TCF National Bank has become the 20th financial institution member of Nacha, the electronic payments association.
"Electronic transfers of money seem to be more and more common," said Jason Korstange, a spokesman for the Wayzata, Minn., bank said Wednesday.
As a Nacha member, it will have a voice in defining the rules for automated clearing house transactions, which are surging in popularity as more people are paying their monthly bills online and more banks and retailers are converting paper checks into ACH transactions.
Nacha reported 2.2 billion ACH payments for the second quarter, an increase of more than 20% from the same quarter last year.
The TCF Financial Corp. subsidiary gained national notice in May of last year, when it opposed a landmark settlement between Visa U.S.A. and merchants, notably Wal-Mart Stores Inc., over the association's offer to slash interchange rates for signature debit transactions.
Mr. Korstange said that the use of debit cards is rising as consumers use paper checks less often, and that both debit cards and the ACH network have a strong future. "We don't know where that's going to go, but we want to be there."
