If you’re setting up your company’s first online presence or are upgrading your payment options on an existing ecommerce site, you may be wondering about echecks or electronic checks. As more retailers are taking their business transactions online, expanding options to accept echecks may be a consideration. But you may be asking yourself “are echecks safe for my company and my customers?” In this article, we’ll explain what echecks are and examine the benefits, including how safe they are when compared to other forms of online payment. eMerchant can help you easily accept echecks when you are ready to get started!

What is an electronic check?

An echeck, also known as an electronic check, internet check, online check or direct debit, is a digital representation of the traditional paper check. The echeck has been around for quite a while. Two common uses for echecks are when employers directly deposit wages into an employee’s bank account and when the IRS issues a tax refund. Many people use electronic checks to pay bills online. In an era of low-contact transactions and social distancing, echecks can be more useful than ever before.

How Do eChecks Work?

eChecks work the same way as paper checks in that they transfer money from one entity to another. However, the payment is made through the Automatic Clearing House (ACH) Network. No paper changes hands, so it’s much faster and less expensive. Once an online customer selects the option to pay by echeck, they enter in their bank routing number and checking account number. The payment gateway for that merchant transmits the encrypted information to an electronic check acceptance service.

Gateways process echecks in addition to credit and debit card transactions. Our own eMerchantGateway can help a business owner get set up quickly and accept echecks easily through an online shopping cart, a web payment page or by phone. Interested in gateways from USAePay, Authorize.net, NMI, PayPal’s Payflow Pro or CyberSource? Contact us because we can help you with any of them.

Key Features and Benefits of eChecks

One of the main benefits of echecks is the speed of the transaction. It no longer takes days for a check to clear, as the approval process is done entirely electronically. Consumers like having options for how to pay, and recurring payments and memberships are less of a hassle for everyone. With a certified gateway partner, echecks are easy to implement.

But Are eChecks Safe to Use?

With online fund transfers, electronic encryption is used to help prevent fraud and data theft. From a merchant’s point of view, payment validation from a reputable payment gateway, such as eMerchantGateway, can minimize the risk of receiving bad checks. For customers, transferring funds electronically is safer than a paper check, since there is no document that gets handled, and far fewer individuals will have access to their account information. If a fraudulent charge is made to an account, customers are protected by Regulation E (Reg. E), which requires banks to allow a consumer to revoke a payment if they consider it fraudulent. They can do this within 60 days of their bank statement on which the charge occurred.

eCheck Transactions: Giving Your Customers Peace of Mind

When you partner with a qualified payment gateway like eMerchantGateway, your customers will know that your company is backed by an experienced team of experts. Contact us today and we will help you expand payment options for your customers.