MEMBERSHIP BASICS
Implementing a Digital First Approach In my last column, I talked about the idea of taking a “Digital First” approach to managing our member-grower facing business. Let’s take a closer look at what that means and thoroughly explain the first initiative as part of that project, which is the Direct Deposit Drive. In January, Matt Piersol, sr. director of corporate planning and I presented our plan to accelerate direct deposit adoption to our Grower Liaison Committee. We put forth the goal to obtain at least 90% participation in direct deposit adoption by the start of the 2026 harvest. To say the least, the support from the GLC members and board of directors present at the meeting was overwhelming. Not only was it confirmation that we are moving in the right direction, but we also received many great ideas to accelerate the process.
The Case for Change You will often hear the term ACH which stands for Automated Clearing House, which is the universal payment system established in 1974 that transmits the money directly from bank to bank for distribution into your personal bank account. ACH is administered by the U.S. Federal Reserve or The Clearing House Payments Company, a private business owned by 24 of the world’s largest commercial banks. According to Forbes, in 2021, the ACH network processed 29.1 billion payments worth over 72.6 trillion dollars. So, I think we can all be assured that this is the most efficient process to receive payment. As a member-grower, the biggest benefit for you in switching to direct deposit is the speed and safety in which you get paid. Compared to the 3-4 days processing time to print a check, plus the added transit mail delivery window, direct deposits typically post on midnight of the night we make the payment. ACH is
The commercial postage machine in Blue Diamond Office Services is a sophisticated piece of equipment. Photo credit: Ben Goudie
a very reliable means of transmitting funds and we rarely (if ever) encounter errors when making regular payments. On the other hand, it is not only common, but has become a regular occurrence, that we need to cancel checks and reissue them due to loss, theft, or being fraudulently cashed. This puts a resource strain
on Blue Diamond as we must monitor and approve checks that are listed as fraud alerts. According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, there was an 87% increase in reports of theft from mailboxes between 2019 and 2022, and crimes investigated by the service nearly doubled between 2019 and 2023. We see this all
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ALMOND FACTS
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