About OpenACH
Our Goal
OpenACH enables all kinds of businesses to shift their payment processing to the ACH system. By providing an out-of-the-box ACH processing platform, businesses can use OpenACH to easily and quickly integrate their existing business systems with the bank of their choice to process these payments. Our goal is simple: OpenACH brings low-cost ACH processing to businesses everywhere, using solid, enterprise-quality, FREE open source software that remains easy to install and even simpler to use.
The Problem
Businesses today process nearly all of their payments using credit cards, which eats 1.5-5+% of their gross sales. Meanwhile, electronic debits and credits on bank accounts can be done through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system, processed through nearly any bank, typically for a very small transaction fee ($0.15-$0.30 with no percentage fees). For exampe, monthly processing of one hundred $100 credit card transactions would typically cost a business over $500, while those exact same transactions would cost less than $50 when processed through ACH!
What is more, if a company needs to send money internationally, bank wires can easily cost $20 to $30 each. International ACH processing allows sending these same funds to many countries for around one-tenth that cost. So far, international ACH transactions (IAT) can be sent to 16 countries, and the list continues to grow.
But a huge obstacle remains - integrating a company's existing systems with an ACH solution is very costly and time consuming. Now there is a solution that can greatly reduce that cost!
OpenACH provides a simple, easy-to-use interface for managing all your company's payment processing needs, and is very easy to integrate with existing business and accounting systems - from websites to back-office.
The Solution
OpenACH is an open source, stand-alone, secure web-based ACH payment processing system that can use any major bank to process the payments. With an easy-to-use interface, anyone can process ACH payments. Through straight-forward Application Programming Interface (API), it can integrate with other business software systems. When complete, anyone will be able to download it, connect with any major bank, begin processing ACH payments – and start saving money!
Licensing Options
Open Source Licenses
If you are developing and distributing open source applications under the GPL License, then you are free to use OpenACH under the GPL v3.0 License.
Commercial Licenses
For OEMs, ISVs, and VARs who distribute OpenACH with their products, and do not license and distribute their source code under the GPL v3.0 License, OpenACH provides a flexible OEM Commercial License. Contact us for more information.
What is OpenACH?
So, you know the background about ACH, but what exactly is OpenACH?
OpenACH is several things:
- An open source (GPLv3) ACH payment platform, written in PHP using Postgresql
- An easy to use ACH payment gateway, using REST and JSON to put payments on the ACH network
- A BYOB (Bring Your Own Bank) ACH processing platform
- An ISO reseller of ACH services working with multiple third-party processors
- An ACH solution provider - we know how it works and can build exactly what you need
How can I use OpenACH?
To best determine how you can use OpenACH, first narrow down exactly what you want to do with ACH. Then look at the list in the section above, seeing which one best fits your needs.
One of the greatest things about the OpenACH open source ACH payment platform is that it is built with versatility in mind - something the list above should testify to. If all you want is software libraries that let you transform your data into NACHA files, you can use the core OpenACH NACHA libraries with your current software. If you don't care about mobile-enabled usability and simply want to use the REST/JSON API to push payments onto the network, you can do that as well. And if you simply need a easy-to-use, mobile-enabled interface to schedule your transactions, you can use the simple web front end to get the job done. Best of all, its 100% open source, GPLv3 license, free, free, free.
If you have no development expertise, or just don't want to mess with getting things set up, we can set it up for you on your own server, either using your bank, or one of our recommended processors. Its simple!
Where do I start with OpenACH?
The easiest way to get started is to CONTACT US! We'll help point you in the right direction, and make sure you have the information you need.
If you:
- are interested in using OpenACH as your third-party originator
- already process ACH transactions and want to simplify or integrate systems
- have a need for developers who are forward-thinking ACH professionals
- need help figuring out how to spell ACH
Contact Us Today!
Do it Yourself
If you are a do-it-yourself kind of person, feel free to look through our ACH Developer Guide to see how you can download, install and integrate with the OpenACH open-source ACH payment platform. And you can always contact us with questions. When you call or email OpenACH, you'll always be talking to people who know their way around every aspect of the system. Simple questions and technical questions are always welcome!
Becoming an Originator
There's lots of information out there about becoming an ACH originator. Most of the time its made to sound difficult, but its not. Here's what we recommend:
- Contact your bank and find out if they offer ACH origination services for processing NACHA files. (If they don't, we suggest checking with a larger bank such as US Bank or Wells Fargo.)
- Contact us to find out exactly how you will be able to use OpenACH to for processing ACH transactions through your bank.
- Fill out the paperwork with your bank - every one is different. Keep in mind that they'll probably want to see your financials.
- Use your new origination account with the open source OpenACH platform, or through one of our preferred ACH processors.
