An ACH Payment Integration offer SaaS platforms and developers the ability to automate payment collection, disbursement and reconciliation using an ACH API [Application Programming Interface]. The ACH option allows debiting/crediting of checking and savings accounts via the ACH network.
Integrating an ACH Payment Processing solution offers your users payment options and benefits. If your product or SAAS offers any kind or recurring payment functionality then an ACH transaction integration needs to be part of your offering. Here is why:
In fact, that’s only a beginning at answering some of the basic questions you’re likely to ask. With Agile Payments, we find out what your business goals and objectives are before anything else. We are fortunate to have ACH app clients in industries that cover the gamut from A to Z. In every instance, we’ve earned their respect and trust—and become an invaluable partner. We go beyond just providing solutions to other areas of business, like winning new clients!
ACH Payment Integration has been a core offering and we are the experts. Our specialty is partnering with software or SAAS providers and creating payment solutions that make collecting customer payments simple and efficient. At the same time you generate a new revenue stream without added support burdens.
Paper checks just don’t cut it for entities or use cases looking to receive payments from checking accounts. Even if they did, paper checks are a pain and costly to process. Any application that pays affiliates or companies for services or products needs to pay out via ACH. It’s much cheaper to process what would become the ACH Credits this manner.
Paper checks are much more vulnerable to fraudulent activity than anything processed through an ACH Integration. ACH Integrated payments remove the risk of fraudulently being used if remitting payments via paper check.
Second, the ACH network is a batch environment. …when you are actually processing the payment, you have no guarantee that payment will go through. Most of the time, that won’t be the case!
That usually results in painful accounting reconciliation problems. The platform’s payment reporting and the customer’s bank statement often don’t align.
Having sophisticated Payment Deposit Reconciliation tools allows you to reconcile payments deposits directly in your payment reporting suite. This reporting insight is NOT something that the overwhelming majority of ACH API providers provide.
Developing an ACH payment integration solution equals happy clients. It’s a simple and affordable solution for optimizing cash flow. If your app or marketplace has subscription or membership payment needs, we are the specialists you can trust! That’s because this payment vehicle is both predictable and less expensive. Its API integration capabilities are sure to enhance your software and create new value for your user community!
There is lower risk of disputed transactions with ACH transactions. There are many reasons a credit card transaction can be disputed and charged-back. That’s not true with ACH transactions. As it stands, there are only three reasons an ACH transaction can be disputed. The transaction just wasn’t authorized to be pulled out, either the value was wrong or the date it was run on was wrong. In all three of these circumstances, you need to file an affidavit under oath. Write to the bank from which your ACH debit was drawn.
The never ending loop of ACH payments just goes on and on. Earlier we discussed credit card expirations, stolen cards, re-issued cards (EMV) and the associated credit card declines. An app that needs to make recurring payments has done its ACH integration. Now, it can easily configure users for ACH recurring payments and reap the wonderful benefit of not stressing over declines! Their hands are off, and they hardly think about it, as far as the recurring ACH goes. The sole reasons to object into a specific user’s record is for a deposit back, usually non-sufficient funds. Here’s where having a solid ACH API really comes in handy. First, understand that rejected ACH transactions have two re-presentment originations available to try to capture what was the NSF funds. Favorable re-presentments fluctuate based on merchant type. The offered parameters should cover instant options, x days out, smart dates like logical pay dates (e.g., first/15th of the month) or days of week (e.g., Friday). The SaaS company handles the returns for any NSFs they get. They accomplish this programmatically by taking advantage of retry field parameters via ACH integration API. Further, the SaaS company is able to programmatically automate the origination of a different NSF fee transaction. If they want to evaluate and take advantage of one, doing so is relatively simple. Now that’s an organization’s choice, but re-trying NSFs is not; it’s accepted everywhere.
ACH payments receive preferred settlement. 6 Unlike check or savings account settlements, which are often seen as straightforward — consumer wronged by bank, consumer deserves payout. Every bank might have a few process quirks, but ACH transactions have a tendency to be the first settled and reconciled. So, for instance, if Suzy Jones has a $500 balance in her checking account, an ACH debit transaction comes in on a Monday morning. Simultaneously, a paper check for Suzy’s account comes in, but the ACH transaction is processed and paid before the paper check. Why? You’d need to go bank by bank to find out the details. If that ACH transaction bounces because of non-sufficient funds, the bank receives zero in bounced check fees. If they do refuse the paper check, then it is the bank that can charge an NSF fee. First, ever hear the phrase “follow the money”?
How an ACH Payment API can help SaaS platforms grow customer base and revenue
As SaaS applications continue to expand, the rise of payment aggregation has expanded. Not too long ago it was nearly impossible to acquire a merchant account that provided ACH aggregation. That’s no longer the case. Today, ACH Integration is available, and via ACH Integration API’s.
An ACH Payment Aggregator or Facilitator can be thought of as being a Master Merchant who facilitates ACH transactions for sub-merchants within their payment ecosystem. Becoming an ACH aggregator or Payment Service Provider lends itself quite well to some businesses that fall into the software provider classification. Especially those who have recurring payments requirements via ACH integration.
The aggregation model was initially prohibited by credit card associations as well as the third party ACH processors. PayPal grew rapidly, and ultimately there is a lot of money to be made with aggregation, so gradually the attitude toward the aggregation model changed. It became a model that the card associations had to take a look at. While it’s still not widely provided by ACH processors, some have come to embrace the ACH aggregation model because of technological advances in KYC, advanced on-boarding processes and a better overall understanding of associated risks and mitigation processes to manage them.
For many organizations, the on-boarding process is extremely important. To simply have an ACH integration option may not be enough. Many organizations prefer for the on-boarding process to be a “white label” process, where the third party ACH processor remains in the background. This means the ACH integration must provide a way for the organization to pass their merchant’s data that is required by the ACH processor’s underwriting department – ideally with everything in electronic format, including signatures.
This means the API must provide the ability for the application and underwriting process to be presented on their website, as though the ACH payments solution is coming from them, pass the underwriting data to the processor, notify the parties involved where the application stands and pass API credentials to the applicant user once the merchant application has been approved and enrolled. In some cases the credentials are passed to the merchant themselves in the case a SaaS application requires the merchant user to enter API credentials themselves, and in other cases the API credentials are passed to the SaaS organization for entry oh behalf of the merchant. It all depends on the ACH integration path that the SaaS organization chose.
A situation that is becoming common in the credit card world is that of data hostaging. The inability for a merchant to receive non-tokenized card data in the event that they wish to switch merchant accounts. In some cases it’s simply prohibited by the processor. In other cases a merchant must pay exorbitant fees in order to obtain the data. And in some cases the process is a long and arduous process, as processors try to delay the data transfer in order to maximize profits. While ACH transactions do not fall under the same PCI scope as credit card transactions, most ACH processors who value sensitive data and the potential theft of it do tokenize ACH data in the same manner that credit card processors do. So, A, don’t even consider an ACH integration that does not provide the ability to tokenize the sensitive ACH data, and, B, make sure there is a clear-cut inexpensive process for migration of ACH data should you wish to migrate to another processor.
For a payment processor, an SaaS application can become the processor’s defacto sales organization. Many times this is predicated on whether the SaaS organization views the ACH integration as a payments partnership or remain in the all too common developer mentality of waiting to consider payment integration until near the end; Choose a quick integration and be done with it. While a payments partnership can be a complex agreement, the basics are that an agreement is made where the SaaS organization and it’s using clients is acceptable with the rates agreed upon, and the processor can still find profit. Revenue share percentages can vary widely based on the reach and user base of the SaaS organization, but do your best at leveraging your application and it’s base in order to realize profit for yourself. After all, in a payments partnership, it’s your organization that is creating the leads for the processor.
Combined with our revenue share model for integrated partners you can drive significant bottom line growth to your business. You know your user base and/or the potential it has. Just considering ACH transaction volume, what would just 10 cents per transaction do to your bottom line?
Contact us to discuss your ACH Payment Integration options. Agile Payments has been around for 18+ years, with focus on software applications that require payment integration. Most specifically, recurring payments. We are hear to listen to all your ACH integration requirements and formulate the best options for your organization. If we think there’s someone else who can better serve your needs, we will be the first to tell you.
This depends on how “tight” the integration is. Some platforms choose to rely on your payments partners reporting tools that allow for “self-service”. Others choose a deeper integration that auto-reconciles payments. This is especially true of “management” SaaS platforms that provide accounting insight. Time frames can range from a couple of days to 1-2 weeks.
Yes and this is a compelling reason to offer ACH payment solutions. Typically the platform has a “buy-rate”. They would set the ACH pricing to their clients and make the delta
No–the credit card rails offer a way to verify the funds on the payers card are available and can be secured. The ACH world operates in a batch environment and the banks involved have 3 days to sort out any potential issues, eg NSF
The majority of the time the answer to this is “No”. However if your needs are more complex, eg you need to avoid stepping into the money flow, there may be a monthly minimum required. This is typically to defray ancillary costs like an FBO account or to mitigate potential risk exposure.
This will vary primarily on transaction volumes and business types with the higher the transaction count and lower the perceived risk being cost concession factors. It is likely you will pay 15-50 cents per transaction with significant volume getting potential sub 10 cent fee
