An ACH return is the equivalent of a bounced check. An ACH return happens when someone tries to pay using their bank account, but the bank says no for a few different reasons. The main reasons are usually because there's not enough money in the account, the person asked the bank to stop the payment, or they gave the wrong account information.
When an ACH payment (an eCheck) is posted, it gets put in a "Pending" status until the Customer's bank funds it. Their bank can make one of two decisions:
"Settle" the payment. That is most likely the scenario. This happens if the Customer's bank successfully funds the ACH payment. Depending on the bank, this usually takes between 3 to 5 business days.
"Rejects" the payment. Like a paper check, an eCheck can bounce or get rejected by the Customer's bank.
Let's go into detail about how Enrollsy handles rejected ACH payments.
Rejected ACH Payments Report
From the A/R Aging Report (MENU -> Reports -> A/R AGING), you will see an icon next to the account holder's name if a rejected ACH payment within the last 90 days.
Within an Account's BILLING tab, you will see a warning box (see screenshot below) explaining a recently rejected payment on the account. When a rejected ACH payment occurs, their Auto-Pay setting is automatically turned off to protect your merchant account from repeated bounced check fees.
Under Transaction History (on the Billing tab), you will see the transaction and any insufficient fund fees you charge:
NOTE: As of the writing of this article, ACH returns DO NOT go back on the Invoice. The original Invoice remains paid. The charges and NSF Fee (if applicable) will, instead, go on to the Transaction History. Customers can still pay their balance in the Customer Portal under "Custom Payment."
Email Notifications
Admin users who have the setting "Receive failed customer payment emails" turned on will receive email notifications of rejected ACH (and credit card) payments. If you have access to manage admin users, you can change this setting by going to My Company -> Users -> Admins or clicking here to manage your admins' users.
Customers whose payments fail are currently not receiving email notifications. Admin users will need to be instructed to log in to their account, update their payment credentials, and try the payment again.
ACH Return Codes
ACH returns are a normal part of ACH processing and allow receivers to notify originators when a transaction does not go as intended. A three-character alphanumeric return code indicates these.
Our ACH processor is ACHQ. Click here to see a list of all ACH Return Codes.
Returns due to Velocity Limits
If you have ACH returns because of velocity limits, this means you have exceeded the limits you entered in your merchant account application for ACH. If you bump into this, please get in touch with us ASAP via chat (button in the lower-right corner of the Enrollsy app), and we will be able to help you resolve this.
NSF (Non-Sufficient Funds) Fee
You can set up an "NSF Fee" so that Enrollsy will automatically charge it to the Customer's account balance in the event of a rejected ACH payment. Click here to go to your "ITEMS" page to edit the price of your "NSF Fee."
The purpose of this automatic fee is to help cover any costs your bank imposes on you when a bounced check (in this case, an electronic check) happens. You can check with CardConnect to see your ACH payment NSF fee.
Using EnrollsyPay, you will be charged a $5.00 fee for each NSF transaction. Keep this and all other factors in mind as you determine the right amount to charge your Customers for NSF transactions. You can, of course, edit/delete the fees you pass through to your Customers on a case-by-case basis, but you will always be charged.
Related Articles
About ACH Payments
How to Read the Transaction History
About EnrollsyPay
Merchant Fees
Failed Payments
