Should I Accept ACH/EFT Payments?

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If you’re like many merchants today, you may be searching for one more way to allow your customers to pay for your goods or services. Offering your customers an extra option or two can sometimes mean the difference between completing a sale and losing out to another merchant. ACH/EFT payments are one choice to consider adding to your current payment processing menu.

What Are They?

First, it may help a bit if you learn more about this type of payment. ACH stands for Automated Clearing House. It’s a system of moving money between banks, and it is federally regulated. It began as a system to replace paper checks, and sometimes, it’s called an e-check. Employers use it to directly deposit payments to an employee account.

This type of payment can be used, though, to move money from a customer to a business in almost any industry. EFT is an acronym that is used almost interchangeably with ACH, and for good reason. EFT stands for Electronic Funds Transfer, and  it’s a broad idea that includes any type of electronic payment, including ACH.

The Benefits of ACH Payments

Besides offering your customers one additional payment choice, there are a number of reasons to consider accepting ACH payments. It’s typically fairly quick, but you can also set up recurring billing cycles with ACH payments. More than that, though, it’s also quite a bit cheaper to process this type of payment versus a credit card payment. While the exact amount depends on your card processor, it usually ranges from about .5% to 1% of the overall transaction. Sometimes, it can be as low as $0.25 per transaction.

Not all potential customers have a valid credit card account, but most of them will have a bank account. If that’s the case, they may choose your company over another if you offer ACH payment processing.

Learn more about our ACH/EFT payments service and how we can help you. Contact Y2Payments today.