ACH bank payments on Shopify, in plain English.

ACH (Automated Clearing House) is the US banking network that handles direct bank-to-bank transfers. It's been around since 1974 and processes the vast majority of payroll deposits, mortgage payments, and B2B settlements in the country. For merchants, ACH means: charging a customer's bank account instead of charging their credit card.

The pricing difference is dramatic. Stripe's standard credit card rate is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Stripe's ACH rate is 0.8%, capped at $5. On a $500 order, that's $14.80 vs. $4.00. On a $5,000 order, it's $145.30 vs. $5. The cap is what makes ACH disproportionately better for high-AOV merchants.

In October 2025, Shopify launched native ACH bank transfer support. The announcement was significant, first time Shopify offered direct bank-to-bank payments on platform. The catch: only available on Shopify Plus B2B checkouts.

If your store is:

• Shopify Plus + selling B2B: native ACH at checkout.
• Shopify Plus + selling B2C: no native ACH. Consumer checkouts are excluded.
• Shopify Basic / Grow / Advanced, any sales channel: no native ACH at all.

That leaves the vast majority of Shopify merchants without a native ACH option. For the merchant with a $2,500 custom order from a retail customer who wants to pay by bank transfer, the choices are: (a) lose the order to friction, (b) take it outside Shopify, or (c) eat the card fee.

PayLayer was built to close that gap. It's a consumer-facing ACH payment-link app that works on every Shopify plan, including Basic.

The break-even between credit card and ACH depends on order size. With Stripe:

• Below ~$30 order: roughly the same. The flat $0.30 card fee dominates.
• $30 to $625 order: ACH wins, gap grows linearly with order size.
• $625 and above: ACH hits the $5 cap. Every dollar above is pure savings, your effective ACH rate drops below 0.8% on large orders.

The categories where ACH wins decisively:

• B2B, large invoices, repeat buyers who already pay by ACH.
• High-AOV consumer, furniture, jewelry, electronics, custom goods, made-to-order anything.
• Recurring / subscription, predictable monthly amounts where the cost gap compounds.
• Made-to-order / pre-order, orders where settlement timing matters less.

ACH is slower than card. Card payments authorize instantly and you typically see funds in your Stripe balance within 2 business days. ACH transfers settle in 1–3 business days in most cases. Stripe's published median is approximately 4 business days end-to-end (customer's bank to your bank), with the vast majority clearing within 5.

For most merchants this is fine, the customer is rarely waiting at the door for an immediate ship. For "ship today" SKUs, set merchant policy: ship after the payment clears. PayLayer surfaces ACH status in real time so your fulfillment team always knows.

1. You create a payment link. From PayLayer in Shopify Admin, enter the customer's email, the amount, and an optional invoice reference. PayLayer generates a unique link tied to your Stripe Connect account.
2. Your customer receives a branded email. Your store name, logo, and support email, not PayLayer's. They click "Pay".
3. The customer connects their bank. Via Stripe Financial Connections (Plaid-grade tech). Customer logs into their bank with their existing credentials. Credentials never touch your servers or PayLayer's.
4. The customer authorizes the transfer. One tap. Stripe handles the NACHA-compliant authorization record.
5. Funds settle to your Stripe. 1–3 business days later. Reconciliation is automatic. PayLayer matches the Stripe transfer to the payment link and updates status.

• The customer sees their own bank's login screen. Never types account / routing numbers. Stripe Financial Connections fetches them after authentication.
• Your store sees: customer email, amount, status (sent / processing / settled), redacted last-4 of bank account.
• Stripe handles money movement and the PCI/NACHA compliance scope.
• PayLayer sees Stripe payment-method tokens and your Connect account ID. Never customer credentials, account numbers, or full PII beyond what Shopify and Stripe expose.

See the full security posture for details.

• Lead with ACH on high-AOV pages. A "Pay by bank transfer" callout on cart and product detail pages converts the right customers without changing your default checkout.
• Pair it with a surcharge. If you use FeeLayer to pass card fees to customers, ACH becomes the obvious "avoid the fee" path. Most high-AOV customers will switch.
• Be explicit about timing. "Funds settle in 1–3 business days" in the email and on the payment page. Setting expectations prevents support tickets.
• Use ACH for repeat customers first. Customers who've paid you before, especially B2B, are the easiest converts. The first ACH is the hardest.

PayLayer isn't the only way to take ACH alongside a Shopify store. Here's the landscape:

• Shopify native ACH (Plus B2B only), best UX, but the eligibility restriction excludes most merchants.
• Stripe direct (off-Shopify), works, but the customer pays outside your store, breaking attribution and reconciliation.
• PayPal Invoicing, works, but PayPal's "ACH" goes through PayPal balance, not directly bank-to-Stripe. Different rates, different cleanup.
• Off-Shopify checkout apps, replace Shopify checkout entirely. Setup fees often $449–$1,599. You lose Shop Pay, lose Shopify's checkout optimizations, and take on a much larger PCI surface.
• PayLayer, payment link via email. No checkout replacement, no setup fee, $9/month flat. Designed specifically to fill the consumer-ACH gap on Shopify.

This guide is informational and reflects publicly available pricing and product information as of April 2026. Stripe rates and Shopify product availability can change. Confirm current rates at stripe.com/pricing and Shopify ACH availability with your Shopify representative. This is not legal or financial advice.