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I'm looking for a way to automate a transfer from one bank account to another, without the end user having to login to something like paypal or amazon payments to complete the process (by transferring their on-line balance to their bank account). I've looked around online a bit, and found some vendors that seem to be able to do that, but API documentation doesn't make me feel sure about it.

Can anyone recommend a service they've used to do something like this? Obviously I'm looking for a web based API. The complete process is a middleman site that collects payments (that's the easy part), then disburses the payment (less a fee) to a bank account.

Amazon Payments would be great (allowing three-party/marketplace transactions); however, we're looking for something direct to the end users bank account.

(I know this isn't strictly about code, but I figured there might be someone out there who has done something similar.)

Tim Lytle
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  • check out this new y combinator company for making ach transfers - [balanced](https://www.balancedpayments.com/) – Loourr Jun 20 '13 at 04:09

8 Answers8

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I definitely would advise against AllianceACH.com for the time being. They got sued by their bank and we lost a $5000 deposit because they don't have the money to refund it.

I'm pretty sure they are going out of business, although not positive. If they do end up getting their act together, and giving us back our deposit, I would definitely use them again. After they stopped providing ACH services, we switched to FirstAch.com.

FirstACH.com has what you need - however I have to warn you their interface (both API and GUI) are terrible and annoying. Their customers service is inept and they aren't flexible in working with you to provide solutions tailored to your individual needs. Unfortunately they are the best we have found.

We are currently looking into Wells Fargo business solutions as an alternative, however I suspect it won't be nearly as cheap.

mikeylikesit
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  • Turns out the project has been in the air since I asked the question, not even sure what payment gateway will be used (if it ever goes anywhere). Thanks for the advise. – Tim Lytle Sep 25 '09 at 02:25
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    No joke. FirstACH's customer service is incredibly bad. This was my first experience with them: http://i.imgur.com/up4P8Bi.jpg – Ryan McGeary Aug 22 '13 at 19:13
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    @RyanMcGeary that's the most hilarious thing I've seen this week. Thanks for the laugh! – Dominique Oct 04 '14 at 19:54
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The first place I would start is with your bank. Ask them what options they have for what you want to do. I am quickly finding that a good bank is willing to sit down with you and show you at least the options that they have and provide. They know the lingo of the business and can translate that for you. In our case, we can automate the ACH process by creating an ACH file daily and FTP that file to the bank.

Mike Wills
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  • What bank was this with? – socca1157 Mar 24 '15 at 04:48
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    It's very common for all banks to provide this functionality. It's done via a [NACHA file](https://www.regaltek.com/docs/NACHA%20Format.pdf) and uploaded via SFTP to the bank. Airbnb did this for their first version of their site. However, note that you'll need to generate this file and handle errors in the returned file. That's a bear to do. – Adam Link Apr 01 '15 at 17:46
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    Here's a blogpost http://nerds.airbnb.com/do-it-yourself-ach-direct-deposit/ from 2011 about Airbnb doing this, for the curious – jbll Jul 24 '15 at 23:01
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Looks like Payflow ACH Payment is also out there, Payflow ACH API Link

msqr
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I've seen people use Alliance before, and I know a few internal applications that use their ACH API, which handles all the check processing, direct deposits, and other transactions of that nature.

John Feminella
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I agree with Mike. Talking with your bank is a good starting point. We use Authorize.net ACH but that only supports getting money from your customer checking account but NOT depositing into a customer account. So far (and I am also looking for a simple solution) only our bank offered that direct deposit feature.

Dave
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ACH Direct mandates a $25 setup fee. They also have a very poor response record for setting up new accounts under an ISO. FirstACH doesn't have competitive rates in my opinion.

Donna
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Authorize.NET also has eCheck.net: http://www.authorize.net/solutions/merchantsolutions/merchantservices/echeck/

Authorize.NET is generally trusted, reliable, and easier to use than other payment gateways for charging credit cards. I suspect it would be the same for ACH.

Ian Lotinsky
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    In addition to ACH, there is traditional check-cutting. There are APIs out there where you can just give them a payee and address, they will print and mail the check for you. Where I work now, we use one to pay nonprofits called Network for Good. However, NFG will only send checks to nonprofits. – Ian Lotinsky Apr 28 '10 at 11:52
  • Does Authorize.NET have the traditional check-cutting? If not, do you know what API does? – evt Jul 25 '11 at 18:51
  • I don't think so. A quick Google search turned up: http://www.batchex.com/ and http://webmasterchecks.com/ (looks like the latter is having an SSL cert issue) – Ian Lotinsky Aug 10 '11 at 22:05
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    eCheck.net looks like it would be used for receiving checks, though, not sending them. – David Mar 09 '12 at 18:22
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You can use ACH Direct to do this. The API is here: https://www.paymentsgateway.net/pdf/agi_integration.pdf and the pricing is located here at www.achdirect.com/offer.

Leslie Hendrix