and non-bank agencies (March 2027), a higher Same-Day limit (September 2027) and a sanctions return reason R90 (March 2028). They are not active yet and the validator does not apply them.

Summary of public Nacha rule pages, reviewed 2026-10-14. It is not the full Nacha Operating Rules and not legal advice. Your ODFI may apply additional requirements.