January 2024: What if ACH had attachments? - Kunle.app

One way I think of payments innovation is how counterparties exchange information, vs how counterparties exchange value. Sometimes, the information around the payment, and how it’s exchanged, is nearly as valuable to solve as the exchange of value itself. This is especially true for many b2b payments. “How counterparties exchange information” here means “how does the sender specify a recipient? What instrument does the sender specify? Is it the final instrument or is it an “alias” of that instrument?” In the card network world, this function is called “clearing” [1]. For this essay I’ll describe it more generically as the messaging layer. For ACH transactions, NACHA is the messaging layer, and the account and routing number are instruments. For card network transactions the card networks are the messaging layer, and the card number is the instrument. For Venmo, Venmo is the messaging layer, and your phone number, email address or handle can all be instruments (and they’re all essential

One way I think of payments innovation is how counterparties exchange information, vs how counterparties exchange value. Sometimes, the information around the payment, and how it’s exchanged, is nearly as valuable to solve as the exchange of value itself. This is especially true for many b2b payments. “How counterparties exchange information” here means “how does the sender specify a recipient? What instrument does the sender specify? Is it the final instrument or is it an “alias” of that instrument?” In the card network world, this function is called “clearing” [1]. For this essay I’ll descri