Bank account (ACH) contributions

In this article:

1. ACH enablement and opt-in
2. Help your donors set up a linked bank account
3. Manage donations made with ACH
4. ACH contribution fees

When a donor wants to contribute $250 or more to your campaign or organization, they can make a secure ACH (Automated Clearing House) payment from their bank account.

Paying with a bank account means no credit card limits on the donation amount, reducing friction on both sides. And ACH payments have significantly lower processing fees, so you keep more of the contribution.

ACH contributions are not automatically enabled for all campaigns and organizations. Before enabling ACH in ActBlue, entities must “opt-in” by acknowledging the following:

• ACH donations can take up to 4 business days to fully process and will not be included in payouts until processing completes.
• A “processing” status does not guarantee the donation will complete successfully.
• Funds may appear in the Dashboard before they arrive in the entity’s bank account.
• A Dashboard balance does not mean the funds have settled.
• ACH donations made near the end of a reporting period may settle in the following period.
• ACH is not available on tandem contribution forms.
• ACH transactions cannot be canceled once initiated.
• Refunds are available only after settlement, which typically takes 1–4 business days.
• Once ACH is enabled, it cannot be disabled without contacting ActBlue support.
• Failed recurring ACH donations are not automatically retried at launch.

If ACH has not yet been enabled for your account, donors will not be able to contribute via bank account.

ACH contributions may behave differently depending on whether your organization operates as a conduit account or a merchant account.

For conduit accounts:

• ACH funds are processed and disbursed through ActBlue
• ACH returns and reconciliation are managed through ActBlue operational workflows

For merchant accounts:

• ACH returns may be routed directly through the organization’s merchant processing setup
• Operational handling and reconciliation responsibilities may differ from conduit accounts

Because ACH returns can occur after a contribution has already settled and been disbursed, organizations should review contribution activity carefully and contact support if a settled contribution unexpectedly reverses.

If a donor needs help setting up a linked bank account or is encountering technical issues, you can direct them to our support article for donors, "How do I give from my bank account (ACH)?"

Donations made from a bank account must be $250 or more. If a donor tries to give an amount under $250 with ACH, they will see the following error message:

Donations made via bank account typically process in 1-4 business days. If a contribution is time-sensitive, be sure to ask the donor to give early enough to allow time for processing.

If a donor has ACH set as their default payment method and clicks an ActBlue Express lane link for a donation amount over $250, the donation will be automatically debited from their bank account. For that reason, we recommend taking care when sending emails with ActBlue Express Lane links to donors who typically give with ACH.

To use ACH, donors must:

• Be logged in to an ActBlue Express account
• Link a supported bank account
• Contribute at least $250

If a donor does not see the bank account option during checkout, ask them to confirm:

• They are logged in
• Their contribution amount is at least $250
• ACH has been enabled for your organization

At this time, ACH donations are supported only for signed-in donors with linked bank accounts.

You can track the status of ACH contributions from the Contributions Search page of your fundraising Dashboard.

On this page, you will see tabs labeled Processing ACH Contributions and Failed ACH Contributions.

On the Processing ACH Contributions tab, you can view ACH contributions that are still processing. Please allow 1-4 business days for each of these contributions.

Under Failed ACH Contributions, you will see attempted ACH contributions that failed to process. ACH contributions rarely fail to process, but when they do, it is most commonly due to insufficient funds in the donor’s bank account or to a closed bank account. If an ACH contribution fails to process, ask the donor to confirm that:

• There are sufficient funds in the account.
• The account is open and eligible for withdrawal.

If they are still unable to complete the contribution, they should contact their bank directly for further assistance.

When a donor gives with ACH, it will be reflected in the details of their contribution. The contribution will have a blue “bank_account” badge, and the name of their bank will show under Payment Info:

You can issue refunds for ACH contributions the same way you would for other contributions. The refund may take slightly longer than usual to show up in the donor’s bank account, depending on their bank.

ACH returns vs. refunds

ACH returns are different from refunds.

• Refunds are initiated by the campaign, organization, or platform
• ACH returns are initiated by the donor’s bank

In some cases, a settled ACH contribution may later reverse because the donor’s bank initiated a return.

If you notice that a previously settled ACH contribution has unexpectedly reversed, contact support for assistance.

ACH contributions process differently from credit and debit card donations — they typically take 1–4 business days to settle.

During this time, contributions may appear under the “Processing ACH Contributions” tab. ACH contributions will not appear in reports until they have settled.

If an ACH contribution fails, it will appear under “Failed ACH Contributions.” Common failure reasons include:

• Insufficient funds
• Closed bank account
• Bank rejection

Failed one-time ACH donations are not automatically retried.

If a donor still wishes to contribute after a failed ACH payment, they will need to submit the contribution again.

Processing fees for ACH contributions are significantly lower than for credit card contributions. This makes ACH a great option for larger amounts.

The processing fee for each ACH contribution is just 0.8%, capped at $20 regardless of the contribution amount. (For example, the fee for an ACH contribution of $500 would be $4. And because of the cap, the fee for an ACH contribution of $5,000 would be just $20.) You should see this fee structure reflected in your reporting.