Accept an ACH Direct Debit payment

Build a custom payment form or use Stripe Checkout to accept payments with ACH Direct Debit.

Web

Mobile

Accepting ACH Direct Debit payments on your website consists of:

Creating an object to track a payment
Collecting payment method information with instant verifications enabled by Stripe Financial Connections
Submitting the payment to Stripe for processing
Verifying your customer’s bank account

Note

ACH Direct Debit is a delayed notification payment method, which means that funds aren’t immediately available after payment. A payment typically takes 4 business days to arrive in your account.

Stripe uses the payment object, the Payment Intent, to track and handle all the states of the payment until the payment completes.

Set up Stripe
Server-side

First, you need a Stripe account. Register now.

Use our official libraries for access to the Stripe API from your application:

Create or retrieve a customer
Recommended
Server-side

Create a Customer object when your user creates an account with your business, or retrieve an existing Customer associated with this user. Associating the ID of the Customer object with your own internal representation of a customer enables you to retrieve and use the stored payment method details later. Include an email address on the Customer to enable Financial Connections’ return user optimization.

Create a PaymentIntent
Server-side

A PaymentIntent is an object that represents your intent to collect payment from a customer and tracks the lifecycle of the payment process through each stage.

Create a PaymentIntent on your server and specify the amount to collect and the usd currency. If you already have an integration using the Payment Intents API, add us_bank_account to the list of payment method types for your PaymentIntent. Specify the id of the Customer.

If you want to reuse the payment method in the future, provide the setup_future_usage parameter with the value of off_session.

By default, collecting bank account payment information uses Financial Connections to instantly verify your customer’s account, with a fallback option of manual account number entry and microdeposit verification. See the Financial Connections docs to learn how to configure Financial Connections and access additional account data to optimize your ACH integration. For example, you can use Financial Connections to check an account’s balance before initiating the ACH payment.

Note

To expand access to additional data after a customer authenticates their account, they must re-link their account with expanded permissions.

Retrieve the client secret

The PaymentIntent includes a client secret that the client side uses to securely complete the payment process. You can use different approaches to pass the client secret to the client side.

Retrieve the client secret from an endpoint on your server, using the browser’s fetch function. This approach is best if your client side is a single-page application, particularly one built with a modern frontend framework like React. Create the server endpoint that serves the client secret:

And then fetch the client secret with JavaScript on the client side:

(async () => {
  const response = await fetch('/secret');
  const {client_secret: clientSecret} = await response.json();
  // Render the form using the clientSecret
})();

Collect payment method details
Client-side

When a customer clicks to pay with ACH Direct Debit, we recommend you use Stripe.js to submit the payment to Stripe. Stripe.js is our foundational JavaScript library for building payment flows. It will automatically handle integration complexities, and enables you to easily extend your integration to other payment methods in the future.

Include the Stripe.js script on your checkout page by adding it to the head of your HTML file.

checkout.html
<head>
  <title>Checkout</title>
  <script src="https://js.stripe.com/basil/stripe.js"></script>
</head>

Create an instance of Stripe.js with the following JavaScript on your checkout page.

client.js
// Set your publishable key. Remember to change this to your live publishable key in production!
// See your keys here: https://dashboard.stripe.com/apikeys
const stripe = Stripe('pk_test_TYooMQauvdEDq54NiTphI7jx'
);

Rather than sending the entire PaymentIntent object to the client, use its client secret from the previous step. This is different from your API keys that authenticate Stripe API requests.

Handle the client secret carefully because it can complete the charge. Don’t log it, embed it in URLs, or expose it to anyone but the customer.

Use stripe.collectBankAccountForPayment to collect bank account details with Financial Connections, create a PaymentMethod, and attach that PaymentMethod to the PaymentIntent. Including the account holder’s name in the billing_details parameter is required to create an ACH Direct Debit PaymentMethod.

script.js
// Use the form that already exists on the web page.
const paymentMethodForm = document.getElementById('payment-method-form');
const confirmationForm = document.getElementById('confirmation-form');

paymentMethodForm.addEventListener('submit', (ev) => {
  ev.preventDefault();
  const accountHolderNameField = document.getElementById('account-holder-name-field');
  const emailField = document.getElementById('email-field');

  // Calling this method will open the instant verification dialog.
  stripe.collectBankAccountForPayment({
    clientSecret: clientSecret,
    params: {
      payment_method_type: 'us_bank_account',
      payment_method_data: {
        billing_details: {
          name: accountHolderNameField.value,
          email: emailField.value,
        },
      },
    },
    expand: ['payment_method'],
  })
  .then(({paymentIntent, error}) => {
    if (error) {
      console.error(error.message);
      // PaymentMethod collection failed for some reason.
    } else if (paymentIntent.status === 'requires_payment_method') {
      // Customer canceled the hosted verification modal. Present them with other
      // payment method type options.
    } else if (paymentIntent.status === 'requires_confirmation') {
      // We collected an account - possibly instantly verified, but possibly
      // manually-entered. Display payment method details and mandate text
      // to the customer and confirm the intent once they accept
      // the mandate.
      confirmationForm.show();
    }
  });
});

The Financial Connections authentication flow automatically handles bank account details collection and verification. When your customer completes the authentication flow, the PaymentMethod automatically attaches to the PaymentIntent, and creates a Financial Connections Account.

Common mistake

Bank accounts that your customers link through manual entry and microdeposits won’t have access to additional bank account data like balances, ownership, and transactions.

To provide the best user experience on all devices, set the viewport minimum-scale for your page to 1 using the viewport meta tag.

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, minimum-scale=1" />

OptionalAccess data on a Financial Connections bank account
Server-side

You can only access Financial Connections data if you request additional data permissions when you create your PaymentIntent .

After your customer successfully completes the Stripe Financial Connections authentication flow, the us_bank_account PaymentMethod returned includes a financial_connections_account ID that points to a Financial Connections Account. Use this ID to access account data.

Common mistake

Bank accounts that your customers link through manual entry and microdeposits don’t have a financial_connections_account ID on the Payment Method.

To determine the Financial Connections account ID, retrieve the PaymentIntent and expand the payment_method attribute:

{
  "id": "{{PAYMENT_INTENT_ID}}",
  "object": "payment_intent",
  // ...
  "payment_method": {
    "id": "{{PAYMENT_METHOD_ID}}",
    // ...
    "type": "us_bank_account"
    "us_bank_account": {
      "account_holder_type": "individual",
      "account_type": "checking",
      "bank_name": "TEST BANK",
      "financial_connections_account": "{{FINANCIAL_CONNECTIONS_ACCOUNT_ID}}",
      "fingerprint": "q9qchffggRjlX2tb",
      "last4": "6789",
      "routing_number": "110000000"
    }
  }
  // ...
}

If you opted to receive balances permissions, we recommend checking a balance at this stage to verify sufficient funds before confirming a payment.

Learn more about using additional account data to optimize your ACH integration with Financial Connections.

Collect mandate acknowledgement and submit the payment
Client-side

Before you can initiate the payment, you must obtain authorization from your customer by displaying mandate terms for them to accept.

To be compliant with Nacha rules, you must obtain authorization from your customer before you can initiate payment by displaying mandate terms for them to accept. For more information on mandates, see Mandates.

When the customer accepts the mandate terms, you must confirm the PaymentIntent. Use stripe.confirmUsBankAccountPayment to complete the payment when the customer submits the form.

script.js
confirmationForm.addEventListener('submit', (ev) => {
  ev.preventDefault();
  stripe.confirmUsBankAccountPayment(clientSecret)
  .then(({paymentIntent, error}) => {
    if (error) {
      console.error(error.message);
      // The payment failed for some reason.
    } else if (paymentIntent.status === "requires_payment_method") {
      // Confirmation failed. Attempt again with a different payment method.
    } else if (paymentIntent.status === "processing") {
      // Confirmation succeeded! The account will be debited.
      // Display a message to customer.
    } else if (paymentIntent.next_action?.type === "verify_with_microdeposits") {
      // The account needs to be verified through microdeposits.
      // Display a message to consumer with next steps (consumer waits for
      // microdeposits, then enters a statement descriptor code on a page sent to them through email).
    }
  });
});

Note

stripe.confirmUsBankAccountPayment may take several seconds to complete. During that time, disable resubmittals of your form and show a waiting indicator (for example, a spinner). If you receive an error, show it to the customer, re-enable the form, and hide the waiting indicator.

If successful, Stripe returns a PaymentIntent object, with one of the following possible statuses:

Status	Description	Next Steps
`requires_action`	Further action is needed to complete bank account verification.	Step 6: Verifying bank accounts with microdeposits
`processing`	The bank account was instantly verified or verification isn’t necessary.	Step 7: Confirm the PaymentIntent succeeded

After successfully confirming the PaymentIntent, an email confirmation of the mandate and collected bank account details must be sent to your customer. Stripe handles these by default, but you can choose to send custom notifications if you prefer.

Verify bank account with microdeposits
Client-side

Not all customers can verify the bank account instantly. This step only applies if your customer has elected to opt out of the instant verification flow in the previous step.

In these cases, Stripe sends a descriptor_code microdeposit and might fall back to an amount microdeposit if any further issues arise with verifying the bank account. These deposits take 1-2 business days to appear on the customer’s online statement.

Descriptor code. Stripe sends a single, 0.01 USD microdeposit to the customer’s bank account with a unique, 6-digit descriptor_code that starts with SM. Your customer uses this string to verify their bank account.
Amount. Stripe sends two, non-unique microdeposits to the customer’s bank account, with a statement descriptor that reads ACCTVERIFY. Your customer uses the deposit amounts to verify their bank account.

The result of the stripe.confirmUsBankAccountPayment method call in the previous step is a PaymentIntent in the requires_action state. The PaymentIntent contains a next_action field that contains some useful information for completing the verification.

next_action: {
  type: "verify_with_microdeposits",
  verify_with_microdeposits: {
    arrival_date: 1647586800,
    hosted_verification_url: "https://payments.stripe.com/…",
    microdeposit_type: "descriptor_code"
  }
}

If you supplied a billing email, Stripe notifies your customer through this email when the deposits are expected to arrive. The email includes a link to a Stripe-hosted verification page where they can confirm the amounts of the deposits and complete verification.

Warning

Verification attempts have a limit of ten failures for descriptor-based microdeposits and three for amount-based ones. If you exceed this limit, we can no longer verify the bank account. In addition, microdeposit verifications have a timeout of 10 days. If you can’t verify microdeposits in that time, the PaymentIntent reverts to requiring new payment method details. Clear messaging about what these microdeposits are and how you use them can help your customers avoid verification issues.

Optional: Send custom email notifications

Optionally, you can send custom email notifications to your customer. After you set up custom emails, you need to specify how the customer responds to the verification email. To do so, choose one of the following:

Use the Stripe-hosted verification page. To do this, use the verify_with_microdeposits[hosted_verification_url] URL in the next_action object to direct your customer to complete the verification process.
If you prefer not to use the Stripe-hosted verification page, create a form on your site. Your customers then use this form to relay microdeposit amounts to you and verify the bank account using Stripe.js.
- At minimum, set up the form to handle the descriptor code parameter, which is a 6-digit string for verification purposes.
- Stripe also recommends that you set your form to handle the amounts parameter, as some banks your customers use may require it.
Integrations only pass in the descriptor_code or amounts. To determine which one your integration uses, check the value for verify_with_microdeposits[microdeposit_type] in the next_action object.

stripe.verifyMicrodepositsForPayment(clientSecret, {
  // Provide either a descriptor_code OR amounts, not both
  descriptor_code: 'SMT86W',
  amounts: [32, 45],
});

When the bank account is successfully verified, Stripe returns the PaymentIntent object with a status of processing, and sends a payment_intent.processing webhook event.

Verification can fail for several reasons. The failure may happen synchronously as a direct error response, or asynchronously through a payment_intent.payment_failed webhook event (shown in the following examples).

{
  "error": {
    "code": "payment_method_microdeposit_verification_amounts_mismatch",
    "message": "The amounts provided do not match the amounts that were sent to the bank account. You have {attempts_remaining} verification attempts remaining.",
    "type": "invalid_request_error"
  }
}

Error Code	Synchronous or Asynchronous	Message	Status change
`payment_method_microdeposit_failed`	Synchronously, or asynchronously through webhook event	Microdeposits failed. Please check the account, institution and transit numbers provided	`status` is `requires_payment_method`, and `last_payment_error` is set.
`payment_method_microdeposit_verification_amounts_mismatch`	Synchronously	The amounts provided do not match the amounts that were sent to the bank account. You have {attempts_remaining} verification attempts remaining.	Unchanged
`payment_method_microdeposit_verification_attempts_exceeded`	Synchronously, or asynchronously through webhook event	Exceeded number of allowed verification attempts	`status` is `requires_payment_method`, and `last_payment_error` is set.
`payment_method_microdeposit_verification_timeout`	Asynchronously through webhook event	Microdeposit timeout. Customer hasn’t verified their bank account within the required 10 day period.	`status` is `requires_payment_method`, and `last_payment_error` is set.

Confirm the PaymentIntent succeeded
Server-side

ACH Direct Debit is a delayed notification payment method. This means that it can take up to four business days to receive notification of the success or failure of a payment after you initiate a debit from your customer’s account.

The PaymentIntent you create initially has a status of processing. After the payment has succeeded, the PaymentIntent status is updated from processing to succeeded.

We recommend using webhooks to confirm the charge has succeeded and to notify the customer that the payment is complete. You can also view events on the Stripe Dashboard.

The following events are sent when the PaymentIntent status is updated:

Event	Description	Next Step
`payment_intent.processing`	The customer’s payment was submitted to Stripe successfully.	Wait for the initiated payment to succeed or fail.
`payment_intent.succeeded`	The customer’s payment succeeded.	Fulfill the goods or services that were purchased.
`payment_intent.payment_failed`	The customer’s payment was declined. This can also apply to a failed microdeposit verification.	Contact the customer through email or push notification and request another payment method. If the webhook was sent due to a failed microdeposit verification, the user needs to enter in their bank account details again and a new set of microdeposits will be deposited in their account.

Test your integration

Learn how to test scenarios with instant verifications using Financial Connections.

Send transaction emails in a sandbox

After you collect the bank account details and accept a mandate, send the mandate confirmation and microdeposit verification emails in a sandbox.

If your domain is {domain} and your username is {username}, use the the following email format to send test transaction emails: {username}+test_email@{domain}.

For example, if your domain is example.com and your username is info, use the format info+test_email@example.com for testing ACH Direct Debit payments. This format ensures that emails route correctly. If you don’t include the +test_email suffix, we won’t send the email.

Common mistake

You need to activate your Stripe account before you can trigger these emails while testing.

Test account numbers

Stripe provides several test account numbers and corresponding tokens you can use to make sure your integration for manually-entered bank accounts is ready for production.

Account number	Token	Routing number	Behavior
`000123456789`	`pm_usBankAccount_success`	`110000000`	The payment succeeds.
`000111111113`	`pm_usBankAccount_accountClosed`	`110000000`	The payment fails because the account is closed.
`000000004954`	`pm_usBankAccount_riskLevelHighest`	`110000000`	The payment is blocked by Radar due to a high risk of fraud.
`000111111116`	`pm_usBankAccount_noAccount`	`110000000`	The payment fails because no account is found.
`000222222227`	`pm_usBankAccount_insufficientFunds`	`110000000`	The payment fails due to insufficient funds.
`000333333335`	`pm_usBankAccount_debitNotAuthorized`	`110000000`	The payment fails because debits aren’t authorized.
`000444444440`	`pm_usBankAccount_invalidCurrency`	`110000000`	The payment fails due to invalid currency.
`000666666661`	`pm_usBankAccount_failMicrodeposits`	`110000000`	The payment fails to send microdeposits.
`000555555559`	`pm_usBankAccount_dispute`	`110000000`	The payment triggers a dispute.
`000000000009`	`pm_usBankAccount_processing`	`110000000`	The payment stays in processing indefinitely. Useful for testing PaymentIntent cancellation.
`000777777771`	`pm_usBankAccount_weeklyLimitExceeded`	`110000000`	The payment fails due to payment amount causing the account to exceed its weekly payment volume limit.

Before test transactions can complete, you need to verify all test accounts that automatically succeed or fail the payment. To do so, use the test microdeposit amounts or descriptor codes below.

Test microdeposit amounts and descriptor codes

To mimic different scenarios, use these microdeposit amounts or 0.01 descriptor code values.

Microdeposit values	0.01 descriptor code values	Scenario
`32` and `45`	SM11AA	Simulates verifying the account.
`10` and `11`	SM33CC	Simulates exceeding the number of allowed verification attempts.
`40` and `41`	SM44DD	Simulates a microdeposit timeout.

Test settlement behavior

Test transactions settle instantly and are added to your available test balance. This behavior differs from livemode, where transactions can take multiple days to settle in your available balance.

OptionalGranular settlement speed
Server-side

If accelerated settlement speed (such as T+2) is available for your account, you can select the settlement speed for any given transaction using the preferred_settlement_speed payment method option.

To set accelerated settlement speed, pass the parameter with the preferred value during the PaymentIntent creation.

The fastest value enables the fastest settlement allowed for your account. The parameter also supports standard value, which makes the payment settle in 4 business days, regardless of the default settlement time set for your account.

If you don’t pass a value, the default behavior is assumed. Settlement timing affects the availability of the Balance Transaction for the resulting payment.

OptionalInstant only verification
Server-side

By default, US bank account payments allows your customers to use instant bank account verification or microdeposits. You can optionally require instant bank account verification only, using the verification_method parameter when you create the PaymentIntent.

This ensures that you don’t need to handle microdeposit verification. However, if instant verification fails, the PaymentIntent’s status is requires_payment_method, indicating a failure to instantly verify a bank account for your customer.

OptionalMicrodeposit only verification
Server-side

By default, US bank account payments allow your customers to use instant bank account verification or microdeposits. You can optionally require microdeposit verification only using the verification_method parameter when you create the PaymentIntent.

Caution

If using a custom payment form, you must build your own UI to collect bank account details. If you disable Stripe microdeposit emails, you must build your own UI for your customer to confirm the microdeposit code or amount.

You must then collect your customer’s bank account with your own form and call stripe.confirmUsBankAccountPayment with those details to complete the PaymentIntent.

script.js
var form = document.getElementById('payment-form');
var accountholderName = document.getElementById('accountholder-name');
var email = document.getElementById('email');
var accountNumber = document.getElementById('account-number');
var routingNumber = document.getElementById('routing-number');
var accountHolderType= document.getElementById('account-holder-type');

var submitButton = document.getElementById('submit-button');
var clientSecret = submitButton.dataset.secret;

form.addEventListener('submit', function(event) {
  event.preventDefault();

  stripe.confirmUsBankAccountPayment(clientSecret, {
    payment_method: {
      billing_details: {
        name: accountholderName.value,
        email: email.value,
      },
      us_bank_account: {
        account_number: accountNumber.value,
        routing_number: routingNumber.value,
        account_holder_type: accountHolderType.value, // 'individual' or 'company'
      },
    },
  })
  .then(({paymentIntent, error}) => {
    if (error) {
      // Inform the customer that there was an error.
      console.log(error.message);
    } else {
      // Handle next step based on the intent's status.
      console.log("PaymentIntent ID: " + paymentIntent.id);
      console.log("PaymentIntent status: " + paymentIntent.status);
    }
  });
});

OptionalResolve disputes
Server-side

Customers can generally dispute an ACH Direct Debit payment through their bank for up to 60 calendar days after a debit on a personal account, or up to 2 business days for a business account. In rare instances, a customer might be able to successfully dispute a debit payment outside these standard dispute timelines.

When a customer disputes a payment, Stripe sends a charge.dispute.closed webhook event, and the PaymentMethod authorization is revoked.

In rare situations, Stripe might receive an ACH failure from the bank after a PaymentIntent has transitioned to succeeded. If this happens, Stripe creates a dispute with a reason of:

insufficient_funds
incorrect_account_details
bank_can't_process

Stripe charges a failure fee in this situation.

Future payments reusing this PaymentMethod return the following error:

{
  "error": {
    "message": "This PaymentIntent requires a mandate, but no existing mandate was found. Collect mandate acceptance from the customer and try again, providing acceptance data in the mandate_data parameter.",
    "payment_intent": {
      ...
    }
    "type": "invalid_request_error"
  }
}

This error contains a PaymentIntent in the requires_confirmation state. To continue with the payment, you must:

Resolve the dispute with the customer to ensure future payments will not be disputed.
Confirm authorization from your customer again.

To confirm authorization for the payment, you can collect mandate acknowledgement from your customer online with Stripe.js or confirm authorization with your customer offline using the Stripe API.

Caution

If a customer disputes more than one payment from the same bank account, Stripe blocks their bank account. Contact Stripe Support for further resolution.

OptionalPayment Reference

The payment reference number is a bank-generated value that allows the bank account owner to use their bank to locate funds. When the payment succeeds, Stripe provides the payment reference number in the Dashboard and inside the Charge object.

Charge State	Payment Reference Value
Pending	Unavailable
Failed	Unavailable
Succeeded	Available (for example, 091000015001234)

In addition, when you receive the charge.succeeded webhook, view the content of payment_method_details to locate the payment_reference.

The following example event shows the rendering of a successful ACH payment with a payment reference number.

{
  "id": "{{EVENT_ID}}",
  "object": "event",
  // omitted some fields in the example
  "type": "charge.succeeded",
  "data": {
    "object": {
      "id": "{{PAYMENT_ID}}",
      "object": "charge",
      //...
    "paid": true,
    "payment_intent": "{{PAYMENT_INTENT_ID}}",
    "payment_method": "{{PAYMENT_METHOD_ID}}",
    "payment_method_details": {
      "type": "us_bank_account",
      "us_bank_account": {
        "account_holder_type": "individual",
        "account_type": "checking",
        "bank_name": "TEST BANK",
        "fingerprint": "Ih3foEnRvLXShyfB",
        "last4": "1000",
        "payment_reference": "091000015001234",
        "routing_number": "110000000"
        }
      }
      // ...
    }
  }
}

View the contents of the destination_details to locate the refund reference associated with the refunded ACH payments.

The following example event shows the rendering of a successful ACH refund with a refund reference number. Learn more about refunds.

{
  "id": "{{EVENT_ID}}",
  "object": "event",
  "type": "charge.refund.updated",
  "data": {
    "object": {
      "id": "{{REFUND_ID}}",
      "object": "refund",
      //...
    "payment_intent": "{{PAYMENT_INTENT_ID}}",
    "destination_details": {
      "type": "us_bank_transfer",
      "us_bank_transfer": {
        "reference": "091000015001111",
        "reference_status": "available"
        }
      }
      // ...
    }
  }
}

OptionalConfigure customer debit date
Server-side

You can control the date that Stripe debits a customer’s bank account using the target date. The target date must be at least three days in the future and no more than 15 days from the current date.

The target date schedules money to leave the customer’s account on the target date. You can cancel a PaymentIntent created with a target date up to three business days before the configured date.

Target dates that meet one of the following criteria delay the debit until next available business day:

Target date falls on a weekend, a bank holiday, or other non-business day.
Target date is fewer than three business days in the future.

This parameter operates on a best-effort basis. Each customer’s bank might process debits on different dates, depending on local bank holidays or other reasons.

Accept an ACH Direct Debit payment

Build a custom payment form or use Stripe Checkout to accept payments with ACH Direct Debit.

Note

Set up StripeServer-side

Create or retrieve a customerRecommendedServer-side

Create a PaymentIntentServer-side

Note

Retrieve the client secret

Collect payment method detailsClient-side

Common mistake

OptionalAccess data on a Financial Connections bank accountServer-side

Common mistake

Collect mandate acknowledgement and submit the paymentClient-side

Note

Verify bank account with microdepositsClient-side

Warning

Optional: Send custom email notifications

Confirm the PaymentIntent succeededServer-side

Test your integration

Send transaction emails in a sandbox

Common mistake

Test account numbers

Test microdeposit amounts and descriptor codes

Test settlement behavior

OptionalGranular settlement speedServer-side

OptionalInstant only verificationServer-side

OptionalMicrodeposit only verificationServer-side

Caution

OptionalResolve disputesServer-side

Caution

OptionalPayment Reference

OptionalConfigure customer debit dateServer-side

See also

Set up Stripe
Server-side

Create or retrieve a customer
Recommended
Server-side

Create a PaymentIntent
Server-side

Collect payment method details
Client-side

OptionalAccess data on a Financial Connections bank account
Server-side

Collect mandate acknowledgement and submit the payment
Client-side

Verify bank account with microdeposits
Client-side

Confirm the PaymentIntent succeeded
Server-side

OptionalGranular settlement speed
Server-side

OptionalInstant only verification
Server-side

OptionalMicrodeposit only verification
Server-side

OptionalResolve disputes
Server-side

OptionalConfigure customer debit date
Server-side