Echeck eCigarette Merchant Accounts

Accept Checks Online & Get More Sales

Ecigarette merchants add echecks as a payment option to get more orders from buyers that don’t have cards, are maxed out on cards, or simply prefer to pay you  with with an electronic check.

It’s simple.  The more payment options you offer, the more sales you will get.   Merchants report sales lifts of up to 20% when echecks are added on the checkout page.

How Echecks are Processed

Echecks electronically debit payments from your customers’ bank accounts and credit the funds to your business bank account.

Echecks are processed either through the ACH network or via Check 21 technology that process the transactions through bank-to-bank file transfers.  The decision on which technology is best for you is based on the requirements of your business.

The user experience for both processing options is the same.  Buyers provide their bank routing and account numbers.  Transactions are cleared by the processor and cleared funds are deposited into your business bank account.

 Ecigarettes Surging Popularity

The popularity of e-cigarettes has surged since the the ban on smoking tobacco in public places has become the norm.   The notion that e-cigarettes are healthier than tobacco cigarettes and that they can assist in quitting smoking altogether has also contributed to the increased use of e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes are loosely regulated and their benefits are frequently questioned by some medical professionals or regulatory bodies. In spite of these issues, there is a growing group of e-cigarette users who wish nothing else but to pursue their habit undisturbed.

Unfortunately, the e-cigarettes industry is undoubtedly headed toward more regulation, possibly similar to that applied to tobacco products.   Merchants, of course,  think increased regulation is unacceptable, as their products are clearly different from those based on tobacco.

The state of Indiana has already passed a piece of legislation demanding to get a license from the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.

And, of course, it has become illegal to sell e-cigarette products to minors to curb the increasing number of teens that smoke e-cigarettes.

 eCigarette Payment Processing

The difficulty of enforcing the wildly diverse regulation and the conflation of e-cigarettes with tobacco products is has created challenges for online sellers.

Many merchant account companies classify e-cigarettes along with tobacco products.  In addition, there is the concern that minors who are not allowed to buy the product in the store will go online to buy.

As a result, online e-cigarette merchants who rely on electronic payments are hardest hit by the current attitude of regulatory bodies with respect to e-cigarettes.

Even though the evidence for the benefits of e-cigarettes over regular tobacco cigarettes is still mostly anecdotal, it is undeniable that the demand for these products has nowhere else to go but up.

Many payment processors are reluctant to accept e-cigarette sales and consider them high-risk merchant accounts. Companies classified as high risk merchants have to deal with inflexible policies that make online payments both difficult to get and expensive.

Conclusion

For customers that do not have cards or are unwilling to use cards for online transactions, alternative payments such as echecks give you another way to capture sales.    

Echecks are the most popular alternative payment method for US buyers.  Customers appreciate the convenience of having more than one way to pay for a purchase.  Millions of American shoppers regularly pay for goods & services with electronic checks.

Approval for an echeck account is much easier to obtain than for high risk credit card merchant accounts. Underwriting is more flexible since there are no card brands involved.

Are you an ecig merchant that wants to accept checks online?

Contact info@nationalach.com

High Risk Processing with Echecks

Echecks Boost Sales

Echecks are the most popular alternative payment method for US buyers. High risk processing with electronic checks increases your sales and profits.

Echecks are an excellent solution for high risk merchants.  Echecks are processed through bank-to-bank date exchange based on Check 21 technology.  Echecks offer high risk merchants significant benefits compared to ACH processing.  

Echecks are also a valuable option for international merchants that want to accept electronic checks from US buyers. International merchant accounts for echeck processing are readily available for global ecommerce merchants targeting the lucrative American marketplace. 

Benefits of E Check Payments

Echecks transaction payment data is received electronically. The check processor clears the funds through its bank account.  Cleared funds are settled to your business bank account

The user experience paying with an echeck is the same as for an ACH payment.  At checkout, customers provide bank routing and account numbers rather than card numbers.  

Funds are electronically debited from buyers’ bank accounts.  Cleared funds are deposited to your business bank account.

Electronic check transactions clear within one to two business days, much faster than ACH payments.  And, echecks give you far greater flexibility for revokes and returned transactions than do ACH payments.  

Can Buyers Chargeback E Check Transactions?

Other than cash or wire transfers, there is no absolute protection against customers that are set on fraudulently disputing a transaction. Even a paper check at point of sale can be cancelled or a customer can claim the transaction was not valid.

With an echeck, a consumer legally has 40 days to dispute a transaction (compared to 60 days for ACH payment processing). There is a detailed process that the consumer must follow to dispute the transaction.

With echecks,  the customer must dispute a transaction with their own bank and file the necessary documentation. It’s a paperwork intensive process.  Documents must be submitted. Affidavits may be required.

Far fewer consumers are willing to go through the time consuming and frustrating hassle of filing a dispute with the bank. This is particularly true for smaller transactions. The risk for chargebacks is much less with an echeck compared to cards.  

E Check Payment Processing

It is much easier for high risk merchants to establish an echeck account than one for cards.  And rates are often lower than those for card processing.  

You can process echeck transactions

• through an API integration to your website
• by virtual terminal for check by phone phone and mail orders
• and though a batch upload to an FTP site

Conclusion

Electronic checks are the most popular alternative payment method for US shoppers. Millions of Americans regularly purchase goods & services with electronic checks.

Accept checks online.  Accept check by phone, mail, & fax orders.  Convenient for buyers. Profitable for you.

Are you a high risk merchant that wants to increase profits while reducing payment processing risk?

Contact info@nationalach.com today

Echecks Increase Profits for High Risk Merchants

More Sales with Less Risk

The more payment options you offer customers, the more sales you make.  According to Mercator alternative payments are used for 35% of online purchases.

The most popular alternative payment method for US shoppers is echecks.  The majority of US households already use electronic checks to pay household bills online and are comfortable with the using echecks for payments when purchasing online.

Echecks are particularly important for high risk merchants. Accepting checks online helps cut down on chargeback and consumer disputes.  It’s more difficult to chargeback an echeck transaction than a card payment.

Echecks also save money on payment processing fees.  Rates for echecks are significantly lower than those for card transactions.

High Risk ACH and E Check Processing

Merchants that want to offer echecks as a payment option can open a high risk ACH processing account.  Alternatively, echecks can be processed via Check21.  The decision on which to use depends on the nature of your business.

High risk ACH processors use the Automated Clearing House to process echecks.  ACH is a good solution for high risk merchants who can keep revoked transactions (chargebacks) under 0.5%.  Since the ACH system is a batch system rather than real time, cleared funds settle to the merchant’s bank in 3-4 days.

Echecks are a great alternative to high risk ACH.  Echeck payments transactions are processed by bank-to-bank transfers.  Tranasactions clear within one to two business days.  

Echecks give you more far more flexibility for chargebacks and returns than high risk ACH processing.  And much more than card transactions.  .

Setting up Your High Risk eCheck Account

Applying for an account is easy.  You submit an application along with supporting documents including driver’s license, previous processing history (if available), bank statements, and a voided check from the depository account.

Account approval takes 5 business days.  Once approved, you can process transactions online or take checks by phone, fax or mail.  Integration to your website is simple using an API. You can also submit transactions through a virtual terminal or upload batch files.

Merchants in all high risk classifications are welcome to apply for an echeck account.  Including but not limited to: online dating; subscription sales; call centers; timeshare; informercials; software; technical support; travel; collectables; coin and precious metal dealers; money service businesses including check cashers, payday, installment, and auto title lenders; adult entertainment; nutraceuticals; recurring billing; digital products; credit repair; loan modification; ticket brokers; ID theft protection; fantasy sports; ecigarettes; and more.

Conclusion

Adding electronic checks on your checkout page is one of the fastest ways to increase sales. Millions of Americans regularly pay for goods and services with electronic checks.

Accept checks online. Accept check by phone, mail & fax orders. The more ways shoppers can pay you, the more sales you make.

Are you a high risk merchant interested in electronic check processing?  

Contact info@NationalACH today.

Echecks for High Risk Merchants

Echecks Alternative to ACH Processing

High risk merchants find it challenging to comply with ACH rules requiring revoked transactions (chargebacks) to remain under 0.5% and returns to stay under 15%.  Echecks are a good alternative for companies that want to accept echecks but need greater flexibility for revokes and returns.  

Both ACH and echeck transactions clear through the Federal Reserve. However echecks are not subject to the restrictive rules of the ACH network.  Echeck transactions are governed by the UCC and long-standing check laws.

As a result, an echeck account offers significant benefits for high risk merchants.  There are no arbitrary rules governing revoked and returned transactions, as there is with the ACH network.

Naturally, you cannot have unlimited revoked transactions.  Very high volume of revoked transactions is a red flag to the bank that something is not running correctly with the business. 

However, you can certainly have higher revokes and returns with echeck processing than with an ACH account.

Benefits of Electronic Check Processor Accounts

Echecks have shorter periods of contingent liabilities for high risk merchants than ACH processing.  With ACH, consumers have 60 days to revoke a transaction.  With echeck high risk processing the time is reduced to 40 days.

Additionally, echeck processing often requires consumers to file an affidavit with their bank to dispute a transaction.  Many buyers will not go this extra step to revoke a transaction.

With ACH, processors are required to refund revoked transactions.  With echecks, you have greater latitude in deciding whether or not to refund a transaction.

An echeck account gives high risk merchants the ability to use a use a longer descriptor.  A descriptor is what buyers see when looking at transactions on their bank statements.  This makes it easier for buyers to remember what was purchased and helps reduce disputed transactions.

Echeck high risk processing can debit all US checking accounts, including those that ACH processing cannot.  For example, credit unions, savings & loans, small banks, brokerage accounts, and credit card check accounts can all be debited with echecks.

How Echeck High Risk Processing Works

Both ACH and echeck transactions clear through through the Federal Reserve.  The difference is that echecks use bank-to-bank image transfers rather than the ACH network.

From a user experience, echecks and ACH processing function in the same way. At checkout, buyers are asked to provide routing and bank account information.  Funds are direct debited from the buyer’s bank account and deposited into the merchant’s bank account.

Neither echecks nor ACH is “real time” processing.  Therefore, although funds may be available at the time of purchase, the funds may no longer be available when the transaction clears.  Therefore, merchants often wait to be sure a transaction clears before shipping products.

Conclusion

Echecks offer high risk merchants significant benefits compared to ACH processing. Most importantly, you can have higher revokes and returns with echeck processors than with ACH processing.  

An echeck account is now the norm for high risk merchants that want to the benefits of accepting electronic checks online without the restrictions of the ACH network.  

Are you a high risk merchant interested increasing sales and profits with an echeck account?

Contact info@nationalach.com

Get More Sales with Echecks

Rise of Echecks for Online Payments

The number of online ACH transactions increased over 10% in 2012.  Clearly, echecks are experiencing greater acceptance by consumers as a way to pay for purchases made on line.

Te expanding use of online bill pay has helped drive the growth.  Customers commonly pay utility and other bills with echecks, making it a familiar and trusted form of payment.

Echecks are a good option for online merchants that sell goods or services.  Echecks give buyers who do not have cards or who are maxed out on cards another way to pay.

Echecks are not yet authorized in real time.  Transactions clear through the Federal Reserve the following business day.  Therefore, merchants who are selling shippable products often wait 1-2 days before shipping to make sure the transaction is not returned for non-sufficient funds.

Electronic Checks Alternative to Cards

Echecks are the most popular alternative payment method for US shoppers.  Millions of Americans trust electronic checks and regularly use them to pay for goods and services.

When you accept checks online you increase profits by getting orders from buyers that don’t have cards.  Or are maxed out on cards.  Or buyers who simply prefer to pay you with an echeck rather than a card.

More than 30% of internet sites already offer echecks as a payment option at checkout. If you do not accept checks online, you risk losing sales to your competitors who do.  

Echecks for Recurring Billing

Subscription and recurring billing models are particularly well-suited for echeck payments.  Consumers seldom change bank accounts.  Automated payments debit a bank account on a recurring basis.  Customers grow used to seeing the transaction on a monthly basis and seldom initiate chargebacks.

Moreover, customers are used to paying for recurring billing using echecks.  Online entertainment services, web hosting, internet services, and subscription services find that offering echecks as a payment option can increase revenues up to 30%.

Compare this to a card being used for recurring billing.  More than 20% of cards are reissued every year due to expired dates and lost or stolen cards.  Some merchants rely on customers to update cards, resulting in a loss of revenues when customers do not provide the information.  Other merchants incur significant customer service costs trying to manage changes in cards being billed.

Conclusion

Echecks are now mainstream.  It’s simply common sense.  The more ways your customers have to buy from you, the more sales you’ll make.

Accept electronic checks on your checkout page. Convenient for shoppers. Profitable for you.

Do you want to accept checks online?

Contact info@NationalACH today. 

eChecks Continue to Replace Paper

It’s no surprise that more people are paying bills online and paying for website purchases with echecks.  As this electronic transformation is occurring, obviously fewer people are writing paper checks.

As the younger generation, raised on electronic transactions, matures, and older generations die off, paper checks will eventually go away.

The latest data from NACHA confirms this self-evident trend.

WEB transaction grew by 9% in Q3 of 2012.  There were 732.5 million transactions, compared to 672.2 million in Q3 of 2011.

Paper checks to mailed to lockboxes (ARC) decreased by 8% in Q3 of 2012.  Volume slipped to 455.3 million transactions compared to 495.2 million in Q3 of 2011.

In addition, customers wrote far fewer checks at point of sale.  Point of purchase transactions dropped 8% to 111 million transactions.  Back office conversion (BOC), where paper checks are converted to electronic transactions, slipped 9% 5o 46.5 million.

Similarly, collection on returned paper check transactions (RCK) dropped 22.9%.  This is to be expected as the number of paper checks declined.

Telephone transactions (TEL) declined 6% to 86.3 million transactions.  But, it’s too early to tell if the drop in telephone transactions is a trend because phone transactions increased 4% in 2011.

International ACH transactions (IAT) grew 13% in Q3 of 2012.  But, it still accounts for small numbers of transactions, with only 10.8 million processed.  International ACH are used to facilitate cross-border transactions.  Commonly,it is used for remittances, pension payments to US retirees living abroad, and payments to international workers.

Overall, the growth in ACH transactions in Q3 of 2012 was 2.4%.

Conclusion

Paper checks are on the decline. Yet, electronic checks for online payments are increasing by almost 10% per year.

If you are an online merchant, adding echecks to your checkout page is a smart strategy to increase sales.  When you accept electronic checks you:

• Get sales from buyers who prefer to pay with an echeck rather than a card
• Obtain orders from shoppers who don’t have cards or are maxed out on cards.

The more ways customers can pay you, the more sales you make.  

Do you want to increase profits by adding echecks as an alternative payment method on your website?

Contact info@nationalach.com today.