Optimize cost
Stop paying a percentage on a $9,000 invoice.
ACH and e-check move money straight from the customer's bank account for a flat per-item cost. No interchange, no card-brand dispute cycle, and a genuine backup rail if a card account ever goes down.
- Flat per-item pricing instead of a percentage of the ticket
- Recurring bank drafts for subscriptions and net-terms billing
- No card-brand chargeback cycle
- Works as a second rail alongside cards
What you get
ACH & e-check, set up properly.
Six things that actually matter, and what each one does for your business.
One-time ACH debits
Collect a single payment from a checking account using routing and account number, with authorization captured and stored. Ideal for large invoices where a card percentage is painful.
Recurring drafts
Schedule weekly, monthly or custom drafts for dues, retainers, tuition, rent or service plans. Retries handle insufficient-funds returns on a schedule you set.
E-check by web and phone
Take a check over the phone or through a web form with the appropriate authorization type recorded. The paper check never has to exist.
Bank account verification
Pre-note or instant verification confirms the account is real and open before you rely on the money, which is the main way ACH returns get avoided.
Return handling
Returns come back with a code — insufficient funds, account closed, unauthorized. Each one gets a different response, and the workflow should be automatic rather than someone noticing a week later.
Reconciliation and reporting
Settlement files and exports that reconcile against your accounting system, so an ACH batch is not a mystery line on a bank statement.
The math is simple and it is often dramatic
A card transaction costs a percentage of the sale. An ACH debit costs a flat amount per item. On a $50 ticket the card is fine. On a $9,000 invoice the percentage is the single largest expense in the transaction, and the flat fee is a rounding error.
That is why B2B shops, wholesalers, professional practices with payment plans, property managers and anyone billing four-figure invoices should be running ACH as a first-choice rail with cards as the convenience option — not the other way around.
Where ACH is weaker than cards
It is not a free lunch, and the honest trade-offs are:
- Settlement is slower — typically one to three business days rather than next-day
- Returns can surface days after the payment appeared to succeed, so do not ship on an unsettled ACH
- Unauthorized-debit disputes have their own rules and a longer window under NACHA than most people expect
- Customers have to hand over bank details, which some will resist in a consumer context
ACH as a high-risk backup rail
For high-risk merchants ACH does something cards cannot: it keeps revenue moving when a card account is under review. It sits on a different network with different rules, so a card-side interruption does not touch it.
For subscription and continuity billing it also reduces involuntary churn, because a bank account does not expire the way a card does.
Accounts placed through our processor and banking network
Free statement analysis
Let's get ach & e-check right on your account.
Send one recent statement and we will show you what changes, in writing, with the arithmetic on the page. No contract and no obligation either way.
Terrab Solutions is a registered agent/ISO partner. Rates and approval subject to underwriting. Estimates are not a binding quote.
Straight answers
ACH & e-check questions
Usually one to three business days depending on the entry class and your risk profile. Same-day ACH exists for eligible transactions at additional cost. It is slower than card settlement — plan fulfillment around that.
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