Donors can give through a bank transfer. They can set up ACH donations, which initiates a bank verification, in Church Center. The donations are processed by Stripe and then added to the Giving dashboard.
Caution
Canadian Customers: ACH/EFT is not supported for Canadian organizations.
Giving and Stripe need to verify the ownership of a bank account before it can be used for donations. Verification confirms that the donor has access to the bank account being connected, they've given permission to withdraw money, and they've connected the correct account.
There are two types of bank verification, both powered by Stripe:
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Instant Verification: Bank accounts are verified using the donor's login credentials for their bank's website. Most banks support instant verification, and there's no waiting time.
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Manual (Micro-Deposit) Verification: For banks that don't support instant verification, manual verification will verify the account using a $0.01 ACH micro-deposit. This process generally takes 2-3 days, since donors must verify the account by entering the SM-code attached to the micro-deposit they received.
Caution
If donors receive an error while trying to verify a savings account, they may need to add their checking account instead.
After a donor initiates a donation with a new ACH bank account using manual micro-deposit verification, they will see the account added to the Payment Methods tab on their My Giving page in their Church Center profile. The account will have an Unverified status beside it and cannot be used for donations until it's verified.
To begin using the account, the donor can click Verify account and enter the SM-code (6 characters beginning with SM) listed in the statement descriptor of the $0.01 deposited into their bank account. Once verified, the donor can select it as their payment method for donations.
Admins can't initiate an ACH verification, but they can view the verification status on a donor's profile. There are two possible verification statuses:
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Verified: The bank account has been verified, and the donor can use this as a payment method.
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Waiting for donor: The donor must complete the verification on Church Center.
Warning
Once the manual verification process is initiated, donors have ten days to enter the SM-code they received. If the verification process is not completed within this time frame, donors must delete the bank account and start the process again.
ACH donations typically take four business days from the donation to the time Stripe deposits to your church's bank.
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The ACH donation is given, securing a Received Date for the donation. ACH donations are initiated by the donor or by a recurring donation.
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The ACH donation is marked In Transit while the donor's bank completes the charge. ACH donations take anywhere from 2-4 business days to post as successful donations. Some banks add 2-3 business days if it's the first time the donor has initiated an ACH donation through Giving.
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If the donation succeeds, the In Transit status is removed.
If the donation fails, the donor is notified via email, and the donation is marked as failed in the donor's account history.
Warning
Failed ACH donations will incur a $1 fee from Stripe charged to your organization.
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The donation is deposited to your church's bank. Stripe has a rolling two-day payout schedule, so an ACH donation will remain with Stripe for another day or two before it's queued for a payout to your bank. It will take another 3-5 business days for a Stripe transfer to make its way to your church bank account.
Notice
ACH donations start processing 120 minutes after the donation is initiated, and the donation is marked with an Awaiting Transit stamp. If a donor needs to cancel an ACH donation within that timeframe, an Administrator can cancel the donation before it's processed.