Latest news with #ACH
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Never mind ‘extra' paycheck that state employees got
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — There's an old saying that you shouldn't spend unexpected money in one place. For thousands of South Dakota state government employees, they better not spend it all. That's because a test run by a vendor for the bank that electronically transfers paychecks to South Dakota state government employees went haywire last week. The result: Erroneous payments showed up in thousands of their personal accounts. First PREMIER Bank, which currently has the contract for state government's account, planned to recall the unplanned payments on Monday afternoon, according to Jim Terwilliger. He is commissioner for the state Bureau of Finance and Management. First PREMIER Bank performs the payment service, known as an ACH or Automated Clearing House transaction, for the South Dakota Office of Treasurer. The federal Consumer Protection Benefit Bureau on its website describes an ACH transaction as an electronic money transfer made between banks and credit unions for all kinds of purposes, including direct deposit of paychecks. State Treasurer Josh Haeder explained to KELOLAND News why state government employees wound up being mistakenly paid twice for the same pay period. 'A vendor who processes ACH transactions for First PREMIER Bank performed a backup and recovery test, which resulted in a duplicate file posting. This impacted many banks across the country. First PREMIER is working with the vendor, who expects the transaction errors to be reversed later today,' Haeder said Monday morning. Terwilliger outlined the payroll process that state government uses. He said employees enter timesheets, then the supervisors approve them. From there the timesheets go to the state Bureau of Human Resources and Administration or the agency's human resources staff be be processed. After those time records are authorized, they're submitted to the State Auditor's office, where the payroll is run. State Auditor Rich Sattgast explained the next steps. 'Once we run payroll, which includes verifying and correcting all payroll data sent to OSA (Office of State Auditor) by BHRA, we send the bank file to First PREMIER, who then sends it to their vendor for payment,' he said. According to Sattgast, the vendor that services the payment process through the state bank performed a test on Thursday, May 15, to ensure that their backup system was working properly. He said the test caused a glitch that resulted in the erroneous duplicate payment. 'It affected 9,238 employees, which affected 12,136 deposits as many employees have their pay going to more than one bank account,' Sattgast said. He gave the example of two married state government employees having their pay going to one joint account, as well as to a separate account for personal use. Sattgast said that neither he nor his staff could recall such an event in the past stretching back at least 39 years — that's how long the most senior-member of his payroll staff has been with the office. Terwilliger said that First PREMIER had notified the Office of the State Treasurer and the expectation was that the duplicate transactions would be reversed late Monday afternoon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'It Feels Backward'—Someone Asked What Many Are Thinking: 'Why Does Banking Basically Cease Over The Weekend' In 2025?
In a Reddit post that quickly gained thousands of upvotes, one user asked a question many Americans have probably wondered but never voiced: 'Why, in 2025, does banking basically cease over the weekend?' 'As the title suggests, it feels like in this day and age weekends should have no bearing on fluid movement of funds,' wrote the original poster. Despite advances in technology, the U.S. banking system still relies heavily on the Automated Clearing House network, better known as ACH, a system developed in the 1970s that processes payments in batches. ACH doesn't operate on weekends or federal holidays. Don't Miss: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – 'The real reason your bank isn't open is because no banks are open,' wrote one Redditor. 'And the reason no banks are open is because the Federal Reserve... is closed on weekends.' This pause has ripple effects. Even when you initiate a transfer on a Saturday, it often stays in 'pending' status until Monday. That frustrates users like the original poster who shared: 'I'll pay my credit card electronically on Saturday and it pends the entire weekend until Monday when it 'posts' and then the money doesn't actually disappear from my bank account until TUESDAY.' Meanwhile, people outside the U.S. are shocked this is even a problem. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — 'In the Netherlands all transactions are processed 24/7, also between banks,' one commenter noted. Others chimed in from Australia, the U.K., Brazil, Mexico and New Zealand, all describing systems where bank transfers are instant and available every day of the week. One Australian added, 'Most transfers are now instant, literally take seconds, 24/7.' A few U.S.-based commenters mentioned FedNow, a new payment service launched by the Federal Reserve in 2023 that allows real-time payments. However, its adoption has been slow. 'FedNow is a new system that is 24/7/365, but many banks just aren't using it yet,' said one person. Some insiders say delays aren't about tech limitations but business interests. 'The bank holds the money for a few days, earning interest doing bank stuff, and then gives my landlord $3,000 on Tuesday,' one person wrote. 'Multiply that by trillions of transactions and it's worth the banks lobbying to keep the Fed shut at the weekends.'Others pointed out that fraud prevention is often used as justification for these delays. But not everyone buys that argument. 'You don't need human review of the vast majority of transactions and there's no need to hold up all transactions for the tiny fraction that do,' one user argued. From a global perspective, the U.S. banking system comes off as outdated. 'Cheques don't really exist in the U.K. or Europe anymore,' said one Redditor. 'The U.S. is a dinosaur in this area.' Whether due to inertia, lobbying, or outdated infrastructure, U.S. banks remain behind many of their global peers when it comes to the basic movement of money. As one Redditor put it: 'So basically, we're closed on Saturday because that guy is closed on Saturday and he is closed on Saturday because that other guy is closed on Saturday and that other guy is closed on Saturday because it is Saturday.' Read Next:Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:.UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article 'It Feels Backward'—Someone Asked What Many Are Thinking: 'Why Does Banking Basically Cease Over The Weekend' In 2025? originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nevada bill would charter new payment banks
This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. A bill in the Nevada Assembly would offer a special charter for new payment banks, aiming to allow financial technology companies and others to access federal payment rails and help merchants bypass many of the expenses associated with traditional card payments. The new licensing system would allow retailers, payment processors, remittance companies and others to apply as banks for direct access to U.S. payment systems like ACH, FedWire and FedNow. As a result, Nevada retailers – and potentially consumers – would benefit from lower transaction costs for credit and debit cards, say supporters of the proposal. Card payments carry interchange fees that U.S. merchants have decried for years as both excessive and onerous. The goal would be to eliminate the 'middlemen' that add costs and delays to payment settlements, its sponsor, Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, a Democrat, said last month at a committee hearing on the bill. The Retail Association of Nevada, which represents about 2,000 mostly small retailers, is lobbying heavily for the proposal in Carson City, said Bryan Wachter, a senior vice president at the retail association. The bill would allow Nevada to become 'the first state in the nation to offer a charter built for the digital economy,' Yeager said. The bill would prohibit the new payment banks from lending and 'lending-related' activities and impose a 0.0025% fee per transaction on merchant-acquiring activity. Merchants have had little choice but to use 'the monopolies' that govern payment rails and the bill is an effort to empower new types of banks to offer lower-cost transactions, said Wachter, who testified with Yeager at the April hearing. Payment banks would not be required to be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Regulators at the Nevada Financial Institutions Division would determine whether companies have sufficient protections on funds to grant a license, Wachter told the committee. Smaller businesses 'have had no choice but to go through layers of intermediaries just to process everyday transactions,' Yeager told his colleagues on the Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor. The legislation would put Nevada 'at the cutting edge of financial innovation,' and create new financial jobs and a steady revenue stream for the state, he said. Supporters are confident they have sufficient support to pass the bill before Nevada's legislative session ends June 2, Wachter said Wednesday in an interview. If passed, 'I do think that there might be a payments processing company, an internet company, some other companies that exist in this space that comes in and says we can create a better product,' he said. The Nevada Bankers Association was concerned that the new banks could increase state assessments on its banking members to fund new regulators and oversight, Connor Cain, with the NBA's lobbying firm, Carrara Nevada, told lawmakers at the same hearing. The banks are 'encouraged' by dialogue on an amendment to the bill to ensure that current Nevada banks do not bear new financial costs to implement the legislation, Cain said. The Electronic Transactions Association, which counts banks among its members, has not taken a position on the bill, a spokesman said Tuesday. Other states have previously enacted special banking charters, including Connecticut, Georgia and Wyoming, although the Nevada legislation, if it passes, would make the state the first to license and regulate payment banks without the FDIC insurance requirement, Wachter said. In recent years, Connecticut has revived its 1990s-era uninsured bank charter, created to allow companies to offer some financial services without taking deposits, as a way to lure startup fintechs to the state. In March, Stripe applied with Georgia regulators for a merchant acquirer limited purpose banking charter so it could access card networks directly, without a bank partner. Last year, Georgia granted payment processor Fiserv a bank charter. Smaller merchants in Nevada typically pay fees of 2% to 3% per transaction, which cost about 0.25% for traditional acquiring banks to facilitate, Wachter told the committee. The narrower scope of a payment bank – without lending and other full-service bank offerings – would mean lower operating costs for a license holder and less overhead to fund via its charges to merchants, Wachter said. 'Because you aren't having to be a full-fledged, full-service bank, we're hoping that it will actually be cheaper to operate those licenses and that cost savings would then also be passed along to those merchants,' he said at the hearing. At a typical supermarket, banks and card issuers enjoy higher profit margins on a card payment than the grocer selling the shopper a cart full of food, Wachter said, offering legislators an example of how the bill could help retailers and consumers. With new payment tools, many merchants would ultimately be able to avoid including their payment expenses in the price of the goods they sell, Wachter said. The legislation would allow Nevada to emulate payment-processing systems common in Europe, where payment specialists have lowered transaction costs for businesses and consumers, Paul Dwyer, co-founder and CEO of money transmitter Viamericas, told the committee. Routing consumer transactions via full-service banks to access payment rails 'is a fount of inefficiency,' he said. Recommended Reading Swipe fee foes find legislative support in almost a dozen states Sign in to access your portfolio
NBC News
14-05-2025
- Health
- NBC News
The best air purifiers for small and large spaces
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the air inside your home may be more polluted than the air outdoors, even if you live in a large city center. One way to improve your air quality indoors is by using an air purifier — they can filter air contaminants like dust, pollen and smoke. The NBC Select team has used air purifiers to filter pollen, odors, pet hair and even wildfire smoke from our homes for years. We spoke with filtration experts to better understand the technical aspects of air quality and filtration in order to select the best air purifiers for your space. How we picked the best air purifiers We spoke with filtration experts to better understand the importance of air quality and purification methods. Following their guidance and our experience using air purifiers, we selected models based on the following criteria: Filtration: All of our recommendations have high-efficiency particulate air filtration (HEPA) and have a clean air delivery rate (CADR) equivalent of at least two-thirds the recommended room square feet. (You can learn more about HEPA and CADR in the FAQ section.) Size: You could have the best air purifier in the world, but if it's the size of a car, it's no good for your studio apartment. We selected air purifiers across a range of sizes. Recommended room size: The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) recommended an air purifier that is capable of filtering that room's air five times and 4.8 times per hour respectively. This is called air changes per hour, or ACH. We selected different strength air purifiers based on this recommendation. (You can learn more about ACH in the FAQ section.) Sound: According to the CDC, prolonged exposure to sound levels above 70 dbA can annoy you and damage your hearing over time. That's why we picked air purifiers with at least three fan speed levels — air purifiers can be loud at their highest speed, so having a low speed option is crucial for keeping spaces like bedrooms quiet. Independent testing: We noted if a product was independently tested by AHAM, which certifies the performance of air purifiers through its AHAM Verifide program. The best air purifiers in 2025 Most of our recommendations are staff favorites from large filtration brands like Coway, Levoit and Blueair. Below each recommendation we share specifications we think you should know like recommended room size (based on the CDC's and AHAM's ACH guidelines), filter lifespan and more. Best for small rooms: Levoit Core 300 This is a great affordable air purifier for small spaces like bedrooms. It's small, quiet, easy to move around and has strong filtration for its size. NBC Select updates editor Mili Godio keeps it in her bedroom to clear dust and pet hair from the air. It has a sleep mode that runs at a very quiet speed and if you are sensitive to light, the bright LEDs on the top panel can be turned off. There is also a version with Wi-Fi and app connectivity, the Core 300S-P, but it costs significantly more at $150. NBC Select commerce editor Lindsay Schneider received the Airmega 100 air purifier from Coway, and it's one of her favorite models. It's easy to set up, intuitive to use and every button has a clear and useful purpose. 'It's truly beginner friendly,' says Schneider. It has a built-in light that acts as either an air quality indicator, changing colors depending on the detected air quality or a warm amber-colored night light. You can turn the light completely off, too. Another highlight is that the HEPA filter lasts a full 12 months before you need to replace it, keeping costs down. NBC Select reporter Zoe Malin has used air purifiers for years to combat her dust and allergen sensitivity. It also helps deal with the pet hair of her two cats and small dog floating around. She uses this Coway air purifier in her living room. Most of the time, she forgets it's even there — it's not very noisy and it has an intelligent auto mode, where it automatically changes speeds depending on the air quality detected. It usually stays at the lowest setting, but if she is cooking a large meal, it will change to a higher setting, acting as a good reminder to turn on a vent or maybe open a window, says Malin. Like our other pick from Coway, the HEPA filter lasts a full 12 months before needing replacement; that's longer lasting than many other competitors. Multiple NBC Select staffers use and love this robust and stylish air purifier from Windmill. Malin, who has dust and allergen sensitivity, has had fewer symptoms ever since she put this unit in her bedroom. Similarly, former NBC Select associate reporter Bianca Alvarez lives with a partner who has asthma and he's noticed his breathing ease after living with this purifier. Both Malin and Alvarez use the Windmill Air app to control the unit remotely from their phones — the app lets you easily check your air quality, filter status and set up automated schedules and routines. The Windmill Air Purifier has another great feature — the child lock function — Malin uses it to prevent her cats from accidentally changing the settings when they inevitably jump on top of the unit. It comes in multiple colors but is pricy and rather heavy at 21 the filters only last up to six months, shorter than most competitors. Blueair makes some of our favorite air purifiers — I've used a different Blue Pure model in my bedrooms for years, including during 2023's Canadian wildfire season. On the day of some of the worst air pollution in NYC, the NBC Select office smelled like a BBQ while my apartment, which had a Blueair Pure 311i+ Max air purifier running, smelled completely normal. The Pure 211i Max is one of the brands largest air purifiers, and has a very powerful filtration fit for large spaces up to 635 square feet. It pulls unfiltered air from all directions into its base, making it easy to place anywhere in your room. It's also relatively quiet and lightweight despite its larger size and strong filtration. You can control it manually or with the Blueair app, where you can see detailed stats like indoor air quality and filter status. I use the app to set a schedule for my purifier — it automatically changes to night mode, the lowest and quietest speed, every evening around 9 PM. How to shop for an air purifier Air purifiers are designed to remove indoor air pollution caused by fuel-burning appliances, cleaning products, heating and cooling systems, car pollution, wildfire smoke and everything in between. These indoor contaminants can enter your lungs and cause irritation or trigger allergic reactions, says Kenneth Mendez, president of the nonprofit Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Filtration is key when choosing an air purifier. Our experts highlight two factors in getting effective filtration: HEPA filters and an appropriate CADR. You can read more about both in the following FAQ section. Meet our experts At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest. Why trust NBC Select? I am a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology and fitness including guides to smartwatches, cameras and e-readers. For this piece, I spoke with filtration experts to better understand air purifiers and how they function. I leveraged NBC Select staff and my own experience using air purifiers to recommend the best ones for different room sizes.
Finextra
14-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
The New Payout Standard: Five Shifts Redefining How Money Moves Around the World: By Aron Alexander
Picture a rideshare driver that finishes her day and needs gas money now—not Friday when weekly payouts process. Elsewhere, a digital creator waits three days for payment to clear, forcing him to delay rent. Meanwhile, a global marketplace loses thousands of sellers who migrate to a competitor offering same-day settlement. These moments reveal a frustrating truth: despite advances in financial technology, the infrastructure that moves $30 trillion in B2C payouts annually remains stuck in the past. The traditional payment rails that move money today weren't built for platforms paying millions across borders. They weren't designed for a world where financial value flows alongside information. And they certainly weren't created with the understanding that payment experience shapes everything from talent retention to global competitiveness. Five fundamental shifts are transforming how businesses approach payouts. These shifts present significant opportunities for businesses ready to adapt to Universal Payouts, an approach where everyone, everywhere has access to money in every way possible. 1. Legacy Infrastructure: When Old Roads Can't Handle New Traffic Traditional payment systems were built for consumers pulling money from accounts to make purchases. They were never designed for platforms pushing thousands of small payments outward daily to workers, creators and customers scattered across the globe. Legacy systems like ACH, BACS, and SWIFT operate on fixed schedules with predetermined pathways. But when a marketplace needs to pay 10,000 sellers across dozens of countries or when a gig platform processes millions of earnings requests in real-time, these limitations become business-critical bottlenecks. Slapping new interfaces on old infrastructure just masks the problem. True modernization demands: Settlement that happens now, not during tonight's batch processing Money that behaves like software—programmable, automated, configurable Unified systems where dollars, gift cards, points and digital currencies flow through common channels For growing platforms, instant payouts aren't luxury—they're survival. When money moves slowly, trust erodes quickly. 2. Value Translation: The Local Language of Money Walk down a street in Manila, Mumbai and Miami, and you'll find completely different financial ecosystems. Yet too many companies treat money as one-size-fits-all. A $100 digital prepaid card might work beautifully for someone in Chicago but create frustration for a recipient in rural India. A bank transfer taking three days might be tolerable in some contexts but relationship-ending in others. Someone in Kenya may depend on M-Pesa for daily transactions, while a recipient in the Philippines needs GCash to function in their local economy. Universal Payouts systems don't just deliver currency—they translate value across these diverse ecosystems. They recognize context: the person receiving funds, their location and what form of payment creates maximum utility in their specific circumstances. When an education platform lets teachers choose between instant local bank deposits, mobile wallet transfers or prepaid cards, they're not being nice—they're being smart. They're creating the seamless experience that keeps their ecosystem vibrant. 3. The Workforce Factor: When Payment Experience Upstages Amount Independent work is expanding three times faster than traditional employment. For platforms depending on this talent, how people get paid has become as crucial as how much. The numbers tell the story: 72% of independent workers say they'd abandon a platform over poor payment experiences. People choose gig work, freelancing and creator paths partly for autonomy—yet, nearly as many also consider fast and reliable payouts critical to their work. The winners in this new labor landscape grasp this reality instinctively. Earnings and fees transparency, payment speed and flexible payout options aren't nice extras—they're competitive weapons in the battle for talent. When someone can tap "cash out" after completing work and see funds instantly available, their relationship with a platform fundamentally changes. 4. Loyalty Reimagined: From Points to Personalization Traditional loyalty programs are fading. Static point systems and generic discounts can't compete with personalized value that feels relevant and immediate. The research backs this up: 54% of consumers join loyalty programs specifically for customized rewards. More tellingly, 74% engage more when redemption happens instantly. The message? People don't want generic rewards—they want meaningful value delivered when and how they prefer it. When a travel company lets customers instantly convert points to gift cards, cash back or partner perks—all accessible within seconds—they transform transactional exchanges into emotional connections. Sophisticated brands have figured out that loyalty isn't built through accumulation—it's built through meaningful exchange. That exchange resonates most powerfully when customers control how value reaches them. 5. Payout Infrastructure Unification: Breaking the Complexity Trap Look behind the scenes at most global companies and you'll find payout chaos—different providers for different regions, methods and recipient types. This fractured approach creates a management nightmare of reconciliation, compliance and engineering headaches. The approach functions adequately—until the company needs to expand, introduce new payout options or scale operations. Suddenly the complexity becomes paralyzing. Finance teams drown in reconciliation work. Engineering resources get diverted to maintenance rather than innovation. Companies breaking free from this trap are unifying their entire payout infrastructure on platforms built for global scale. This isn't merely about simplification; it's about strategic positioning. When a marketplace consolidates multiple regional payment systems into one unified platform, they gain the ability to enter new markets in days instead of months. They create consistency across regions. They free resources to focus on growth rather than maintenance. The Last Mile That Matters Payouts represent the moment of truth in the commitment a business makes to its stakeholders. When a platform promises to pay drivers, reward customers, or compensate creators, that promise culminates when money actually lands where it needs to go. Fail at that moment—through delays, complications, or rigidity—and trust evaporates instantly. Nail it, and you build the foundation for lasting relationships. The leaders reshaping commerce understand that payouts aren't just financial transactions—they're expressions of value that strengthen or weaken the bonds between platforms and the people powering them. In an economy built on trust and connection, payment experience may be the decisive factor determining which businesses flourish and which fade away. The future of Universal Payouts isn't just faster or cheaper money movement—it's fundamentally more attuned to human needs. It recognizes that behind every transaction stands a person with unique circumstances and expectations. The platforms grasping this reality aren't just moving money better—they're building ecosystems where value flows naturally to everyone involved.
