Direct Debits

Direct debits are a secure, cost-effective, and cashless payment method. Blackbaud Merchant Services currently supports one-time and recurring direct debit payments for accounts processing in the following currencies:

  • US dollar (ACH) — USD direct debits are also known as Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions. With ACH transactions, you can accept direct debits from US bank accounts.

  • Canadian dollar (ACSS) — CAD direct debit transactions are interchangeably known as Automated Clearing Settlement System (ACSS) and pre-authorized debits (PAD). With ACSS or PAD transactions, you can accept direct debits from Canadian bank accounts.

For all direct debit payments, the account holder must agree to a mandate, which is displayed during checkout. For more information, see Direct Debit Mandates.

Note: To learn whether your Blackbaud solution supports direct debit, review your solution's help documentation.

Tip: Direct debits differ from debit cards, which process like a credit card through Blackbaud Merchant Services.

Accept payments

You accept direct debit payments from your Blackbaud solution. For example, you can configure donation form settings in Blackbaud Luminate Online or Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT to accept direct debit.

To learn what currencies are supported and how to accept direct debit payments, see your solution's help documentation.

Refund payments

You can refund a direct debit payment through your Blackbaud application (recommended) or the Blackbaud Merchant Services Web Portal. You have a maximum of 90 days from the date of the original payment to issue a full refund, and refunds require at least three business days to process. Partial refunds aren't supported.

  • To learn how to refund direct debit payments in your Blackbaud solution, see your solution's help documentation.

  • To refund through the web portal, from a transaction record, select Refund, then confirm the refund. For more information, see Refund a transaction.

View direct debit returns

Because direct debit isn't a guaranteed payment method, there's a risk of failed payments and disputes. Failures can occur for reasons such as insufficient funds, an invalid account number, or a payer disabling debits from their bank account.

You view direct debit returns from the Blackbaud Merchant Services Web Portal. For more information, see Direct Debit Returns.

Note: A direct debit return isn't sent to your Blackbaud solution automatically. You should remedy the returned payment in your solution by adjusting the payment to $0.

View saved mandates

For ACSS transactions, you can view a copy of the agreement shown to the payer during checkout. From the Blackbaud Merchant Services Web Portal, open the direct debit transaction record. Under Transaction info, select View pre-authorized debit agreement.