Migrating ACH Direct Debit from Charges to newer APIs

Learn why and how to migrate from the Charges API.

Stripe is removing support for ACH Direct Debit using legacy integrations.

If you create legacy ACH Direct Debit payments, you must migrate to the Payment Intents API or Checkout Sessions API.

Feature comparison

Stripe’s new APIs offer features that aren’t available in legacy integrations:

Feature	Legacy Integrations	Payment Intents API or Checkout Sessions API
Checkout support	No	Yes
Payment Element support	No	Yes
Dynamic payment method support	No	Yes
Settlement speed	T+6	T+4 (T+2 when using faster settlement)
Instant bank account verification	Only available through custom, third-party integrations	Instant verification with Financial Connections
Fraud prevention	No	Radar for ACH Balance checks using Financial Connections Smart Retries
Supported countries	US	US, EU and UK

Compare the Checkout Sessions and Payment Intents APIs

Stripe offers two new APIs to accept ACH Direct Debits payments: Payment Intents and Checkout Sessions APIs.

Checkout Sessions API: Supports common checkout workflows with built-in features that remove the need for custom code and is recommended for most developers.
Payment Intents API: A lower-level API for building your own checkout flow. It requires significantly more code and ongoing maintenance. We recommend Checkout Sessions for most integrations.

Learn more about the differences, and how to evaluate which is right for you.

Build an ACH Direct Debit integration

To build an ACH Direct Debit integration on Payment Intents or Checkout Sessions:

Enable ACH Direct Debit in your Payment methods settings.
To collect and use new payment methods, integrate with ACH on Payment Intents or Checkout Sessions.
For bank accounts previously collected using the Tokens API, you can continue to use saved BankAccount objects as PaymentMethod objects with the Payment Intents API. For details, see Migrate existing bank accounts.
Test your integration.
Gradually migrate all payments using existing bank accounts to the Payment Intents or Checkout Sessions API.
Remove your legacy integration.

Behavioral differences

Some features that exist in both APIs work differently. If you rely on any of the following behaviors, update your integration accordingly.

Behavior	Legacy Integrations	Payment Intents or Checkout Sessions API
Mandates	Not enforced by the API.	Enforced by the API. Payments can’t be initiated without an active mandate. Mandates can become inactive, which renders the payment method unusable. This can occur when a customer disputes a payment, when certain payment failures occur, or when Stripe becomes aware that the payment method is no longer valid. For more information, see Blocked bank accounts. If you reuse bank accounts created with the Tokens API, you must first create mandates for them. See Migrate existing bank accounts.
Balance transactions	Created when the charge is created. The `Balance transaction` object is present in the `charge.pending` event and the API response.	Created when the payment is submitted to the banking partner. The `Balance transaction` object is present in the `charge.updated` event, but not the API response.
Balance type	Funds settle in `source_type=bank_account`.	Funds settle in `source_type=card`, shared with cards and other payment methods. If you manually specify the balance type for payouts or Connect transfers, update your integration to use the new balance type. During migration, you receive one payout for each balance type until all new payments use the new API. For separate charges and transfers with `source_transaction`, wait for the `charge.updated` webhook before creating a transfer.
Microdeposits	Two microdeposits of random, small amounts for verification. No hosted verification UI.	One 1¢ microdeposit with a descriptor code for verification. In rare cases, Stripe sends two microdeposits of random, small amounts instead. Stripe provides a hosted verification page and sends automatic reminder emails to customers. Customers must verify their bank account within 10 days. If they don’t verify in time, the PaymentIntent or SetupIntent reverts to requiring new payment method details.
Emails	Stripe doesn’t send automatic emails.	Stripe automatically emails customers a mandate confirmation when mandates are created. When a customer attempts to verify a bank account using microdeposits, Stripe emails customers with a link to a hosted verification page. You can disable Stripe emails and send custom notifications instead. For sample mandate text and required content, see Mandate and microdeposit emails.

Webhook differences

If you previously listened to Charge events, you might need to update your integration to listen to new event types. The following table shows how webhook events differ.

Old webhook	New webhook on Checkout	New webhook on Payment Intents	Special instructions
`charge.pending`	`payment_intent.processing`	`payment_intent.processing`	In legacy integrations, `charge.pending` includes balance transaction. In new integrations, the balance transaction isn’t available until the `charge.updated` event.
`charge.updated`	`charge.updated`	`charge.updated`	Sent when the payment is submitted to the banking partner. Includes the balance transaction.
`charge.succeeded`	`checkout.session.completed`	`payment_intent.succeeded`	The `charge.succeeded` webhook is also sent, so you don’t have to update your integration to listen to the new webhook.
`charge.failed`	Not applicable. The customer can re-attempt the payment on the same Checkout Session until it expires, at which point you receive a `checkout.session.expired` event.	`payment_intent.payment_failed`	The `charge.failed` webhook is also sent, so you don’t have to update your integration to listen to the new webhook.
`charge.dispute.created`	`charge.dispute.created`	`charge.dispute.created`	Not applicable
Not applicable	`mandate.updated`	`mandate.updated`	Sent when a mandate becomes inactive.

Identify Legacy ACH Payments

On a Charge object, the payment_method_details.type property is ach_debit for the legacy integration and us_bank_account for the newer integration.

A legacy ACH payment is created when a legacy BankAccount is the payment source. This happens when:

You call the Create Charge API.
A Subscription or Invoice charges a customer whose default_source is a legacy BankAccount, and no default_payment_method is set on the customer, subscription, or invoice.
You call the Create PaymentIntent API with source set to a legacy BankAccount.