One of the big requests over the years has been ACH payments, due to the lower transaction costs. If a number of payments are done via ACH, the saved transaction fees can really add up.
The current (8/4/2025) Stripe pricing for ACH transactions is .8% with a $5 cap. Credit cards are 2.9% + 30cents – that can really add up on larger transactions! For example on a $100 charge, ACH is 80 cents, while a credit card fee is $3.20.
However there is a catch, and we think it’s a big one. If an ACH payment fails, there is a $4 fee. 😰 That means a lot of the savings you’re getting from ACH is immediately paid back from a few transactions that fail. We are seeing many situations where someone tries to process a $20 charge via ACH that fails due to insufficient funds (yes, really)….resulting in a $4 fee for our client. (Note – we still strongly believe that Stripe is by far the best option for processing payments online, and all of our clients are seeing much higher acceptance rates on the Stripe platform. We want to be clear these fees are on all platforms, not just Stripe.)
The math CAN work if you process a lot of larger transactions….but if you are processing smaller transactions (~ $20) then you might be paying more in fees than you should be. There is another drawback, and that is the long delay in confirming & receiving payment. Punchpass passes are available for use right away, but an ACH payment can take up to 4 days. ACH is generally only recommended for payments where you can hold off providing the purchased good until after payment has cleared.
As a result we’ve changed our mind about recommending ACH payments. If you’d like to accept them than sure – no problem at all. But you’ll need to opt-in so you understand the implications. Here are the changes we have made, and the recommendations for what you should do on your Stripe account:
1) We have turned off ACH by default on the Stripe Connect settings. This means that unless you have expressly turned ACH ‘on’, it will not show as a payment option.
2) You should review your payment settings to determine 1) if ACH is on, and 2) to configure if you would like it to be on. Log onto Stripe, click on the gear icon in the upper right corner, click ‘Payments’, then the Payment Methods tab. Scroll down to the bottom for ACH Direct Debit.
3) If you do decide to turn on ACH, we do recommend you create a payment rule, to only show ACH as an option on payments above a certain threshold. For example, you can tell Stripe to only show ACH if the payment is going to be more than $50 (you should decide what threshold is right for you.)
There is a solution (US only at the moment) that will help a bit. Stripe now has Instant Bank Payments via Link. The fee is slightly less than a credit card (2.6%) and there are no fees for failed payments. It essentially turns a bank payment into a credit card payment – instant authorization, a 2 day payout, along with a slightly lower fee. Instant Bank Payments will show if you don’t have ACH as a payment option (it’s one or the other) and we DO recommend it because it has none of the downsides of traditional ACH payments.
Payments are tricky! Unfortunately fees are just part of what is required to participate in the Internet economy. The bottom line? ACH fees can be a hidden drag on your business. Please review your ACH settings in Stripe to make sure you are setup the way you prefer.
