ACH custom notifications

The following is a guide to building custom notifications for merchants using GoCardless Pro or GoCardless Custom, and for partners. 

 

What are custom notifications?

In order for consumers in the US to authorize merchants to take payments from them via ACH, the local Direct Debit payment scheme, they must complete an ACH Debit Authorization, also known as a Consumer Authorization.

Once the ACH Debit Authorization has been set up, there are 2 types of notifications that consumers can receive:

1. ACH Debit Authorization setup confirmation
2. Pre-notifications

Merchants using GoCardless Pro or GoCardless Custom have the option to use GoCardless’ own notifications, or to create their own custom notifications. 

Partners can opt to create custom notifications as well. This will enable merchants who are using GoCardless through their app to offer their customers (consumers) a consistent branding experience. 

You may also build your own payment pages to further customise your consumers’ experience.

Custom notifications will need to be approved by GoCardless before being implemented.

 

How to build custom notifications

1. Create a notification including the consumer’s ACH Debit Authorization
2. Create notifications to inform consumers of upcoming payments. Depending on your collection type, these notifications could relate to: 
1. Amendments to an ACH Debit Authorization
2. Subscriptions of fixed amounts at regular intervals (optional)
3. One-off payments, or payment schedules of varying amounts (optional)
3. Submit notifications to GoCardless for approval

The details for each are below, and there’s a summary table here.

 

1. Notification including the consumer’s ACH Debit Authorization

This compulsory notification provides the consumer with the necessary documentation relating to their ACH Debit Authorization, i.e., the terms and conditions of the agreement they have entered into. 

It must be received by the consumer within 2 days of the authorization being set up.

There are 2 compulsory elements to this notification, and 5 recommended elements.

Compulsory:

1. PDF link to the ACH Debit Authorization. This information can be retrieved via the mandate pdf endpoint.
2. Privacy notice. Text to read ‘Payments provided by Community Federal Savings Bank (“CFSB”), member FDIC, for which GoCardless Ltd acts as a third-party servicer. Read the privacy notices here.’

Recommended:

1. Heading that is identifiable to consumers. For example ‘Important: Confirmation of the setup of your ACH Debit to [Merchant]’. 
• Partners - make a GET request to the creditors endpoint, and pull [scheme_identifiers: name] to populate this field
2. Merchant name
• Partners - make a GET request to the creditors endpoint, and pull [name] to populate this field
3. Consumer details as obtained in the sign-up process
• Account holder name
• Bank account number - details must be redacted
• Routing number - details must be redacted
• Bank name - retrievable from the bank details endpoint
4. Merchant email address and phone number
• Partners - make a GET request to the creditors endpoint, and pull [scheme_identifiers: email] and [scheme_identifiers: phone_number] to populate these fields
5. Remind consumers of the name that will appear on their bank statements. Partners can retrieve this information by making a GET request to the creditors endpoint and pulling the field [scheme_identifiers: name].

 You can see an example notification below.

 

 

2.1. Advance notice - amendment to an ACH Debit Agreement

This compulsory notification lets consumers know of any amendments to their ACH Debit Authorization.

It must be received by the consumer:

• In the case of pricing amendments, at least 10 calendar days before further payments are charged under the new terms
• In the case of collection date amendments e.g., day or frequency, at least 7 calendar days before further payments are charged under the new terms

The notification has 4 compulsory elements and 1 recommended element.

Compulsory:

1. Heading that is identifiable to consumers. For example 'Your subscription has been updated'.
2. The name of the merchant charging the consumer
• Partners - make a GET request to the creditors endpoint, and pull [name] to populate this field
3. Payment details
• Details of the change e.g., the previous charge amount and/or frequency, and the updated charge amount and/or frequency
• The date the change will come into effect
• Description of what the charge is for
4. Privacy notice. Text to read ‘Payments provided by Community Federal Savings Bank (“CFSB”), member FDIC, for which GoCardless Ltd acts as a third-party servicer. Read the privacy notices here.’

Recommended:

Remind consumers of the name that will appear on their bank statements. Partners can retrieve this information by making a GET request to the creditors endpoint and pulling the field [scheme_identifiers: name].

 

2.2. Advance notice - subscriptions of fixed amounts at regular intervals

This optional notification tells the consumer when to expect a series of payments of the same amount and at regular intervals. A single notification to cover the entire subscription is sufficient. 

Although optional, GoCardless recommends sending this notification to ensure that consumers are fully informed of all debits that will be made against their account. 

We recommend that the notification includes:

1. Heading that is identifiable to consumers. For example 'You've set up an ACH Debit subscription'.
2. The name of the merchant charging the consumer
• Partners - make a GET request to the creditors endpoint, and pull [name] to populate this field
3. Payment details
• Amount being charged 
• Charge dates, including final charge date, if applicable
• Description of what the charge is for
• Instruction that the amounts will be charged via Direct Debit
4. Consumer details as obtained in the sign-up process
• Account holder name
• Bank account number - details must be redacted
• Routing number - details must be redacted
• Bank name - retrievable from the bank details endpoint
5. Merchant email address and phone number
• Partners - make a GET request to the creditors endpoint, and pull [scheme_identifiers: email] and [scheme_identifiers: phone_number] to populate these fields
6. Privacy notice. Text to read ‘Payments provided by Community Federal Savings Bank (“CFSB”), member FDIC, for which GoCardless Ltd acts as a third-party servicer. Read the privacy notices here.’ 
7. Remind consumers of the name that will appear on their bank statements. Partners can retrieve this information by making a GET request to the creditors endpoint and pulling the field [scheme_identifiers: name].

 You can see an example notification below.

 

 2.3 Advance notice - one-off payments, or payment schedules of varying amounts

This optional notification tells the consumer when to expect a single payment, or any payment in a payment schedule of varying amounts.

Although optional, GoCardless recommends sending this notification to ensure that consumers are fully informed of all debits that will be made against their account. 

We recommend that the notification includes all details as mentioned in section 2.2, except that for payment schedules of varying amounts, advance notice is sent before each payment.

 You can see an example notification below.

 

3. Submit notifications to GoCardless for approval

Mock ups of your notifications must be sent to GoCardless for approval prior to your go-live date. Once you have written approval from GoCardless, you may implement the notifications. 

To test your notifications, you can sign up here for a sandbox account.

What if I’m a partner?

When creating a new partner app and going through our technical certification process, you’ll be able to submit custom notifications for approval through our partner portal.

 

Summary table

The below shows a summary of the information required in each type of custom notification. 

	Notification including the consumer’s ACH Debit Authorization (compulsory)	Advance notice
		Amendment to an ACH Debit Authorization (compulsory)	Subscriptions of fixed amounts at regular intervals (optional)	One-off payments, or payment schedules of varying amounts (optional)
Heading that is identifiable to consumers	Recommended	Compulsory	Recommended	Recommended
Merchant name	Recommended	Compulsory	Recommended	Recommended
Consumer details	Recommended		Recommended	Recommended
Merchant contact details	Recommended		Recommended	Recommended
PDF link to ACH Debit Authorization	Compulsory
Privacy notice	Compulsory	Compulsory	Compulsory (if sending this notification)	Compulsory (if sending this notification)
Reminder of what will appear on consumers' bank statements	Recommended	Recommended	Recommended	Recommended
Payment details		Compulsory	Recommended	Recommended