ACH Direct Debit Integration

In this article, you will learn how to activate ACH Direct Debit as a recurring payment method, record a mandate, find the mandate as a PDF, and properly handle returned direct debits including the dunning process.

Contents

• Requirements
• Record ACH Mandate
• Download and Find ACH Mandate
• Collect ACH in Payment Run
• Returned Direct Debits and Dunning Process

Fast lane

1. Check if your studio is located in the USA and Finion Pay is active.
2. Once these conditions are met, ACH is active
3. Enter the bank details in the payment widget (or in the sales tool / member account / Fast Finance Link / Open API).
4. If the member grants it themselves: collect signature (it will appear in the PDF).
5. Download the mandate in the payment method tile or additionally find it under documents.
6. Collect outstanding contributions in the next payment run and start your dunning process in case of returned direct debits.

Requirements

In order to use ACH Direct Debit, the following points must be met:

• Studio location: USA.
• Finion Pay active: ACH Direct Debit is only displayed if Finion Pay is active and enabled for the studio.
• Permissions: You need access to settings as well as member and finance areas (e.g. payment runs/dunning runs). 
• Member data: Valid bank details must be available for mandate issuance. If an account validation fails, no payment method is saved and the mandate is not created.

Record ACH Mandate

An ACH mandate is automatically generated as soon as the bank details are entered and confirmed in the payment widget.

You can record the mandate in various ways – depending on who enters the data:

• Studio-side: via the sales tool or in the member account.
• Member-side (self-service): via the member platform (web/app), via studio websites or other integrated interfaces.
• Technical: via the Open API or the Fast Finance Link (e.g. for quick update/recording by the member).

This is how recording works in the payment widget (general procedure):

1. Open the member overview, go to the payment method widget 
2. Select ACH Direct Debit as the payment method for recurring payments. 
3. Enter the bank details (e.g. account holder, account number, routing number).
4. Confirm the mandate issuance.
5. If the member grants the mandate themselves, a signature is collected and displayed in the mandate PDF.

Result: The system creates the ACH mandate, saves a mandate ID, and displays the status (e.g. active/pending/failed) in the member account or on the relevant interfaces.

Download and Find ACH Mandate

You can access the ACH mandate in two ways:

• Directly at the payment method: In the member, you will find the payment method in the payment method tile. There you can download the mandate as a PDF. 
• Additionally under documents: The mandate is also stored in the member's documents.

Open documents: Members / Select member / Administration / Documents

1. Open Members and select the member.
2. Go to Administration and open Documents.
3. Search for the document of type Mandate (ACH) and download it (via the three-dot menu). [

Note: If the member grants the mandate themselves, the PDF contains the collected signature.

Collect ACH in Payment Run

As soon as an active ACH mandate is available, you can collect contributions via a payment run.

1. Open Finance / Payment Runs.
2. Click on Create Payment Run.
3. Select ACH Direct Debit as the payment method. 
4. Set the collection date and submit/execute the payment run.

Result: The system sends the payment instructions for due contributions based on the stored mandate ID. Status updates (e.g. confirmed/failed) are visible in the payment status.

Returned Direct Debits and Dunning Process

With ACH Direct Debit, payments can fail due to returned direct debits. In this case, the payment status is updated and the case must be further processed via your dunning process.

Important: To properly catch returned direct debits, your dunning process for Direct Debit must be set up accordingly. For this, plan:

• An appropriate dunning configuration for Direct Debit (including rules for each reason for returned direct debit) under Settings / Finance / Dunning
• Regular dunning runs to follow up on outstanding claims.

Start dunning runs: Finance / Dunning Runs

1. Open Finance / Dunning Runs.
2. Create a preview and check the affected members.
3. Execute the dunning run and process the next steps according to your dunning levels.

Practical tip: If certain reasons for returned direct debits should invalidate a mandate, define this in your rules and ensure that the member grants a new mandate (e.g. via Member Platform or Fast Finance Link).