On Mar 18, 2022, Nacha (National Automated Clearing House Association) - which manages the development, administration, and governance of the ACH Network - increased its limit for all same-day ACH credit and debit entries from $100,000 to $1,000,000.

This is significant because payments over the ACH Network can be made at a fraction of the cost of other types of payments such as credit cards or wallets. With the increased transaction limit, the ACH Network is becoming a viable payment method in itself, offering speed and convenience at a lower price point.

In this post, we will take a look at why payments over the ACH Network are cheaper, how they can be enabled, and what it means for your business.

A refresher: how credit card fees work

Credit card transactions are the main way for many businesses to accept payments. In spite of this, they come with a number of downsides. First, because there are a number of parties involved in each transaction, including risk solution, acquirer or payment service provider, card networks, and issuing bank, credit card payments are expensive, as multiple parties take a cut of the transaction. Ultimately, this cost is met by the merchant. Second, credit cards are open to fraud. And third, they get lost, stolen, expire, and so on, which is particularly damaging to businesses operating on recurring or subscription payment models.

Introducing Link Money - Pay by Bank, account-to-account payments over the ACH Network.

As already discussed, payments over the ACH network can be made at a fraction of the cost of credit cards. But how can a given business enable ACH payments to its customers?

This is where our new Pay by Bank product comes in. Pay by Bank enables account-to-account payments for recurring and subscription-based businesses over the ACH Network. As well as being cheaper than credit cards, there is a lower possibility of fraud, due to the fact that customers need to authenticate the payment in their trusted banking app. In addition, working with Link Money means fewer failed payments, since bank accounts don’t expire or get lost or stolen.

Finally, Link Money guarantees customer payments after checkout so you can have peace of mind.

What happens next

In Q1 2022, the overall volume on the ACH Network totaled 7.3 billion payments, up 2.2% from a year earlier, and moved $18.5 trillion (yes, that’s a trillion!), a 7.1% increase. In spite of this, very few businesses are taking advantage of the massive potential cost benefits of account-to account payments over the ACH Network. Link Money is a first mover in terms of unlocking the potential for seamless, secure, and cost-effective payments for recurring or subscription-based businesses, as well as one-off payments for merchants of all kinds. To find out more about how we can help save you thousands per year from your credit card processing fees, contact us.