What Are the Benefits of Accepting ACH Payments?
Your business could benefit from accepting Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments. The speed of use, low cost, improved sales conversion, and remote pay are all benefits of accepting ACH payments for your business. Customers can also benefit from ACH payments in that they are simple and automatic. Below, we discuss how your business and your customers can benefit from ACH payments.
Benefits of ACH Payments For Businesses
1. Speed and Ease of Use
Certain electronic payments, like an ACH transfer, are much easier for your business to handle as opposed to checks. With checks, you may encounter some problems like:
- The check taking too long to get to you via mail
- The check getting lost in the mail
- Checks need to manually entered.
With ACH payments, these issues are removed, allowing your business to operate more productively and efficiently.
2. Low Costs
Most businesses tend to take credit cards. However, the problem with credit card payments is that processing fees are often high for each transaction. Most fees range from about 2%-4%, which does not include costs for setting up credit card payments and other operational fees.
Taking ACH payments costs much less. The savings from ACH payments alone is one reason your business should take ACH payments.
3. Improved Sales Conversion/Customer Relationships
ACH payments are often better for customers, which means easier sales conversion for your business. If a customer has to spend less time writing a check, mailing the check, and waiting for it to clear, this benefits them and in turn makes them more likely to do business with you. ACH payments can also be set up to be recurring, so your customer never has to worry about forgetting to pay a recurring payment on time. Taking ACH payments makes for an easier customer relationship as well, since the process of making a payment is automated. This helps both your business and the customer.
Business to business ACH debits can also improve your relationship with other companies you do business with. With a business to business ACH debit, goods or services can be paid for in a more streamlined and effortless manner, making your business easy to work with.
4. Customers Can Pay Remotely
Even though credit card payments can be made remotely, such as over the phone or online, taking ACH payments allows your customer more privacy as they do not need to give out their credit card details and risk their card information being compromised. ACH payments also help customers who do not use a credit card.
What are the Benefits of ACH Payments For Customers?
Taking ACH payments can greatly benefit your customers as well. They can benefit consumers in that:
1. They’re Simple
An ACH payment decreases the time it takes for a customer to make a payment. They will no longer have to worry about writing and mailing checks or worry about checks being lost in the mail. They also won’t have to worry about credit card debt in order to pay without a check.
2. They Can Be Automatic
With ACH payments, a customer can choose to set up a recurring payment so that the money is directly debited from their account on the payment due date. This makes the process of paying for goods or services hassle-free and routine.
ACH FAQs
How can my business accept ACH payments?
First, your business will need to set up a merchant account to take ACH payments. Then you will need to request authorization from your customer in the form of either a physical or online payment form. Finally, a customer then needs to set up their payment details via the payment form and submit the payment. The entire process is simple and easy to do.
What is a business to business ACH?
Business to business ACH is simply an electronic transfer of funds between two businesses. It works the same way a business to consumer ACH payment works.
Why is ACH better than checks?
ACH is better than checks in that it takes less time for the payment to arrive. ACH payments also clear faster and are more reliable than a check.
What companies accept ACH payments?
Most online retailers accept ACH payments.
Summary
There are many benefits to accepting ACH payments as a business. Quicker speed of payments, lower costs, ability to remotely pay, and improved customer relationships are all ways in which your business can benefit from accepting ACH payments.
