Best ACH Payment Processing For Small Business

Square is a popular small business management platform with all sorts of services, including ACH payment processing. You can only process ACH payments via Square Invoices or API, but it’s a free service, like its credit card payment processing service. With the basic Square download, you’ll also get access to a point-of-sale (POS) system and standard reports through the dashboard. Square offers phone, live chat and email support, but its hours vary based on your subscription.

When you add on the free invoice feature, you’ll be able to send an unlimited number of invoices and estimates. You can track those invoices and estimates, along with cash flow and payments. Square also lets you send automatic payment reminders to clients. There is no fee for the basic Square invoice plan, but you can spend $49 per month to customize your invoices and create milestone payment schedules to make payment easier for clients. ACH payment processing fees are 1% per transaction with a $1 minimum. The only downside is that there is no cap on the fee on its free plan unless you’re using its API. Paid plans have a $5 to $10 fee cap, depending on if you’re running an ACH bank transfer via invoice or API.

Learn More: Read our full Square review.

Who should use it:

New business owners on a budget would do well with Square Invoices’ transparent flat-fee rates.

Merchant One markets itself as an easy payment processing solution for nearly any type of business with a 98% approval rate. You can use its payment gateway for your online business and to accept ACH payments. It’s hard to know what your rate could be for a couple of reasons: One, because Merchant One doesn’t publish those rates, and two, because every business’s rates are likely to be different and based on credit scores. The qualified credit card rates vary from 0.29% to 1.55%, but there’s mention of caps. There doesn’t appear to be any markups in addition to the percentage costs, but there is a monthly fee that starts at $13.95.

What’s most concerning is that Merchant One isn’t the most transparent company with its rates or policies. Based on user reviews we read, Merchant One requires a three-year contract and if you cancel your contract early, you may be required to pay $250 to $750. There have been more than 180 complaints on Merchant One’s BBB profile in the last three years.

Learn More: Read our full Merchant One review.

Who should use it:

Businesses that have had trouble getting approval from other merchant service providers may find it easier to get an account with Merchant One.

Stripe is well known as an e-commerce payment processor with its flat-rate fee structure and multiple integrations with business management software. It’s more flexible than just that, though. You don’t have to stick with the standard 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction—you can contact the sales team to set up a custom contract that may include discounts for high-volume sellers, for example. If you use Link, which is Stripe’s instant bank payment, you’ll pay 2.6% plus $0.30 per successful charge, and settlement takes just two business days rather than four for ACH direct debit.

As far as ACH payment processing, Stripe charges 0.8% with a $5 cap, which is one of the most affordable rates out there. The only downside to using Stripe for ACH payments is that the company charges for failed payments—$4 per failed payment and $15 per dispute. If you’re fine with that gamble, Stripe could serve as your only payment processor. It integrates with more than 350 apps and it’s dev-friendly, so you can create a custom checkout (if you have the know-how).

Learn More: Read our full Stripe review.

Who should use it:

Developers can easily create custom checkouts with Stripe as the payment processor.

PaymentCloud is a good payment processor for nearly any business, but it markets itself as a solution specifically for high-risk businesses. Accepting ACH payments is one way to reduce risk anyway, but some industries are immediately turned away by some merchant services providers, such as adult entertainment, tobacco stores and tech support companies.

With all that said, PaymentCloud doesn’t publish any of its rates online. You’ll have to contact sales to get a custom quote, and your rates are likely to be based on your industry, credit check and your previous chargeback ratio. PaymentCloud works with more than one bank and those partnered banks take chances on high-risk businesses. You’ll be limited by volume for the first 90 days, and then you could get more if you keep your chargebacks low (less than 3%, typically). Keep in mind that high-risk businesses tend to pay more in fees.

Who should use it:

High-risk businesses are more likely to get approval from PaymentCloud versus more mainstream ACH payment processors.

Helcim is one of the best low-cost payment processors—there’s no setup or monthly fee and its markup on its interchange-plus pricing is affordable. The ACH payment charges are lower than most other merchant services providers, too. You’ll pay 0.5% plus $0.25 on all ACH transactions. For transactions under $25,000, there is a $6 cap. For transactions over this amount, you’ll pay an additional 0.05%.

There are no long-term contract requirements, so you can bow out if Helcim’s rates are too high. Bear in mind that Helcim charges $5 per failed ACH payment or dispute, which is lower than many other merchant services providers, but it could still add up if your chargeback ratio is high.

Learn More: Read our full Helcim review.

Who should use it:

Businesses that want the lowest ACH payment rates and no monthly fee.

The good news about Stax (formerly known as Fattmerchant) is that its low-priced plan includes ACH payment processing as an option. Your monthly price depends on your processing volume. It’s $99 per month for processing up to $150,000 per year, $139 for sales beyond that up to $250,000 and $199 for greater than $250,000 per year. This isn’t inclusive of your per-transaction fees, which aren’t disclosed.

It’s important to note that Stax considers ACH processing as an add-on, so you’re going to pay more than what’s listed above, though it doesn’t disclose what this add-on costs.

Learn More: Read our full Stax by Fattmerchant review.

Who should use it:

Stax may be best for businesses that can predict a high amount of sales per year to make the monthly subscription worth it.

National Processing offers packages tailored to industries. All of the packages have a monthly fee. The plans start at $14.95 per month, though your ACH transaction fees are custom, so you’ll need to reach out to National Processing’s sales team to know what you’ll pay. These plans allow for one-time and recurring payments.

Learn more: Read our full National Processing review.

Who should use it:

Businesses looking for a long-term ACH payment solution that’s affordable.