Stripe ACH

This page covers Stripes ACH debit functionality.  For Credit Card please click here. This ACH option is only available for US merchants with customers in the US.  Stripe charges no monthly or minimum fees and has simple fixed-rate fees (0.8% capped at $5 per payment).  You can be up and running within minutes.  Stripe settles your funds in 7 days (sometimes less – depends on your location).  Please note that customers must verify their bank account number before their account can be debited.  This can slow down or even stall the process. Due to higher fees and the verification process, Stripe is NOT our recommended ACH Platform. We recommend Forte for US ACH transactions.

Creating your Stripe Account

If you already have a Stripe account you do not need a new one!  Just proceed to the next step.  If you have already connected Stripe to uCollect you will need to connect again for this one. To setup a Stripe account go to https://dashboard.stripe.com/register and complete the new account process. Don’t forget to verify your account.

To set up your gateway in uCollect Add a new Gateway (Edit Organisation, or from the setup wizard) with the following details:

• Gateway: choose the Stripe ACH gateway.
• Click “Connect to Stripe” to authorize the uCollect connection.  Please note that this next screen is controlled by Stripe.  It may present you with a new account screen.  If you don’t already have a Stripe account you should complete this screen.  If you already have your Stripe account created please look for the “Sign in” link at the top-right corner.
• Number of days in advance: set to 0 days.
• Payment Reference: ACH
• On notification of a failed payment what should we do? We recommend “Re-process in selected day”
• How many days later should we reprocess? We recommend 7
• Who should we notify when a payment fails? We recommend “Both”
• How should we handle multiple amounts to be collected from the same contact on the same day?: We recommend “Group them together and collect one amount” as this will keep your Stripe fees lower.
• Calculate Commission/Fees on Settlement: We do NOT recommend this option at this stage as we can’t cap the fee at $5.
• Pay Now: Stripe ACH is NOT eligible for Pay Now (due to the verification requirements).

For help on using the Gateway setup screen please see the help page.

When setting up your contacts in uCollect you have three options:

• Create Customer.  You can click the “Create Customer” link to add the details if they have not already been created in Stripe.  You still need to ensure that you have the correct authorisation to set up the bank account in uCollect.  We submit this data to Stripe which assigns a Customer ID.  We do not store the account details in uCollect – we only store the Customer ID from Stripe.
• Select Customers. If your customer has already been setup in Stripe you can simply select them from the drop-down list.
• Enter ID. You can enter the Customer ID from Stripe directly (starts with “cus_”).

You can send an invitation to your customer so that they can complete the details themselves.

IMPORTANT NOTE ON ACCOUNT VERIFICATION

Once the account has been setup the customer will be sent an email.  They need to wait a couple of days for two micro-deposit transactions (deposits of under $1 each) to appear in their account.  Then they need to click on the link in the email and provide these amounts.  This validates their account.  No payment can be processed until this verification has been completed.  They will receive a reminder every day.  If they haven’t responded within 14 days the request will be deleted and no payments will be processed.

uCollect will automatically send collection requests to Stripe.  No additional involvement from you is required.  The response we get is NOT a real time authorization – just an acknowledgment. Important note on currencies: Only USD amounts can be processed through Stripe ACH.

Handling Declined Transactions

Any error messages on declined transactions come direct from Stripe, not uCollect.  We present the exact message we receive from Stripe to you.  If a collection is declined after processing we attempt to determine whether the error is a temporary (such as insufficient funds) or permanent. If the error is permanent then no further transactions can be processed. We will remove the authority from the account and send your admin a notice. If the error is temporary we will follow the instructions in the gateway settings using the “On notification of a failed payment what should we do”:

• “Re-process in selected day” we will set an installment for a few days later – using the value (default is 7) in the “How many days later should we reprocess” field.
• “Suspend Invoice” we will suspend the invoice.
• “Do nothing” we will leave the invoice with a failed payment.

In all cases we will send an email to the admin, customer or both (depending on the setting in “Who should we notify when a payment fails?”  The email is worded for the customer, and you can choose whether it is sent to no-one, the admin, the customer or both (the admin and the customer).

No known issues.  Just watch the verification process – this is where the process tends to fail and why we recommend Forte instead.