ACH is incredibly popular in the US. In 2013, the network processed about 22 billion transactions, with a total value of $38.7 trillion. So, if you want to accept it on your website, how do you get started?
Usually, the first step is to partner with a bank, which will become your Originating Depository Financial Institution (or ODFI). It will act as the intermediary between you (the merchant, or originator) and the Federal Reserve. To initiate a transaction, you will upload a file to the bank FTP server. Once the OFDI processes it, it will forward the request to the Federal Reserve and either credit or debit your bank account. In turn, the Federal Reserve will transmit the transaction(s) to the recipient bank account (Receiving Depository Financial Institution or RDFI), which will update its account balance as well.
If the request doesn’t go through (because of insufficient funds, invalid account number, etc.), the RDFI will send a return file to the ODFI (again via the Federal Reserve), which will update your balance accordingly.
This process can take up to 5 days and isn’t easy to implement at a technical level, assuming you managed to find a bank to work with it in the first place. Luckily, some actors are actively trying to disrupt the space to not only speed up the transfer of money but also to lower the barrier of entry into the network.
Today, we’re pleased to announce that we have partnered with the team at Forte and have integrated their Advanced Gateway Interface (AGI) into Kill Bill. You can now very easily add an ACH option to your checkout flow.
The API is the same as the one you would use for credit card transactions. For example, here is how you would trigger a $500 ACH debit from a Bank of America (routing code 122400724) checking account:
curl -v \
-u admin:password \
-H "X-Killbill-ApiKey: bob" \
-H "X-Killbill-ApiSecret: lazar" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Killbill-CreatedBy: demo" \
-X POST \
--data-binary '{
"transactionType":"PURCHASE",
"amount":"500",
"currency":"USD",
"transactionExternalKey":"INV-0001"
}' \
"http://127.0.0.1:8080/1.0/kb/accounts/_ACCOUNT_ID_/payments?
pluginProperty=trn=122400724&
pluginProperty=accountNumber=123456789&
pluginProperty=accountType=C"
By using Kill Bill, there is virtually no change in the integration with your eCommerce website and, by leveraging Forte, you don’t have to worry about the ACH mechanics. Interested in ACH? The beta version of the plugin is available on GitHub!
