US electronic payments association NACHA has made available a deposited cheque truncation (DCT) pilot program designed to enable financial institutions to truncate low-value consumer cheques and collect them as ACH debits.

US financial services provider Bridge Community Bank initiated the first transactions under the pilot rules with Mount Vernon Bank and Community Savings Bank acting as the receiving banks. US-based business technology developer Aptys Solutions has been the payments processor for Bridge Community Bank.

Six US financial institutions have already signed agreements to participate in the pilot. NACHA structured the DCT Pilot to identify and quantify cost savings for both originating and receiving financial institutions and determine any customer impact. During the pilot, NACHA will collect data from all participants to assess these factors and to determine next steps for developing a full ACH Network check truncation application.