Check Yourself: Why You Need to Accept ACH

When we think about checks, we think of aged technology that no one uses anymore. Plastic has replaced the long hand equivalent, but there are a lot of people out there who still write checks. It could be purely psychological; a feeling that they won't spend as much if they have to make the effort to write out the check. In any case, we still need to accept checks onlinebecause consumers still utilize the technology.

ACH processing is no different than what you would expect at a grocery store. While they have machines able to process the transit and routing numbers, it works the same way online. The customer simply types out the transit and routing numbers when they go to check out and that information is then processed through the gateway like a credit card.
The process however is unlike a credit card. Like every check, a 7 day waiting period needs to take place before the money is taken out of the checking account. Keep this in mind if you're wondering where your money is, or if you've issued a refund. Issuing a refund takes the same 7 days to get back to the customer, so if they're wondering where their money is, explain this to them.

Refunds are especially tricky when they demand the money back a day or two later after the transaction. Because you will not receive their money for another 4-5 days, if you were to process a refund it would be coming out of your bank account. There's no way to terminate the transaction after it's been batched. You want to wait until you get the money before you refund it, but remember that it takes another 7 days to get back to them. We're looking at a total of about 12-13 days if you wait for the money to get their. This may be inconvenient to the customer, but what's to say if the check bounces? Free money is coming their way.

ACH processing will no doubt eventually be phased out the economy. But while there are still people using checks, you need to be able to processes them or you'll lost a substantial amount of business. Be sure the consumer knows how long it takes a checking transaction to process to influence them in faster ways of payment. In this fast paced economy, waiting 7 days for money is bordering absurdity as our fellow businesses that we are cooperating with may not take that as an excuse when collecting their money from you.

Jason Ausmus writes for Innuity. For more information regarding accept checks onlineor ACH processing look to Merchant Partners