ACH via bank-link (Plaid)
ACH via bank-link (Plaid). ACH via bank-link is a payment flow where a customer authorizes payment from their bank account by signing in to their bank through a trusted broker (typically Plaid) — instead of typing routing and account numbers. It clears in 1–3 business days at a fraction of card processing cost.
Definition
For agencies and shops collecting recurring retainers above ~$500, card processing fees (~2.9% + $0.30) become a meaningful drag. ACH via bank-link cuts the fee dramatically (typically 0.8% capped at $5 on platforms like Stripe) while preserving customer convenience — the customer never types account numbers, just signs into their bank through Plaid's flow.
How it compares to card
On a $2,000 monthly retainer: card processing ≈ $58/month per client; ACH via bank-link ≈ $5 (Stripe-capped). Across a 20-client retainer book, that's a meaningful difference over a year. ACH takes 1–3 business days to clear, vs. instant for cards.
When card still wins
Small-ticket transactions (under ~$100), one-time charges where speed matters, and consumer customers who prefer card rewards. Most B2B retainers belong on ACH.
Failed-payment handling
ACH fails are different from card declines — typical reasons are R01 (insufficient funds) and R09 (uncollected funds). Software with retry logic and a friendly customer-facing fail notification recovers most failed ACH charges within a week.
See also
- Tint shop POS system — Tint shop POS
- Vendasta reseller — Vendasta reseller
- Stripe Connect — Stripe Connect
Roffik's take
Billing, ACH and card payments, recurring subscriptions, per-client margin tracking, and branded client portals for Vendasta resellers — built on Midnight + cyan. Learn more about HubWho.