ACH transfers are an excellent solution for customers and partners. They help make a business more efficient and economical and have broad use in the industry; on top of that, an ACH transfer is much less expensive than other options.
You can automate ACH transactions with an API. This will free your team from manually processing every transaction and can even help eliminate processing errors.
Although they transact using ACH daily, many consumers do not understand it. ACH has been around for a long time; in fact, it accounts for almost all direct deposit payroll in America.
The following guide for ACH API payment processing will give you insight into implementing an ACH API into your existing financial system.
What is an ACH payment API?
To learn how your business can benefit from ACH API payment processing, you'll first need to understand the foundation of the ACH network and payment APIs.
ACH
ACH, or the “automated clearing house,” is the U.S. electronic payments system that consumers and businesses alike use to make bank to bank transfers. The clearing house is a public-private system operated by the Federal Reserve and TCH Group’s Electronic Payments Network. ACH has been around for over fifty years to facilitate domestic transactions among financial institutions like banks or credit unions.
The system has undergone big changes that have significantly improved its performance over the last decade. Now, businesses even have the option of same-day payments. Compared to other payment types, ACH makes payment processing cheaper, more efficient, and more profitable for businesses that use it.
API
API stands for "application programming interface," and developers have found it invaluable in creating and customizing software.
An API is a tool that helps different software programs interact. They allow a second application to send information (like data or commands) to another program without requiring changes in the first.
How Does an ACH API Work?
By digitilizing the ACH process and integrating it into an API, businesses can leverage the ACH API to facilitate payment transactions. The ACH API can be integrated into a company’s existing financial platform. In the financial world, a third-party API simplifies connecting banks and sending payments online.
ACH APIs are faster and more convenient than manually making payment requests or checking your bank account balance. Automating these tasks can save a business time, effort, and money. This is especially true if handling large-volume transactions.
Your business could save all the time you spend manually entering payments by using an ACH API, including the instant automation of recurring payments or automatically sending out payroll on biweekly schedules.
An API is a valuable tool that allows you to simplify tasks or scale processes. They allow for offloading of mundane tasks so the business operators and employees are not bogged down with manual processing—which can even lead to the ability to take on more clients.
Benefits of Implementing ACH Payments APIs
Many benefits come with implementing ACH payment processing, including the following:
- Around-the-clock processing: ACH payments can be received at any pace and processed during the batch processing windows. When the ACH Credit reaches the receiver, it is processed by 8:30 AM EST, typically within two days. The settlement schedule takes place on Monday to Friday, business days. The transfers occur at 6:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 5:30 PM, and 10:00 PM EST.
- Allows for processing a large volume of transactions: Large volumes of transactions can be hard to process, leaving room for problems like entry errors and more bounced payments. ACH payment APIs help companies with higher transaction volumes to process payments automatically. They remove the need for manual processes and improve cash flow by making it easier to scale as a company grows or users increase.
- Automates handling payment failures: Payment failures and ACH returns can lead to missed payments, which impacts a business's bottom line. ACH payment APIs can be set to automate handling payment failures, such as sending batch notifications that indicate the reason for the failure so that the payments can be resent or the payment information amended.
- Automates accounting and reconciliations: ACH payment APIs help firms streamline their operations. This software automates account reconciliations, financial accounting, and firm-wide fiscal reporting.
- Enables recurring payment: Recurring payments provide a stable, reliable source for payment processing for both parties involved. Recurring payments, like automatic bill payments, are becoming more popular as they can help reduce human error and provide customers with a reliable payment option.
- Allows safer and more secure payment processing: ACH APIs offer encryption technology to protect digital transactions and information against cybercrime, identity theft, and other illegitimate threats.
Features to Look for in an ACH API
To find the best API provider, you should consider how it will benefit your business and what features you need.
Some valuable features include the following:
Bank Account Linking
When you use ACH payments, you can make customer payments as simple as credit card payments through bank account linking. Let your clients log into your website and use your app without multiple sign-ins.
Instant ACH
Using a quality ACH payment API for safe-and-secure transactions enables affordable, efficient, and secure transactions, and if the API offers the option of instant ACH like Sila’s Instant ACH, funds will be instantly available before you receive the funds from ACH.
Digital Wallet API
Digital wallets provide convenience to businesses, users, and consumers as the feature lists grow. Sila offers a digital wallet API, which connects to a bank account linking API so users can safely link any U.S. bank account for secure payment transfers. It also comes with KYC integration for fast identity verification.
KYC/KYB API
The importance of identity verification cannot be overstated. Look for a payment API that has integrated KYC and KYB features to make compliance easy.
Summary
At Sila, we're passionate about easing the struggles in business and providing an effective payment method. Whether you're moving money between accounts using ACH or carrying out the money transfer to facilitate customer transactions, we provide a variety of APIs, including our ACH payment API, to help reduce hassle and risks.
We can assist you with the speed at which your transaction is processed. Our system provides high security with any ACH transfers you need to make.
Get in touch if you're ready to implement an ACH API into your existing financial system!