5 Reasons You Should Consider ACH Payments

What Is an ACH Payment?

An ACH payment is an electronic transfer of funds between bank accounts through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network.

Most people already use ACH without realizing it. Direct deposit payroll, online bill payments, recurring subscription payments, and transfers between bank accounts are all common examples of ACH transactions.

Unlike credit card payments, ACH transactions move funds directly between bank accounts rather than through card networks. This direct connection is one reason ACH often costs less to process than traditional card payments.

Why ACH Continues to Gain Popularity

While payment innovation often focuses on digital wallets, contactless payments, and other emerging technologies, ACH continues to gain momentum because it solves practical business challenges.

Businesses that once relied heavily on paper checks are continuing to move toward electronic payment methods that improve efficiency while maintaining familiarity for customers.

In 2025, the ACH Network processed 35.2 billion payments, an increase of nearly 5% year over year, showing continued growth in business and consumer adoption.

The Benefits of ACH Payments

ACH payments can provide meaningful advantages for both merchants and software providers, particularly in industries that rely on invoicing, recurring payments, or larger transaction amounts.

Benefits of ACH for Merchants

ACH is more than just an alternative to paper checks and card payments. For many businesses, it has become an important part of an efficient and flexible payment strategy. Some of the benefits merchants can see after implementing ACH payments include:

1. Improved Cash Flow: ACH helps speed up collections by allowing customers to pay electronically, reducing delays commonly associated with paper checks. Instead of waiting for checks to arrive, be deposited, and clear, businesses can receive payments through a more streamlined process. Faster access to funds can improve financial visibility and help businesses better manage day-to-day operations.
2. Reduced Manual Work: ACH can automate many accounts receivable processes. This can help to automate recurring payments, reduce invoice follow-up efforts, eliminate paper check handling, and simplify reconciliation and reporting. By reducing the number of manual tasks involved in processing payments, teams can spend less time on administrative work and more time serving customers.
3. Reduced Risk: Electronic bank transfers help reduce the risks associated with paper checks, including lost, stolen, altered, or delayed payments. ACH transactions also create a digital record of payment activity, making it easier to track payments and maintain accurate financial records.
4. Lower Costs: Because ACH payments move directly between bank accounts, processing fees are often lower, especially for larger transactions. For businesses that process recurring payments, invoice payments, or high-ticket transactions, those lower costs can add up over time and help improve overall profitability.
5. More Payment Options for Customers: Offering ACH alongside card payments gives customers additional flexibility and allows them to pay using their preferred payment method. For customers making larger purchases or recurring payments, ACH can often be a more convenient option, helping businesses create a better payment experience while potentially improving collection rates.

Benefits of ACH for Software Providers

For software companies that offer integrated payments, ACH can help create a more complete payment experience while driving additional value for users. Some of the benefits that software providers may see after offering ACH payments include:

1. Expanded Payment Capabilities: ACH allows software providers to offer users multiple payment options. Rather than limiting customers to only card payments, software platforms can support a broader range of payment preferences and business needs within a single solution.
2. Greater Fit Across Industry Verticals: Many industries commonly rely on invoices, subscriptions, recurring billing, or large-ticket transactions where ACH is often preferred. By supporting ACH alongside credit and debit cards, software providers can better serve industries such as healthcare, property management, professional services, distribution, and membership-based organizations.
3. Increased Payment Adoption: By offering ACH alongside credit and debit card payments, software providers can accommodate a wider range of payment preferences and use cases. This flexibility can help drive greater adoption of the platform’s integrated payments offering while making it easier for users to consolidate more of their payment activity within the software.
4. Improved User Retention: When customers can manage invoicing, payment acceptance, recurring billing, and collections directly within the software they already use, they have fewer reasons to seek outside solutions. The more seamlessly payments are integrated into everyday workflows, the more valuable the software becomes to the user.
5. Additional Revenue Opportunities: For software providers participating in a revenue-sharing integrated payments program, ACH can contribute incremental payment volume and create additional monetization opportunities. Offering additional payment methods can also help increase adoption of the platform’s payments offering by giving users more flexibility in how they accept and collect payments.

Read more: The Quiet Rail: When ACH Belongs in Your Payment Integration and When It Doesn’t

Which Businesses Benefit Most From ACH?

For businesses that primarily accept payments in person, credit cards, debit cards, and mobile wallets will likely remain the preferred methods. Consumers aren’t typically prepared to enter routing and account numbers when standing at a checkout counter.

However, ACH can deliver significant value for businesses that bill customers remotely or collect payments over time.

Examples include:

• Invoice-based businesses such as B2B companies, manufacturers, distributors, legal practices, accounting firms, etc.
• Healthcare organizations including medical practices, dental offices, vet clinics, etc.
• Recurring Billing Businesses including membership organizations, subscription services, property management companies, etc.
• Ecommerce and remote payment environments including online retailers, phone-order businesses or digital invoices.

The Future of ACH Payments

Businesses are looking beyond simply accepting payments. They want faster collections, lower costs, fewer manual processes, and a better customer experience. ACH helps address each of these goals while providing an alternative to traditional card payments.

For merchants, ACH can improve cash flow and simplify collections. For software providers, it can create a more complete integrated payments solution that better serves users and supports long-term growth.