As we consider different types of business transactions, we typically think about debit cards, credit cards, cash, and so on as the most common modes of payment. Most large-scale enterprises go ahead with accepting all types of credit cards and most of the time pay considerable amounts in the form of processing fees. However, for startups or small-scale businesses who have smaller budgets, management of cash flow becomes quite complicated. As new businesses get more established, the processing fees for small-scale businesses can stack up over the long run.
On average, it is estimated that credit cards charge around 1.5 percent to 3 percent for every transaction. This is wherein the role of ACH payments comes in. ACH payments help offer startups and small-scale businesses an alternative to working quickly as a great form of payment. To understand the process, it is essential to know about the best ACH payment processors.
What are ACH Payments?
ACH implies reference to the Automated Clearing House. It is a dedicated network implemented by the NACHA or National Automated Clearing House. The concept of ACH payments was introduced way back in 1974 by electrically transferring funds. ACH serves to be a batch network processing mechanism utilized by large-scale financial institutions -including banks, to ensure the processing of larger quantities of principal payments from one banking institution to another.
Businesses consider using ACH payments when they have to make a direct deposit for payroll. At the same time, the IRS makes use of ACH to ensure tax refunds and other types of government deposits. You can also think of utilizing ACH payments for recurring bills to upkeep your operating purcahses as well as other types of business-centric expenses.
What is the Difference Between ACH Payments and Credit Card Payments?
Credit card and ACH payment transactions have some significant points of differences you can consider. ACH transactions are known to feature reduced transaction costs when compared with other credit cards. The overall fees for ACH transactions are around 1 percent.
On the other hand, credit cards are known to be implemented on networks monitored by the respective card supplier. This implies that there is a dedicated process for checking the card for the specific amount needed to complete the trade. Once the amount has been confirmed, the funds are given confirmation to be processed. On the other hand, ACH transactions are dedicated requests without any guarantee, as they are transmitted in batches.
Payments that are non-guaranteed only affect a particular business when they select the acceptance of ACH payments out of the respective clients. If you look forward to paying vendors as well as other business expenses with the help of ACH payments, batch processing is a seamless process.
The Best ACH Payment Processors
GoCardless
GoCardless is a pioneering name in the field of bank payments. Therefore, GoCardless allows businesses of all scales & sizes efficiently process ACH payments on the go. The processor is quick and easy to set up without the presence of any monthly or contract fee. At the same time, the processor also features more than 200 partner integrations -enabling you to connect the ACH processing services of GoCardless to the existing financial setup.
Some of the intelligent products and services like Success+ have made GoCardless a renowned option for businesses who look forward to significantly minimizing the total amount invested in financial administration. This is because payment collection is retired automatically on the best possible day.
GoCardless also follows a customer-first approach while boasting a consistently higher ranking for its support services.
Dharma
Dharma is yet another famous ACH processing company. The platform comes forth with a simple ACH processing solution. The platform enables you to accept checks while manually entering bank details for the overall ease of transactions. You can make use of the software solution to initiate recurring payments. At the same time, there is a support facility for ensuring in-person check acceptance along with telecheck acceptance.
Dharma serves to be an immensely versatile and cost-effective option in the industry for ensuring online ACH processing. Still, it can get slightly tricky to use Dharma and its services if you are operating within a high-risk industry.
PaymentCloud
It is another comprehensive ACH processing solution provider for individuals or businesses operating in high-risk industries -including gambling and travel. Whereas other ACH processing service providers tend to avoid high-risk companies, PaymentCloud, on the other hand, tends to specialize in these services. The overall setup process is quick. As a matter of fact, the solution provider claims to get your business up & running within 48 hours when you help them with all relevant information.
The only downside of utilizing the services offered by PaymentCloud is that they do not publicly disclose their overall prices. As the payment processor works with several high-risk businesses, its pricing plans tend to be highly bespoke. Therefore, it becomes difficult to compare the same with other organizations.
Stripe
Stripe is a leading fintech company that also functions in the role of a famous ACH processor. If you are a developer or have someone on the team, Stripe serves to be a great option. This is because it is possible to customize its ACH processing solutions by those having relevant programming knowledge and expertise.
Stripe also offers access to impressive integrations with the online payment portal. At the same time, you can also make use of Stripe to send over invoices to individual customers. There have been reports of some account stability problems with Stripe. At the same time, as Stripe is a large-scale ACH processing company, some users have reported delays or issues with its support services. This can be a significant downside when companies operate on a large-scale level.
Square Invoices
The invoicing platform by Square offers a simple solution that allows you to easily transmit professional invoices while receiving payments through bank transfers, debit, or credit cards. Square Invoices serves to be a part of the large-scale POS or Point of Sale tool by Square for its payment processing services.
As you set up your account on Square, you will have access to all the other tools provided by Square -including the virtual terminal. You are also provided the ease of creating an online site or accepting payments online and even managing a team. With the help of these capabilities, Square Invoices is especially suited for individuals or businesses already using Square payment processing for the respective transactions.
Merchant One
It offers access to dedicated merchant solutions for businesses of all scales and sizes. The platform also adjusts pricing depending on core merchant qualifications like industry, credit, or size. Therefore, it is the best pick in terms of flexible pricing.
Merchant One is committed to offering a wide range of services -including full POS systems with credit card readers and virtual terminals that are attached through a wireless mode to Android or iOS devices. The company is also known to approve small-scale businesses that might be turned down by competitors. Moreover, Merchant One also ensures a quicker turnaround of funds.
Stax
If you are searching for an online ACH processing company capable of handling credit card payments, then you can consider using the services offered by Stax as the ultimate ACH processing solution. The month-to-month costs of the company can be relatively high, however, in exchange for the higher prices, you will get access to reduced transaction fees when compared with other ACH providers. This makes the ACH processor a reliable option if your business has more transactions.
National Processing
National Processing is an excellent option for startups and small-scale businesses that are in search of receiving access to a full-service merchant account at cost-effective prices. In addition to the ACH payment processing services, the company also offers access to a dedicated set of features, including:
- Inclusion of virtual terminal
- Access to Authorize.net payment gateway
- Mobile processing with Clover Go
- POS systems and credit card terminals are available
The company provides access to ACH processing as its add-on service. Therefore, it will cost you slightly more than what you will be paying for a standard merchant account. However, the per-transaction charges and ACH processing fees have made it one of the most cost-effective options -especially on a month-to-month basis. It is a great deal if your business is not processing several ACH transactions.
Conclusion
If you are only making use of traditional payment processing services to accept credit and debit cards, but you are looking for a system to process ACH payments, you should consider one of the following services mentioned in this article. It is important as a business owner to have access to reliable ACH payment processing services in order to accept and pay different clients and vendors. ACH services will help you business function more efficiently and increase your ability for you to utilize an additional payment method.
