How a payment is collected, start to finish.

Your customer approves it on your site. Your own bank collects it. ACHplug does the paperwork in between. No card processor, no company holding your money.

CUSTOMER — on your website ACHPLUG — your dashboard YOU — one minute a day YOUR BANK — ACH network Presses Buypicks "Pay from bank" Enters routing + accountbank name appears as they type(Fed directory check) Approvesauthorization recorded Gets confirmationon screen + by email Encrypts the account numberyou see the last 4 only Lists it under Collectemails you: "ready to collect" Builds the bank file (NACHA)all of today's approvals in one file Download the fileCollect page, one button Upload it at your bankACH origination page Press "mark all as sent"then later: "Received" when it lands Sends the debitto the customer's bank Money lands in your accountusually 1–2 business days Customer gets the receiptwhen you press Received · journal updated
CustomerACHplugYouYour bank

One-time setup at your bank — what to say, word for word

This takes one phone call or one visit. Business bankers hear this request every week; you just need the right words. Do it once and it works for years.

Before you call, have these in front of you

Who to call

Not the number on your debit card. Call the business banking line, or ask the branch for the business banker. If the first person doesn't know what ACH origination is, say: "Could you connect me with someone in business services or treasury management?" That's the department.

What to say

  1. Open with this sentence:"I have a business account with you. My customers authorize me to collect payments from their bank accounts, and I'd like to originate ACH debits from my account. How do I set that up?"If they say "you mean accept ACH payments?" — say yes, but be clear you want to send the debit (you pull), not just receive transfers.
  2. They will ask what kind of business and how much. Answer plainly: what you sell, roughly how many payments a month, the biggest single day you expect. They set a daily limit from this. Ask for a limit above your busiest day so you never get a file rejected.They may also ask whether you collect from consumers or businesses. Consumers is fine — the file ACHplug builds is the consumer type (PPD).
  3. They will send you an ACH origination agreement to sign. Read it for the fee and the limit; sign it. Some banks approve the same day, some take a week. Ask: "When will it be turned on, and how will I know?"
  4. Ask these five questions and write down the answers.
    1. "What Company ID goes in my file — my EIN, or a number you assign?"
    2. "What immediate-origin routing number goes in the file header?" (usually your account's routing number)
    3. "Where in online banking do I upload a NACHA file, and what is the daily cutoff time?"
    4. "Can I send a test file first, and who looks at it?"
    5. "How will I be told if a debit is returned?" (email, a report in online banking, or a call)
    Answers 1 and 2 go into ACHplug: Dashboard → Settings → 6. Collecting. Answer 3 is your daily routine. Answers 4 and 5 are for your first week.
  5. Send one test file. Make a real payment of a dollar or two through your own box using your own account, download the file from Collect, and upload it. When the bank confirms it processed, you're live.
If your bank says no. Some small banks and some credit unions don't offer origination to small businesses. Ask once: "Is that for all business accounts, or is there a tier that includes it?" If it's truly no, the choices are a business checking account at a bank that offers it — most national and regional banks do, and you can keep your main account where it is — or waiting for ACHplug's automatic option, which needs no bank setup at all.

Your customers — what they see and what to tell their bank

Your customer never calls anyone to pay you; they approve it on your site and they're done. But two things can happen afterward, and they should know the answers before they ask you.

  1. What shows on their bank statement. A debit with your business name (the first 16 letters of it) and the word PAYMENT. Tell customers this at the point of sale so the line doesn't surprise them: "On your statement this will appear as [YOUR NAME] PAYMENT."
  2. If their bank calls or texts to confirm the debit. Some banks flag a first-time debit from a new company. The customer says: "Yes, I authorized it — it's a payment to [your business] for [what they bought]." Their confirmation email from ACHplug has the exact wording and the date.
  3. If they want to stop a repeating payment. They press Revoke on their payments page (the link is in every email). That stops everything not yet sent to the bank. They do not need to call their bank — but if they'd rather, they can tell their bank: "Please stop future ACH debits from [your business name]." Banks must honor that.
  4. If a debit is returned. Insufficient funds or a closed account comes back to you as a return, usually within two banking days. ACHplug marks it Returned and emails the customer that it didn't go through and the payment is still owed. You decide what happens next — there is no automatic retry.

Every day it's this

1Open Collect
2Download the file
3Upload it at your bank
4Press "mark all as sent"
5When it lands, press Received

Step 5 sends the customer their receipt and moves the payment to your Sales Journal. If a debit comes back — closed account, insufficient funds — press Returned instead, and ACHplug tells the customer.

Want it fully automatic?

Coming: sellers who don't want the daily upload can connect through a bank-rail partner and every approved payment collects itself. Watch the Features page.