Author: Dale Erling, Digital Marketing Strategist, IntelliPay | April 23, 2026 | Read Time: Approximately 7 minutes

Quick Answer: County treasurers face four major payment processing changes in 2025–2026: (1) a new 1% remittance transfer excise tax under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with broad exemptions for standard bank-based government payments; (2) mandatory NACHA ACH fraud monitoring rules effective June 22, 2026; (3) new Visa and Mastercard interchange fee and network fee updates effective April 2026; and (4) growing citizen demand for digital payment options that many counties have yet to meet. Knowing which changes apply to your office and which don’t is what this article is about.

What County Treasurers Need to Know About Payment Processing in 2026

If you’re a county treasurer trying to keep up with everything coming at you from Washington, the card networks, and the ACH world right now, you are not alone. The past 12 months have brought more meaningful payment processing changes than most of us have seen in a decade. Here’s what’s actually happening and what it means for your office.

The One Big Beautiful Bill: What Really Affects You

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025, introduced a 1% excise tax on international remittance transfers, effective January 1, 2026. Before you panic, here’s the practical reality: for the vast majority of county treasurers, no new withholding or reporting requirements apply.

The tax only kicks in when payments are made using cash, money orders, or cashier’s checks to fund international transfers. If your county wires funds from a standard FDIC-insured bank account, pays via ACH, or uses a county-issued credit or debit card for international vendors, those transactions are automatically exempt under IRC §4475(d). IntelliPay’s County Treasurer’s Guide to Remittance Transfer Tax Exemptions lays out this decision tree clearly and is worth bookmarking for your auditors.

The OBBBA also brings operational changes with bigger long-term budget impact. Medicaid eligibility verifications shift from once to twice per year starting late 2026, effectively doubling the processing volume for counties that handle eligibility determinations. SNAP administrative cost-sharing increases from a 50% to a 75% state share in FY2027, which directly affects county budgets in Minnesota and portions of New York, North Carolina, and California. If your county handles eligibility determinations, start budgeting now for increased FTE and any system upgrades needed to absorb that volume.

Read IntelliPay’s full OBBBA breakdown: Finance Director’s Guide to Payment Processing and Budget Changes.

ACH Fraud Monitoring Is Now Mandatory

If your county processes ACH payments, the 2026 NACHA rule changes are not optional reading. New rules phased in starting March 20, 2026 require ACH participants to implement fraud monitoring systems, with an explicit mandate to detect authorized push payment fraud, which includes payments citizens approved under false pretenses. For high-volume originators processing six million or more ACH transactions annually, Phase 1 compliance was due March 20, 2026. All remaining non-consumer originators and RDFIs must comply by June 22, 2026.

The rule changes also require mandatory standardized payment description fields, such as TAX, FEES, or PURCHASE descriptors, to improve transaction transparency and reduce fraud. J.P. Morgan’s detailed breakdown is worth sharing with your banking partners: Prepare for the 2026 NACHA Rule Changes.

Visa and Mastercard Interchange Fee Changes: What’s Actually Happening

In November 2025, Visa and Mastercard unveiled a revised proposed settlement in the long-running merchant interchange case that would reduce credit interchange rates by 10 basis points for five years and cap standard consumer credit transactions at 1.25% for eight years. As of April 2026, a federal court is still weighing approval of the settlement.

For county treasurers who pass processing costs through a service fee or convenience fee model, this matters. If the settlement is approved, the underlying cost of accepting credit card payments from taxpayers will likely drop slightly, and counties would gain expanded surcharging flexibility.

Visa also eliminated the standalone Level 2 interchange fee program for business and corporate cards, consolidating those transactions into the broader Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP) effective April 18, 2026. This change directly affects county treasurers who accept procurement cards or corporate purchasing cards from vendors, contractors, and business taxpayers. If your office accepts these card types, ask your processor whether your transactions are being submitted with the enhanced data fields required to qualify for the best rates under CEDP, because missing that data could mean paying a higher interchange rate on every one of those transactions.

Digital Payments Are Growing, But Local Governments Still Have a Long Way to Go

Finance teams at local governments still dedicate approximately 30% of their time to manual reconciliation activities, including reconciling payments across multiple methods and systems. A government payments survey highlighted by IntelliPay found that significant gaps remain in digital wallet acceptance and mobile payment options for local government. Citizens increasingly expect 24/7, mobile-friendly payment options, and industry data shows 80% of respondents prefer debit or credit cards, 60% favor digital wallets, and only 23% still want to pay by check.

Real counties are taking note. Tooele County, Utah, is among the local government agencies working with IntelliPay to modernize how residents pay taxes, fees, and other obligations, moving away from paper-heavy processes toward a unified digital payment experience that reduces manual reconciliation and improves cash flow visibility for the treasurer’s office. The shift reflects a broader pattern across county government: finance teams that once managed payments department by department are consolidating onto single platforms that handle credit cards, debit cards, ACH/eCheck, text-to-pay, and recurring payments under one reporting structure.

That kind of consolidation is exactly what IntelliPay’s County in the Cloud platform is built for. Through a master/sub-account hierarchy, county treasurers can give each department its own payment portal while retaining centralized visibility, real-time reporting, and consistent fee handling across the entire organization.

What You Should Have on Your Checklist Right Now

The most useful thing you can do today is review your operations against these four pressure points:

• ACH fraud monitoring compliance: Confirm your ACH originator or banking partner has implemented NACHA’s fraud monitoring rules before the June 22, 2026 deadline

• International payment methods audit: If your AP system still allows money orders or cashier’s checks for international vendors, configure it to block those now and document your exemption status under IRC §4475(d) for your next audit

• Card network fee changes: Ask your processor how the April 2026 Visa CEDP consolidation affects your effective rates on procurement and corporate card transactions, and monitor the Visa/Mastercard interchange settlement for approved terms

• Budget planning: If your county handles Medicaid eligibility determinations, begin planning now for twice-yearly verification cycles and the staffing or system costs that come with them starting late 2026

IntelliPay’s payment processing resources library is a strong reference for staying current on surcharging rules, PCI compliance, and government payment technology. For the broader macro view of where treasury technology is heading, PwC’s 2025 Global Treasury Survey is also worth a read.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the OBBBA remittance transfer tax apply to my county’s vendor payments?

Almost certainly not, as long as your county pays international vendors by wire transfer, ACH, or government-issued card. Cash, money orders, and cashier’s checks used to fund international transfers are the only payment types subject to the 1% excise tax under IRC §4475(d).

When is the NACHA ACH fraud monitoring deadline for our office?

For most county treasurers operating under the non-consumer originator threshold, the compliance deadline is June 22, 2026. High-volume originators processing six million or more annual ACH transactions had a March 20, 2026 Phase 1 deadline.

Will the Visa/Mastercard interchange settlement lower what my county pays to accept tax payments by credit card?

If approved, yes. The proposed settlement would cap standard consumer credit card interchange at 1.25% for eight years and cut rates by 10 basis points for five years. A final ruling has not been issued as of April 2026.

What’s the fastest way for our county to reduce processing costs today?

Switch to a no-cost-to-biller or convenience fee model where the cardholder covers the processing fee, and ensure your ACH/eCheck option is prominently offered at checkout. IntelliPay’s government platform supports both models with no setup costs for the county.

Are there resources specifically written for county treasurers on these topics?

Yes. IntelliPay maintains a growing library of guides tailored to county and government treasury operations, including the County in the Cloud overview, the OBBBA Finance Director’s Guide, and the Remittance Transfer Tax Exemptions Guide.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, financial, or compliance advice. Payment processing regulations, card network rules, and federal legislation are subject to change. County