eCheck (ACH/EFT)

eCheck (ACH/EFT) is available for the Authorize.net, Forte, BlueSnap, and Stripe gateways. This guide serves as a high level overview of the same eCheck attributes that these gateways share. Please see the respective guides for eCheck use with each specific gateway.

ACH stands for Automated Clearing House and sometimes is referred to as EFT (electronic funds transfer) or ECP (electronic check processing). Some companies use the term “eCheck” instead. In this guide, all of these terms are used interchangeably.

Enabling ACH allows your customers to pay using their checking accounts. ACH is currently only supported in the US for Authorize.Net and Stripe. Forte EFT is available in both the US and Canada.

eCheck Basics

You must use Authorize.Net or Forte or Stripe or BlueSnap as your payment gateway.
For Authorize.Net, Stripe, or BlueSnap, you must be a US-based merchant, billing US-based customers.
If you’re already using Advanced Billing with Authorize.Net as your payment gateway, you need to get approved for ACH/eCheck processing through your Authorize.Net account.
You can apply for an Authorize.Net account or create a Stripe account if you do not have one.
Alternately, you can apply for an eCheck-only account with Authorize.Net.

Which Gateway?

Depending on which gateway you are using, Advanced Billing has created separate guides to walk you through the process of working with ACH. Authorize.Net, Forte or BlueSnap user? Click here. Stripe user? Click here.

How ACH Payments Work in Advanced Billing

You’ll notice that it’s not possible to enter ACH-based information by a brand new subscriber on Public Signup Pages.

Allowing bank account info to be entered by a brand new subscriber on a Public Signup Page is not a permitted workflow. Before using ACH as a payment method, the payment method and/or subscriber must be verified before funds can be withdrawn from their bank account. The verification path varies based on the gateway. This is the main reason we’ve created separate guides for using ACH with Advanced Billing.

Here’s high-level overview of how ACH works with Advanced Billing:

Your customer signs up for your product using the product’s Public Signup Page.
They are not permitted to enter bank account info on that form
They will need to have them sign up with a credit card OR
Sign up for a free product OR
Sign up for a paid product that has a free trial period.

The ideal situation is to have them sign up for your product using a credit card. At a later point, you’ll prompt them to enter their banking information and begin using ACH.

Authorization Agreement

ACH customers must agree to authorization terms when entering their bank account in Advanced Billing. You are required to obtain permission from the customer prior to debiting their account.

To help with this, Advanced Billing will display ACH Authorization Agreement text on the Self-Service Page where subscribers enter their bank account information. If you are using another method to collect bank account information, you will need to take care of presenting the terms and obtaining the customer’s permission.

To be clear, the other ways that bank account information can be collected is:

API
Advanced Billing application by operator

Advanced Billing will also email your customer a copy of this agreement. In order to have this agreement automatically sent to your subscribers, you can configure the option to send ACH Authorization Agreement Email on the email settings page.

Emails When Anything Changes

ACH guidelines require you to notify your customer if there is any change to the recurring amount to be taken, or to the date that it will be taken. In other words, any change at all since you last notified them of what to expect.

We also recommend that you turn on the Upcoming Renewal Email in your site settings. This is an email we can send to your customers, telling them how much they will be charged, 3 days before they are charged.

Multiple Payment Profiles

Your customer can have credit cards AND bank account info on file. You or they will simply choose which profile is the active payment method being used for a specific subscription.

ACH Testing

If you are using the Advanced Billing test gateway, you may use a simulated bank account and routing numbers of your choice. For more information on Advanced Billing’s test gateway, please view our documentation.

Retries When ACH Payments Fail

ACH guidelines dictate tighter rules for retrying failed ACH payments (versus credit cards). So we created a separate dunning/retry system for ACH payments. You will set up a different retry schedule and emails for customers paying via ACH.

Note that the guidelines do not allow you to try more than 3 times, and after 3 failed attempts, we must forever stop trying to collect on that arrangement. Basically, if your customer cannot pay after 3 tries, you will no longer be able to try – you will need to go back to them and start over on that particular payment plan.

Dunning settings for ACH payment method subscribers

eCheck (ACH/EFT) Settings

In your Advanced Billing site settings, enable ACH as a payment option:

Enable ACH in your settings for your site

Please be aware that enabling eCheck (ACH/EFT) will also enable the ACH Authorization Agreement email. This email is triggered when bank account information is entered via a Self-Service Page.

Allowing eCheck (ACH/EFT) Payments

A subscriber must be marked as “Verified for ACH/eCheck Payments” before they can begin paying by ACH. Change their customer entry to reflect this.

Find your customer in Advanced Billing
Enable ACH for your customer.

Note the following two screen images below:

The first one features how to edit the customer to manually verify ACH usage
The second image shows you how to verify ACH usage from the main subscription view.
They both work just fine; it’s really just your preference!

Enable an individual subscription to use ACH as a payment method

Enable the customer entry to allow ACH usage

eCheck (ACH/EFT) guidelines place the responsibility on you, the merchant, to reduce fraudulent or incorrect use of bank account info. It’s your duty to know your customer, and to gain enough trust in them to let them enter bank account info.

Entering eCheck (ACH/EFT) Information

Please note that the Billing Portal does not yet support eCheck (ACH/EFT), regardless of how customers were signed up in Advanced Billing.

You may have noticed that it’s not possible to add eCheck (ACH/EFT) information via a Public Signup Page. This lack of functionality is on purpose to protect you as the merchant. As mentioned above, each subscriber must be manually verified in Advanced Billing before they can enter bank account information.

So how do you get bank account information into your Advanced Billing account?

Merchants use either of the basic paths below to get ACH information into subscriptions:

Public Signup Pages

A subscriber signs up via a Public Signup Page
THEN gets approved by you for eCheck (ACH/EFT)
THEN enters their bank account info

Chargify.js + Chargify API

A subscriber signs up via your own form
The signup information contains bank account information
This process bypasses the step required to verify the customer for ACH
Their bank account payment method is available for immediate use.

This process is easier for you and for your customers, but it assumes you have a closer relationship with your customers. We presume that you trust them to enter their bank account info.

Please visit the Chargify.js documentation for more information.

Manually in the Admin UI

If you have your subscriber’s bank account information, you may add it manually by selecting “Add New Bank Account”

Add a new bank account to a customer entry

You’ll then enter all of the data required for the customer’s future ACH payments. The following fields are required:

First name
Last name
Bank name
Routing number
Account number

Enter complete bank account information for payment

Collecting eCheck (ACH/EFT) Information via Self-Service Page

Send the Update Payment Profile form to your customer:

Email your customer directly with a link to a self-service page to update the payment method

Your customer receives the email/form, clicks “Change Payment Method” to switch the form to a bank account, and enters their bank account info here:

Self-service page: customers may enter bank account information

From that point forward, your customer will pay you via eCheck (ACH/EFT). Remember that if there is any change to the amount or the payment schedule, you will need to communicate with your customer to obtain their agreement to the new terms. This is an ACH requirement.

Authorize.Net

Testing ACH Payments

Maxio recommends during the testing phase to use Authorize.Net’s suggested eCheck/ACH routing numbers, accounts & verification process. Authorize.Net’s eCheck/ACH documentation contains accurate information on test data for Advanced Billing merchants to use.

Forte

eCheck Payments with CAD currency

Canadian routing number must be entered in the EFT format:

0YYYXXXXX (a leading zero then YYY is the financial institution number and XXXXX is the transit number)

Testing ACH Payments

Maxio recommends during the testing phase to use Forte’s suggested eCheck/ACH routing numbers, accounts & verification process. Forte’s API documentation contains an example bank account you can use.

BlueSnap

Testing ACH Payments

While your site is in test mode connected to a BlueSnap sandbox, you may use the test bank account and routing numbers listed in BlueSnap’s eCheck/ACH documentation.