Good 4 Dirt uses Quickbooks in our business to provide estimates and invoices to our customers.  We prefer electronic payments by ACH through Quickbooks and here is why... 

us federal reserve emblem
ACH NACHA-logo
ACH Arrows
intuit quickbooks payments
ACH bank to bank

Electronic Check Basics -

The ACH Network. 

With the increasing movement toward an electronic, interconnected and mobile infrastructure, it’s critical that electronic payments work safely and efficiently for all users. The ACH Network enables just that: by using batch processing and a store-and-forward system, it moves almost $39 trillion and 22 billion electronic financial transactions each year. For more than 40 years, the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) in association with the Federal Reserve (Fed). has been the trustee of the ACH Network, employing a collaborative, self-regulatory model to facilitate the expansion and diversification of electronic payments on the ACH Network.

For more than 40 years, NACHA – the Electronic Payments Association – has served as the trustee of the ACH Network. That Network, which today moves more than 20 percent of all electronic transactions each year, requires careful development, administration and rules in order to function effectively, and NACHA provides crucial management on a daily basis.
 

Through its collaborative, self-regulatory model, NACHA—and the more than 10,000 financial institutions it represents—facilitates the expansion and diversification of electronic payments on the ACH Network. That includes supporting Direct Deposit and Direct Payment transactions such as ACH credit and debit transactions, recurring and one-time payments, government, consumer and B2Btransactions, international payments and payment >related-information.  . Through NACHA’s expertise and guidance, the ACH Network is now one of the largest, safest and most reliable payment systems, creating value and enabling innovation for all participants.

Good 4 Dirt uses Quickbooks and the ACH electronic check process as our preferred payment method because it is simple, secure and timely. First, I send you an invoice with a payment link.  Then the customer enters their banks routing information and account number.  I never see either of these numbers. The ACH Network is a funds distribution system that moves funds electronically from one entity to another. As stated above, it is a highly reliable and efficient nationwide electronic network governed by the rules of the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) and the Federal Reserve (Fed). Given its ability to electronically transfer money directly to and from bank accounts, ACH is a faster payment method than traditional paper checks. The ACH payment process is close to the paper check process, only faster. Clients give their bank routing or checking account number and after verification, the payment is transferred quite immediately electronically through the ACH system. Besides checks, the ACH Network also handles debit card transactions, direct deposits of payroll, Social Security, and other government benefits, direct debit payments and business-to-business payments.  

As my customer, the electronic check process is free and I pay the minimal transaction fee.  However, because I sell below retail I do recapture the merchant service fee if you decide to use a credit or debit card as explained when you opt for that  form of payment.  As a result, processing an eCheck is generally much cheaper than processing a paper check or credit card transaction.

ACH electronic payments are eco- friendly too. First, it relies on the trusted ACH network.  Second, it helps reduce the more than  67.4 million gallons of fuel used and 3.6 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions created by transporting paper checks.  Third, it decreases errors and fraud. Fourth, it reduces the potential for errors and fraud because fewer people handle them.Fifth, the ACH Network automatically encrypts messages using 128-bit encryption and a secure sockets layer (SSL).  Sixth, QuickBooks Payments offers a complete payment processing solution. Businesses can take payments from their customers in many ways- from ACH bank payments, electronic checks to credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. In addition to offering many ways to get paid, QuickBooks Payments also enables businesses to email invoices to their customers with a Pay Now button. 
 
LearnMore/ National Automated Clearing House Association
 
Learn More/ QuickBooks Payment Network