ACH Payment Processing Benefits Billers and Consumers

ACH Payment Processing Benefits Billers and Consumers

ACH payment processing debits payments from consumers’ bank accounts and credits the funds to the biller’s bank account.  Electronic funds transfer through the ACH payment processing network offers substantial benefits for both billers and consumers.

ACH Payment Processing for Billers

The ACH payment processing network has been in use for over 40 years.  During this time, business have debited funds from consumer bank accounts by ACH payment processing for insurance premiums, car notes, utility bills, health club memberships, and a wide variety of other services.

But, with the amazing growth of the internet over the past 15 years, consumers are now demanding the convenience of paying bills online with ACH payment processing.  Companies now realize that substantial savings can be realized simply by offering consumers the ability to pay online via the ACH payment processing network.

It’s easy to add ACH payment processing by adding a “pay your bill now” button to any internet site.  Consumers click on the button to pay bills via ACH payment processing.  Single time or recurring billing payments can be made through the ACH payment processing network.

Companies can import and export ACH payment processing transaction data to and from internal accounting systems.   Extensive online reporting makes ACH payment processing accounts a breeze.

ACH Payment Processing for Consumers

ACH payment processing is rapidly replacing paper checks because an ACH payment processing is faster and easier than writing a check.  ACH payment processing is a real time saver too.

With paper checks, consumers spent the equivalent of 3 days a years paying bills.  What a waste of time and money considering that ACH payment processing is now readily available.

With ACH payment processing, consumers no longer have to write the check, find a stamp, and remember to mail the item on time in order to avoid late fees.  ACH payment processing eliminates the hassle and reduces the stress involved with paying bills.

ACH payment processing saves an average family with 20 monthly bills over $80 a year in postage expense.  The cost of checks can add another $30.  And, late fees for bills if the mail is delayed can result in fees of $30 and up.  Smart consumers use ACH payment processing and eliminate these expenses

ACH payment processing is safe, reliable, and fast.  ACH payments do not give companies access to consumer’s checking or savings accounts.  Rather, ACH payment processing simply authorizes the bank to automatically release ACH payments to your biller on a pre-arranged date.

ACH payment processing offers greater control over consumer finances.  With ACH payment processing, consumers know exactly how much and when bills will be paid.  Good credit rating is maintained because bills paid by ACH payment processing are always made on time.

Record keeping with ACH payment processing is simplified.  Every ACH payment is automatically listed on the consumer’s monthly bank statement.

ACH payment processing transactions are protected by the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and the Federal Reserve’s Regulation E.   Regulation E provides disclosure and error resolution procedures.  ACH payment processing gives consumers the right to stop or return a payment which was not authorized or was made in error.

Conclusion

Millions of Americans regularly pay for goods and services with ACH payment processing. Millions of Americans regularly pay bills online.

ACH payments are an inexpensive, highly reliable payment method. Convenient for consumers. Profitable for you.

Are you interested in ACH payment processing to increase profits and reduce expenses?

Contact info@nationalach.com today

ACH for Utility Companies

Utility Companies Move to Electronic Payments

Electronic payment processing is continuing to expand within utility companies as more consumers are paying bills electronically rather than writing paper checks. 

ACH payments have long been popular for utility bill payments.  ACH is a low cost method of accepting payments for utility companies.  

Credit cards and debit cards are now increasingly popular as well.  The credit card companies have special rates for utility bill payments.  For example, new rates on utility payments would generate a flat $1.50 in interchange for a $200 transaction.  This replaced the old rates where the same payment would have cost $4.74.

Acquiring banks, who pay interchange to the issuing banks, decide whether or not to pass savings on to their utility clients. Acquirers serving utilities make recommendations about what electronic transactions work best for utility companies.  But, of course, the acquirers are most interested in their own profit margins.

Recurring Billing with ACH

Utility companies are the perfect application for recurring billing.  Customers pay utility bills monthly. Electronic payments are processed faster than paper checks.

Millions of Americans already pay utility bills through ACH recurring payments. Processing fees for ACH are significantly lower for ACH payments than for cards.  

Conclusion

Whether it’s a one-time payment or recurring, consumers are very comfortable paying utility bills with ACH.  Utility companies can accept payments online, over the phone, at walk-in bill-pay centers, or via written authorization for recurring billing for ACH.

For more information, contact info@nationalach.com

Online Bill Pay Continues to Rise

A PayItGreen Survey 2010 reports that consumers pay bills online-only are more satisfied with their bank and/or credit union.  In addition, payments online, either via ACH payments, credit cards or direct from banking sites appeals to consumers “green” consciousness about helping the environment.

As might be expected, consumers ages 55 to 64 are farthest behind in paper statement adoption at 20%.  But twice as many 25- to 34- year olds have adopted paperless bill payment

According to PayItGreen, if only 20% of American households switched from paper to electronic bills, statements, and payments, nearly 2 million trees, 151 million pounds of paper, and more than 100 million gallons of gas would be saved every year.

Mobile phone (49%), student loan (49%) and Internet (44%) bills are those most commonly received electronically only.

Utility companies lag behind other industries in electronic billing adoption.  For example, electricity (33%), gas (32%), and water (24%) were some of the lowest percentages of online bill pay.

For more information, contact info@nationalach.com

Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has issued a report on consumer usage of electronic payment methods.

According to the study:

* Consumers use a payment card to pay for 52.9% of monthly bills.  Payment cards include debit, credit and prepaid.

* Consumer adoption of debit and credit cards, for example, stands at 80.2% and 78.3%, respectively * Prepaid cards are used by 17.2% of consumers.  Prepaid card users reload the card 31 times per year.

* Biller websites are used more often to pay bills than is bill pay through banking sites.

* Consumers are adopting contactless payments with 21.7% using contactless debit cards and 25% using contactless credit cards.

* Mobile phone are being used by 8.2% of consumers to access bank accounts. * Consumers are most concerned with security when chosing a payment option.  This is followed by ease of use and control over payment timing.

* Cash, paper checks, and money orders are still popular payment forms, accounting for 36.5% of consumers’ payments each month.

Interested in electronic payments for your business?

Contact info@nationalach.com today

Online Bill Payment Preferred by Consumers

Paper checks for ongoing consumer expenses such as rent, mortgage, utilities, and taxes are rapidly being replaced by electronic payment processing. Consumers expect to be able to pay bills online. Companies that to offer electronic payment options to their customers satisfy customer demand while increasing operational efficiency and improving cash flow.

A study by Hitachi Consulting found that, from 2001 to 2008, paper-based payments decreased from 78 percent to 38 percent of all bill payments, while electronic payments grew from 22 percent to 62 percent.

Consumers are comfortable with electronic bill payments. From 1999 to 2007, the number of online households in the U.S. that pay bills online rose from 3.6 million to 42.3 million in. With online payments, consumers pay their bill faster, avoid late payments penalties and easily track payment history.

In addition to improving customer satisfaction, companies offering electronic bill payments reduce the costs associated with processing paper-based payments, reduce exposure to bad checks, and help ensure payments are made on time. Recurring payments for customers provides a stable revenue stream by helping ensure on-time payments.

ACH payments are the perfect vehicle for online bill payment.

Interested in an ACH account?

Contact info@nationalach.com today

E Checks Dominate Bill Payments

Online bill payments with electronic checks are fast becoming the preferred method of paying bills for millions of Americans. Within a year, web-based payments will account for more payments than paper checks.

According to NACHA, accounts receivables conversions (ARC), which is the code used to track paper checks sent to lockboxes for bill payments, registered 595 million transactions in the second quarter of 2009. This represents a decrease of 6.8% from 638.6 million transactions in the first quarter of 2009. It is a decline of 11.2% from 669.8 million transactions in 2008’s second quarter. WEB based ACH bill payments, increased up by 10.5%. WEB payments are now 94% of ARC payments and expected to continue to rise and surpass paper checks within the next few quarters.

The ACH network posted total volume of 3.83 billion transactions in the second quarter of 2009, up 2.5% from 3.74 billion in the prior-year quarter and 1.5% from 3.78 billion in the first quarter.

The of paper checks being written will continue to decrease. Many members of the younger generations have never written a paper check. Even though the demise of paper checks has been slow in coming, it will inevitably happen.

For more information, contact info@nationalach.com