e-ValuCheck versus the Credit Card and ACH payment options
Overview
The average US consumer has no idea what the term ACH stands for or means. The closest that most consumers have ever come to an ACH is as a receiver via direct deposited payroll. However, consumers do not originate ACH payments as a means of payment. US consumers have been trained to pay by check and the average American writes 22 checks per month, while initiating zero ACH payments. So why does every online check payment service base their product on ACH?
NACHA, the governing body for ACH transactions, in their own whitepaper, has stated that the ACH was created for repetitive payments and "…are not suitable for non-recurring payments." The use of one-time payments via ACH can cause administrative return items for the merchant that are costly and bothersome. These ACH returns "can antagonize a customers whose paper check payment would have been honoredbut whose electronic payment was not."
E-ValuCheck has based its payment method on consumer behavior and on the consumers preferred method of payment, the paper check. E-ValuCheck was designed to provide the merchant with an electronic posting so that they will never see, touch or deposit a single paper check, while allowing their customers to make payment via the most preferred payment method in the US today.
ACH has 83 return codes, but the paper check has only seven,
An ACH can be returned by a phone call for 60 days from statement date,
A check is a paid item the day after it is presented at the drawee bank,
Administrative return codes for an ACH do not exist for a paper check,
Availability of funds on average can be a day faster with a check than with an ACH,
Not all banks, S&Ls or credit unions can process ACH transactions.
e-ValuCheck versus credit card
e-ValuCheck is provided to the online payments facilitator at a per transaction pricing tier depending upon monthly volumes. This price starts at $1.50 per transaction and decreases as volumes increase. When compared to the average 2.5% discount rate plus 25 cent processing fee that most banks charge to process online credit card transactions, e-ValuCheck is the most economical online payment option.
E-ValuCheck opens significant market potential for online agencies. This market potential includes the 80 million Americans that have checking accounts but do not have credit cards, the 40 million Americans that have credit cards with zero available credit on those cards and by allowing teenage consumers without credit cards the opportunity to now make payment online.
e-ValuCheck versus ACH