Card vs ACH vs Check: What Each Invoice Payment Really Costs You
Enter your invoice volume and payment mix to see side by side what cards, ACH, and paper checks cost you in fees, staff time, and cash stuck in collection. Every assumption is visible and editable.
What getting paid costs you
Side by side, per month
| Per month | Card | ACH | Check | Total |
|---|
Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.
Scenario: move part of your check volume
Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.
Your payment-mix report
Four scenarios run on your numbers
| Scenario | Direct cost | Carrying cost | Total / month | Cash tied up | Days to cash | vs. current mix |
|---|
ACH-first moves 50% of your check share to ACH. Paperless moves all of it to ACH. Card for speed moves 25% to card and 50% to ACH. Card-heavy moves all of it to card. The highlighted row has the lowest estimated total monthly cost; ties go to the option with less cash tied up.
Illustrative interchange-plus card estimate
Invoice wording templates
Customers pay the way your invoice makes easiest. Put the electronic option first and the mailing address last. Replace everything in brackets.
Version 1: full invoice footer
Amount due: $[amount] by [due date] Pay online by ACH/eCheck or card in about a minute: [secure payment link] Paying by bank transfer? Use the ACH remittance details on file and include invoice #[number] in the payment reference. We will never change our bank details by email alone; call [phone] to confirm any change. Paying by check? Make it payable to [legal business name] and mail to [remit-to address]. Write invoice #[number] on the check.
Version 2: one line for the invoice email
Invoice #[number] for $[amount] is due [date]. Pay by ACH or card here: [secure payment link]. Checks are still accepted at [remit-to address].
Version 3: for customers with an AP department
Payment options (in order of preference): 1. ACH / eCheck (preferred): [secure payment link], or ACH to the account on file. Email remittance advice to [ar@yourcompany.com]. 2. Card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express): [secure payment link]. [If you apply any card fee, describe it here exactly as your card program and state rules require.] 3. Check: payable to [legal business name], mailed to [remit-to address]. Please reference invoice #[number] with every payment.
Setup checklist: ACH/eCheck and a virtual terminal
- Decide the order you will list payment options on invoices, with ACH/eCheck first if lower cost and faster cash is the goal.
- Confirm the deposit account and who at your company can see and change payment settings.
- Set up ACH/eCheck acceptance with your bank or processor. If you will pull funds from customer accounts (ACH debits), get each customer's authorization and keep a record; ask your provider which authorization format they require.
- Set up a virtual terminal for card and eCheck payments taken by phone, with a separate login for each staff member.
- Create a secure payment link or hosted payment page and add it to your invoice template and invoice emails.
- Require the invoice number in the payment reference field so payments match to invoices without manual lookups.
- Connect deposits to your accounting system and set a daily or weekly reconciliation routine.
- Write a call-back rule for any request to change bank details, using a phone number you already have on file.
- Never write down or email full card numbers. Key them directly into the virtual terminal.
- Email your customers' AP contacts with the new options and the date they start.
- Track the share of payments by method each month and rerun this comparison with the new mix.
Questions to ask any processor about pricing
- How do you quote card pricing: interchange-plus, tiered, or flat rate? Can I see a sample monthly statement?
- What fees apply beyond the rate: per-transaction, monthly, gateway, PCI, batch, or statement fees?
- What does each ACH/eCheck payment cost, and is it a flat fee, a percentage, or a percentage with a cap?
- How many business days until card and ACH funds reach my bank account?
- How are refunds, returns, and chargebacks charged?
- Which interchange categories will my business, corporate, and purchasing card payments fall into, and how does that change by card type?
- Do you support passing Level 2 and Level 3 data (tax amount, customer code, line-item detail)? From which entry points: virtual terminal, gateway, payment links, invoices?
- Is Level 2 and Level 3 data filled in automatically, or does my staff have to type it for each payment?
- Do large single payments trigger extra review, holds, or reserves, and how are those handled?
- Will my quote show interchange separately from your markup so I can see what changes on large tickets?
Passing card costs to customers
Some sellers add a surcharge to card payments, run a cash discount or dual pricing program, build card costs into prices, or offer early-pay terms for ACH. The rules for surcharges and cash discounts vary by card brand and by state, can include notice, disclosure, registration, and cap requirements, and may treat debit cards differently from credit cards. Confirm the current rules with the card brands and your state before changing how you price card payments. This report does not determine whether any practice is allowed for your business.
A lower-friction first step is to make ACH the easiest option on the invoice, using the templates above, rather than adding a fee to card payments.
Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting.
Bring these numbers to the conversation. A specialist can walk through ACH, virtual terminal, and card options for your invoices. Nothing on this page is a quote.
How this comparison works
Every way a customer pays an invoice has a cost, but the costs show up in different places. Card payments carry a visible percentage fee that can look large on a big invoice. ACH payments usually carry a small flat fee per payment. Paper checks often look free because there is no processing fee, yet someone has to open the mail, match the check to an invoice, post it, take it to the bank or scan it, and reconcile the deposit. Checks also tend to take the longest to turn into usable cash, and money sitting in receivables has a real cost if you are borrowing against a credit line or passing on opportunities.
This tool puts all three costs on the same table: processing fees, staff time, and the carrying cost of cash tied up while you wait to get paid. It multiplies each method's share of your revenue by your fees and handling times, then estimates how much cash is in transit at any moment by multiplying each method's average daily receipts (monthly volume divided by 30) by its days to cash. The carrying cost applies your annual cost of cash to that amount, divided by 12. The scenario slider reruns the same math after moving part of your check volume to ACH or card, so you can see whether the switch saves money, frees cash, or both.
The defaults are placeholders, not facts about your business. The most useful thing you can do is replace them with your own numbers: your card effective rate from a recent statement (total fees divided by total card volume), your bank's per-item fees, and your real days to cash from an AR aging report. For many B2B sellers, the biggest line is not card fees but the staff time and slow cash attached to paper checks, while for others with very large invoices, card fees dominate and the conversation shifts to how large-ticket card payments are priced.
Assumptions used in this calculator
| Assumption | Default | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Default card effective rate (B2B) | 2.80% of card volume | TouchSuite pricing assumptions file. Estimate only; replace with your own statement rate. |
| Default card effective rate (other business types) | Retail 2.55%, Restaurant 2.75%, eCommerce 3.15%, Services 2.90%, Healthcare 2.65%, High risk 4.25% | TouchSuite pricing assumptions file. Estimate only. |
| Fee per ACH payment | $0.50 | Placeholder assumption, not a published statistic. Replace with your bank or processor fee. |
| Out-of-pocket cost per check | $0.50 | Placeholder assumption, not a published statistic. Replace with your deposit, lockbox, and courier costs. |
| Staff cost per hour | $25 | Placeholder assumption. Replace with your loaded hourly cost. |
| Staff minutes per check | 10 minutes | Placeholder assumption. Time yourself on a batch of checks for a real number. |
| Staff minutes per ACH or card payment | 3 minutes each | Placeholder assumption. Replace with your own time. |
| Days from invoice to cash | Card 15, ACH 20, Check 35 | Placeholder assumptions. Replace with your own averages from your AR aging report. |
| Annual cost of cash | 10% | Placeholder assumption. Use your line of credit rate or target return on cash. |
| Days per month for cash-tied-up math | 30 | Simplifying assumption used to convert monthly volume to average daily receipts. |
| Illustrative interchange-plus model | Segment average interchange (B2B 1.85%) + 0.20% markup + $0.10 per transaction, $0 monthly fee | TouchSuite pricing assumptions file. Estimate only, not a quote; commercial card interchange on large tickets varies widely. |
| Large-ticket threshold | Average invoice of $1,000 or more | Tool rule of thumb for triggering large-ticket pricing notes. Assumption, not an industry standard. |
| Check-heavy threshold | 30% or more of volume by check | Tool rule of thumb. Assumption. |
| Long collection threshold | Weighted days to cash of 30 or more, or check days of 45 or more | Tool rule of thumb for suggesting the funding estimator. Assumption. |
Frequently asked questions
Is ACH always cheaper than accepting credit cards on B2B invoices?
On fees alone, ACH is usually cheaper because it is typically a flat per-payment fee rather than a percentage. But total cost also includes staff time and how fast you get paid. If card customers pay much sooner, the cash-flow benefit can offset part of the fee. Enter your own numbers to see the trade-off for your business.
How do I find my card effective rate?
Take one month's processing statement, add up every fee charged (processing, per-transaction, monthly, and other fees), and divide by total card volume for that month. If you leave the field blank, the tool uses an industry average assumption for your business type, which may be higher or lower than what you actually pay.
What does cash tied up in collection mean?
It is an estimate of how much money is sitting in unpaid or in-transit invoices at any given time for each method. The tool calculates it as that method's average daily receipts times its days from invoice to cash. The carrying cost applies your annual cost of cash to that amount, converted to a monthly figure.
Can I pass card processing fees on to my customers?
Some businesses use surcharges or cash discount programs, but the rules vary by card brand and by state, and there are notice and cap requirements. Confirm the current rules with the card brands and your state before changing how you price card payments. This tool does not determine whether any practice is allowed for you.
Why are large invoices expensive to accept by card, and can that change?
Most card pricing is a percentage of the payment, so fees grow with invoice size. How business and commercial card payments are priced depends on factors like card type, whether you pass enhanced invoice data (often called Level 2 and Level 3 data), and how your processor quotes fees. The full report lists specific questions to ask any processor about large-ticket pricing.
Are these numbers a quote from TouchSuite?
No. Estimates are based on published industry averages and are not a quote. Actual rates depend on card mix, ticket size, industry, and underwriting. Many defaults are placeholder assumptions you should replace with your own figures.