Efficient Payment Module and Stripe Options
One of our fundamental principles of operation is keeping our operations efficient. To achieve this, we're constantly seeking ways to streamline our payment system.
When we started the business, we could accept payments through a credit card or Paypal. We didn't carry checks, wires, or other payment methods. As we've grown and begun working with more corporate customers, it's changed. Most of our larger customers have a policy that bans the use of credit cards, and the majority of Corporate Accounts Payable departments have no idea about PayPal.
Furthermore, credit cards and PayPal are pricey. The cost of credit cards and PayPal is high -- 2.9 30% + 30c per transaction is the standard pricing model for credit cards. Of course, you could achieve a higher rate than that using interchange-plus pricing (an issue to come back to later). However, even with that, you're still paying just a couple of percent, particularly for smaller transactions.
ACH as an alternative
ACH provides a means to get out. ACH payments are bank-to-bank transfers - the ability of one bank to transfer an additional bank account directly, with the assistance of a national ACH network.
ACH payments work significantly differently from credit card transactions.
Credit Card Transactions
A credit card is characterized by two steps: authorization and capture. Credit card transactions send an application to a credit card processing service to confirm that a specific card has a certain amount of cash available.
ACH Payments
ACH is distinct. The major benefit of credit cards is they immediately know if funds are available. When you authorize the transaction, you're ensuring you'll receive the money, so long as you keep your promise and take the funds. When using ACH, you send an application to transfer funds from the client's bank to yours. You then wait. After a certain period, the money either shows up or isn't.
The main issue in ACH ACH is the automation aspect -- the traditional method of confirming the funds were received was a manual procedure. In our case, securing ACH payments on a large scale wouldn't be practical.
Finding the Solution to the issue
We knew that we'd need to write or find an ACH module that would interface with our billing and customer management software, which is called MY PERFEX CRM...
We'll need to locate a Stripe Module ACH vendor. I'm not going to mention names, but many vendors offer technology that could be described as traditional. Web interfaces that look as if they last changed during the time of Netscape Navigator. APIs that make use of the heavy SOAP as well as XML protocols. We needed something like the Stripe Module - a simple interface to work with, as well as an efficient, simple for us to access and use RESTful API.
Try 1: A One-Stop Shop
We decided we'd have the best chance of finding an online vendor with the My Perfex CRM component. We started searching. Google 'MY PERFEX CRM ACH module.' Then, we visited the My Perfex CRM Marketplace, searching for ACH modules.
It was quickly apparent that there were no solid alternatives available -- of the few other options we could find, the majority didn't include automated ACH. They could even initiate a transaction for you. But it was still your responsibility to sign in and determine whether the transaction was successful.
- Interviewing Vendors
We decided to develop our program to find the right vendor to cooperate with. We'd already done a lot of Google searches and spoken to vendors, but we were still waiting for someone to make an impact. When lightning struck, I was lucky enough to meet with Jon Gilbert at the Wordcamp National Conference in Nashville, TN, who Qualpay employed. at the time when Qualpay did not support ACH, however, they did have an amazing credit card processing system; in addition, ACH was on their future timeline. We were willing to be one of the very initial ACH customers.
The Building of a Module
The real work started. We needed to create the module to connect the MY PERFEX CRM automation and billing system with Qalpay's ACH platform.
The first challenge to address was to find out whether MY PERFEX CRM could work with ACH. We confirmed that it does in some way. There's a list of extant ACH modules at the top of the invoice automation webpage. In examining the schema for the database, we could see encrypted fields related to bank data in the table containing client information (bank name and bank type, bank code, and bank account for those who play our game at home). However, MY PERFEX CRM's manual needed clearer regarding how to utilize these fields. We were directed in the right direction by MY PERFEX CRM's support for developers.
Going Live
A lot of our customers have decided to switch to ACH payments. This is more convenient for them and also reduces costs for us. ACH was a challenge to figure out how to work, and it has turned out as a positive payment option for our clients and us.