Can I Accept Checks (ACH) Through My Dharma Account?
Yes, Dharma does offer ACH merchant services check processing. We have several different programs, depending on your needs. Read on to see which program will best suit your needs.
Please note, a Dharma Merchant Account is required in order to accept ACH Payments, even if you don’t intend to accept credit / debit cards. The Dharma Merchant account carries a monthly fee of $20.00.
Process ACH transactions within MX Merchant
The MX Merchant platform integrates seamlessly with ACH.com so that you can accept ACH payments from the same portal as credit card processing. Save ACH information for future billing, or key-in a one-time transaction. You can even setup recurring ACH payments. ACH payments are easy, quick, and importantly – they’re cheaper than credit cards. See the fees:
- Auto-Approval for $5,000/month in volume and $1,000/sale
- $25 monthly fee
- Transaction Fees
- Transactions less than $100 = $0.40
- Transactions from $100-$1000 = 0.10% + $0.40
- Transactions greater than $1000 = 0.20% + $0.40
- $2.00 return item fee
- $5.00 reversal fee
It’s important to note that the ACH.com underwriting process is separate from your credit card underwriting process, and can take up to 10 days to fully approve. There may be additional documentation requests, too. But once up and running, accepting ACH payments is a breeze within the MX Merchant portal!
Telecheck Acceptance for Clover
Check acceptance is super simple with Clover. Easily setup a check-acceptance account through Telecheck, with great low rates of only 1.50% and $0.20/transaction. No monthly fees! Use Clover’s built-in camera to scan the check and get paid like any other transaction. Easy! Read more about Telecheck terms/conditions here.
| Fee Type | Dharma’s cost |
| Telecheck Monthly Fee | None |
| Telecheck Monthly Minimum | None |
| Processing Fee | 1.50% + $0.20/transaction |
| Term/Commitment | 12 Months |
Virtual Check (eCheck) Acceptance
The Dharma/NMI Gateway allows you to accept eChecks, also known as ACH Payments directly through your Virtual Terminal! In addition, when accepting eChecks, you can also setup recurring payments using this payment method – so you can offer easy monthly/quarterly payments to your customers or members. NMI Gateway’s ACH pricing is relatively inexpensive too. ACH transactions will almost always have lower processing fees than credit cards. ACH processing is handled by Sage, the premier ACH/eCheck provider. Sage and NMI integrate seamlessly and the sign-up process is straight-forward.
| Fee Type | Dharma’s cost |
| eCheck Monthly Fee | $20 |
| eCheck Monthly Minimum | None |
| Processing Fee | $0.35/transaction |
| Returned Item Fee | $3.00 each |
| Chargeback Fee | $25 each |
In-Person Check Acceptance
Dharma allows you to accept paper checks, in person through your standalone credit card terminal. Accepting checks through your terminal saves you the hassle of bringing checks to the bank for deposit – it happens automatically! For an additional fee, you can remove the risk of a bounced check. When you accept a check using the Check Guarantee service, you get paid for the sale even if your customer’s check bounces! This is a great way to process checks without the fear of losing out should your customer not have enough funds. All In-person check acceptance requires a specific check reader that carries a cost of $549. In addition, it’s required that you connect this reader to a Dharma-supplied terminal (click here to learn more about Dharma’s terminals.) Here are all the fees for check acceptance:
| Fee Type | Dharma’s cost |
| Magtek Mini MICR Imager (required) | $549.00 |
| Terminal (required to use Vx520) | $179.00 |
| Monthly Fee | $15.00/month |
| Monthly Minimum | $12.50/month |
| Transaction Fee | $0.30/transaction |
| Guarantee Services (optional) | 1.50% of transaction amount |