Product: Nexternal
Article Link: http://help.truecommerce.com/en/articles/5168386-nexternal-accept-ach-payments-from-business-customers
ACH (Automated Clearing House) or "e-check" is a method whereby customers pay via direct debit from a bank account. This is especially relevant for business customers and is also made available by some merchants to consumers when shopping online.
If a customer chooses to pay via ACH when placing an order, he/she must provide an Account Type (Checking or Savings), Account Number, and Routing Number. If the "Allow Saved Payments" option (Settings / Boolean Options) is on, the bank account information may also be saved to the customer's account for future use.
Here's what it would look like to your customer as they are checking out to place an order (note invoice and Paypal would show up only if you have activated those options):
PROCESSING PAYMENTS THROUGH ACH
To enable ACH Payment, you must create an ACH account with Global Payments Integrated (GPI). Your GPI representative will provide the X-Web ID, Terminal ID, and AuthKey to enter into the fields provided. (You may replace your current payment processor with GPI entirely, or you may continue to use your current processor and use GPI just for ACH. Learn more about GPI payment processing services.)
Here's a short webinar on this topic if you're interested. Or, you can scroll down for the setup instructions.
SETTING UP ACH PAYMENTS IN YOUR OMS
ACH payments are set up in your Order Management System (OMS) in Settings / Billing Options / ACH:
Via the Verification Preferences pulldown field, you may choose to Verify and/or Capture your customers' ACH payments as soon as the customer clicks Submit Order in the Online Store. If you select (do not verify), the bank account number will be checked for validity, but there will be no verification of available funds in the customer's account. This option runs the highest risk of a decline when you later try to capture the funds. If you choose to Validate Only, the online store will then submit a "Verify" request to GPI to verify (but not reserve) funds in the customer's bank account. If the verification is successful, the order is completed. This reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of decline when you later attempt to capture funds. If the verification attempt returns a status of declined, the customer is asked to remedy the problem before the order can be completed. If the verification attempt returns a status of error, the order is completed without verification. You can also choose to Verify & Capture payment on order placement, which would submit a "Verify" and a "Capture" request to GPI.
If Verification is in use (via the Verification Preferences field), the Maximum Attempts field allows you to limit the number of declined verification attempts allowed per order attempt. If a customer exceeds the limit, the customer is forced to return to your home page, and must start the ordering process anew. This feature is best used to discourage those who traffic in stolen bank accounts from attempting to "test" accounts in your Online Store. If you set a maximum number of attempts, that limit does not apply to orders placed from within the OMS.
Notes:
For Pending Orders, verification occurs upon order placement only if the "Perform Preauthorization" option (Orders / Preferences / Pending Order Preferences) is on.
You may also initiate a Verify transaction for an existing order in the OMS via the ACH Terminal for that order.
The Share Payments With Customers option shares the dates and amounts of payments charged to a bank account with the relevant order's customer. This helps to keep the customer informed about charges to his/her bank account, helps the customer reconcile bank account debits with the order placed, and shows the amount remaining to be billed, if any.
If this option is on, any ACH payments for which an amount was captured or refunded appear to the customer as additional lines on the order's invoice. These additional lines appear on the Order Detail screen in the My Account section of the Online Store; on the Order Status page; in Update and Shipped/Sent/Ready E-mails; and, if the Invoice Show Payment option (Settings / Site Options / Invoices and Packing Slips) is on, on Printable Invoices.
Notes:
The Declined Explanation supports HTML tags to enhance formatting. Users unfamiliar with HTML are encouraged to use the WYSIWYG Editor (Settings / Boolean Options), as improper HTML may produce unintended results.
The Declined Explanation is displayed centered on the screen by default, to ensure proper alignment with other elements on the page. Additionally, the explanation is followed immediately by either the message "Please click the button below to try again (do not click the Back button on your browser). Thank you." if a retry is permitted, or "You have exceeded the maximum allowable number of bank account declines."
The Declined Explanation is displayed only if a verification attempt returns a status of declined. If a verification attempt returns a status of error, the order is completed without verification.
ACH USE AND REPORTING
ACH can be used for bulk orders, is available on the New Order Import, is available in order search, and is also available via XML tools. In addition, batch processing applies to ACH payments.
In Orders / Reports, there is an available ACH report which reflects daily ACH transactions. Also, in Orders / Advanced Search/Sort / Order Search, ACH has been added to the payment method dropdown for segmentation purposes.
rev. 6/22/21