We're super excited to announce this new feature for Planning Center Giving!
Your donors can now set up ACH bank transfer donations by logging into their bank instead of using bank account and routing numbers. It works with 13 of the largest banks in the US. That means, statistically, the majority of your donors will be able to use this.
Why is it the best thing ever?
It's faster than the current method of verifying bank account ownership: waiting for "micro-deposits".
It's easier for your donors and less error-prone.
It doesn't interrupt the giving process.
Which banks does it work with?
So far? These ones:
What if a donor's bank isn't listed?
Fear not! PCO Giving will fall back to micro-deposit verification. As cool as this new feature is, remember that thousands of people have verified their bank accounts using the micro-deposit method. And they've successfully given over $1M to their churches. It will continue to work just fine.
Wait... if this makes it easier for people to give by ACH instead if credit or debit cards... and ACH donations have much lower processing fees... aren't we going to save a bunch of money?
Bank transfer donations still cost just $0.25 – much cheaper than 2.3% + $0.30 for a credit/debit card donation. Since Planning Center doesn't markup your processing fees in any way, our interests are aligned with yours when it comes to minimizing your fees. Easier ACH setup will help you do just that!
Love,
Team Giving
Mo, Dan, Daniel, Kevin, Dustin, and Jeremy.
Background: Micro-Deposit Verification
Here's why accounts have to be verified and how the current micro-deposit process works.
If you have a bank account and you give a 3rd party authority to reach into that account and withdraw money, the 3rd party system needs to know that you actually control that bank account. Because you're giving it the authority to withdraw funds, it's different than your payroll company (for example) which typically makes deposits and with whom banks have a relationship with.
Examples of 3rd party transactional systems:
PayPal
Investment brokers (like Vanguard and Fidelity)
Payment processors (like Stripe)
Other banks
These systems almost all use the "micro-deposit" method of verifying account ownership. They make two teeny deposits into your account. It takes a couple days for them to show in your bank account history. Then you, the account holder, have to head back to the system being connected (in our case, Stripe via PCO Giving) and verify the amounts deposited. This way, Stripe knows you're most likely who you say you are, you have access to the bank account being connected, you've given permission to withdraw money, and that you have the right account. It lowers the chance of fraud and incurring fees from the bank for errant withdrawals.
So, micro-deposits work great... but they're slow and frankly annoying. You can see why we're so excited about this new instant verification feature! It provides all the benefits of account verification without the interruption and the waiting.
And that's our two cents on micro-deposits. Get it? ...no really, did you get that $0.02?