A business owner will want to give his or her customers the opportunity to make payments in various ways. Accepting checks by phone is one way a business may decide to collect payment. The procedure can be tricky because of the verification issues that may arise during a phone payment. In other words, the business owner cannot truly verify over the phone that the person who is making the payment owns the bank account in question. Such a process is legal and acceptable, however. Many companies do accept checks by phone, and a large portion of such transactions goes smoothly. A business owner would need to take a few steps to obtain a customer’s verbal authorization for the charges. Having the appropriate software or merchant account in place can aid a business in avoiding messy transactions.
Credit card processing should be the primary payment choice for business owners with merchant accounts. However, some consumers prefer to use their checking accounts for over-the-phone payments. A number of consumers still has old-fashioned paper checks, and many consumers do not use credit cards, debit cards or cash to pay their bills.
A business should have check-by-phone software installed into its company computers. The special software will aid a person in entering information such as account number, routing number, check number, name, address, telephone number and so forth.The person who takes the payment should restate the charge, and he or she should ask the customer to agree to it. After the person receives transaction approval from the customer, he or she can submit the payment request. Advanced check payment software can check the consumer’s bank account for validity. It may also check the bank account to ensure that the balance is available. The software’s capability will depend on its manufacturer.
Merchant Accounts With ACH Processing
A business owner can elect to sign up for an ACH merchant account. It can serve as an alternative to credit card processing. Such an account would work by charging the merchant a flat fee for each electronic check that it processes. Paper checks would have a higher fee. Such accounts can benefit a business owner by providing failed payment notifications and non-sufficient funds transactions instantly. The business would know immediately if a check is bad, and if someone has to request an alternative payment from the customer. ACH payment processing software is available online for free demonstration.