ACH Payments Online: Seamless, Secure Online ACH Payment Processing (2024)

FAQs

What is ACH payment processing? ›

An ACH transaction is an electronic money transfer made between banks and credit unions across a network called the Automated Clearing House (ACH).

Email phishing ACH scams: When a customer clicks a link in a phishing email, which sends them to a malicious website that infects their computer with malware. Fraudsters can track the customer's keystrokes and discover their banking credentials. This is also known as spear phishing.

EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) covers all electronic payments, while ACH (Automated Clearing House) is a specific type of electronic payment that relies on the Automated Clearing House Network for its operation.

Seamless Chex helps e-commerce merchants process eCheck payments via phone, fax, and email, facilitating faster accounts receivable collection. Using our platform to accept electronic checks will help you collect outstanding invoices seamlessly as the money is automatically deposited into your bank account.

Security. Another advantage ACH payments have is that they're more secure than wire transfers and card payments. This is because ACH payments must pass through clearinghouses that enforce strict regulations. Money is transferred directly between accounts, with account numbers kept confidential.

Perhaps the most common method to verify bank account information is to use micro-deposits. This technique involves sending a couple of small deposits (less than a dollar each) to a bank account. The customer provides the account number and routing number, and the business sends the micro-deposits to the account.

Requests for personal information, generic greetings or lack of greetings, misspellings, unofficial "from" email addresses, unfamiliar webpages, and misleading hyperlinks are the most common indicators of a phishing attack.

Direct deposits (an ACH credit often used for payroll) and automatic recurring payments (ACH debits for services like utilities) are common examples of ACH payments.

What are the downsides of ACH payments? ›

If you initiate a transfer after the scheduled time, you may experience delays. This could result in missing payment deadlines and paying penalty fees. It also means that ACH transfers may not be appropriate for emergency or time-sensitive transactions.

Are ACH and Zelle the same? No, ACH and Zelle are not technically the same thing, although Zelle utilizes the ACH network. Basically, all Zelle payments are (instant) ACH payments but not all ACH payments are Zelle payments.

Do all banks allow ACH transfers for payments? Yes. In fact, all banks in the United States are equipped to use ACH since they only need to receive valid account and routing numbers to process ACH transfers.

ACH debits, such as bill pay or withdrawals, generally take 1-3 days to process, while ACH credits, such as direct deposits or vendor payments, generally take just one day to process. Same-day ACH, which typically requires an additional fee, processes the same business day.

Is my routing number the same as an automatic clearing house (ACH) routing number? Yes. Your bank routing number is the nine-digit number associated with your checking account. The term ACH just refers to the method in which the money is moved.

To send an ACH transfer, you'll need the account information of where you want to send the money. Once you have that, you'll submit the payment through your online banking portal or PayPal.