Payment costs haven’t just crept up—they’ve eaten margins. In 2025, Finance and Ops leaders are flipping the script with $0 ACH pulls and $0 debit transactions. The result is a total cost of ownership (TCO) shift: lower fees, fewer returns, faster settlement, and cleaner reconciliation.
This guide explains how a $0-fee model works, when to route ACH vs debit vs RTP, and why Liftoff Platform is the best-in-class way to run it—Portal + API, invoicing with one-click e-payments, risk/compliance baked in, and analytics that prove the savings.
Why $0 ACH & $0 debit matter now
· Direct-fee compression: Eliminate per-transaction costs on your core collection rails. Small wins per transaction compound at scale.
· Lower return noise: Pair $0 ACH with account validation, pre-debit reminders, and intelligent retries to reduce R01/R09 NSFs.
· Better unit economics: Reallocate processing spend to growth—funding speed, support, and customer experience.
· Cleaner books: One-click e-payments on invoices + auto-reconciliation → less spreadsheet time, faster month-end close.
TL;DR: You stop paying for the privilege of getting paid—and you get paid faster.
When to route ACH, debit, and RTP
· ACH (default for collections & invoicing): Lowest TCO. Ideal for subscriptions, retainers, B2B invoices, lending/MCA repayments.
· Debit (optional, still $0): Offer for customer preference or one-off invoice payments without adding fee drag.
· RTP (instant payouts): Fund in seconds, 24/7/365—then collect predictably via $0 ACH. Use for disbursements, instant credits, VIP make-goods.
Playbook: Route collections to $0 ACH; keep $0 debit as a friction-free option; use RTP for moments where speed protects revenue or trust.
The $0-fee stack, end to end
1) Invoicing with e-payments
· Branded invoices with one-click pay (ACH or debit at $0).
· Open & activity tracking, automated reminders, and recurring invoices.
· Auto-reconciliation and receipts via webhooks to your GL/ERP/CRM.
2) Recurring collections that don’t create NSFs
· Account validation at onboarding (instant + micro-deposit fallback).
· Pre-debit reminders 24–72 hours before the pull.
· Intelligent retries once at deposit windows for R01/R09—no carpet-bombing.
· Return-code rules (retry/block/escalate) so ops doesn’t babysit failures.
3) Disbursements that delight
· RTP for instant funding, refunds, or credits—even nights/weekends.
· Same Day ACH when you need “today” speed during bank hours.
What this does to your TCO
TCO isn’t just fees. It’s fees + returns + fraud + ops minutes + working-capital timing + conversion.
· Fees: $0 ACH/$0 debit removes the biggest visible line item.
· Returns: Validation + timing reduce NSF rates—fewer reattempts, tickets, and write offs.
· Ops: Invoices with one-click pay and auto-recon shrink reconciliation time.
· Cash timing: RTP for payouts; faster collections through reminders and one-click ACH.
· Conversion: Customers prefer simple, fee-free options—completion rates rise when friction drops.
Compliance, risk, and controls (quiet but critical)
· KYB/KYC & OFAC screening built in.
· SEC-appropriate authorizations (PPD/WEB/TEL/CCD/CTX) with ESIGN consent and audit trails.
· Velocity/device signals to catch anomalies; configurable limits by cohort.
· Chargeback prevention for card flows: Ethoca + Verifi (Order Insight/RDR) and AI built evidence if a dispute occurs.
Why Liftoff Platform is best in class
· $0 ACH pulls & $0 debit transactions for collections at true near-zero cost.
· Invoice automation with one-click e-payments, reminders, and recurring schedules.
· RTP disbursements 24/7/365, plus Same Day ACH when cutoffs allow.
· Account validation, return-code rules, and intelligent retries baked in.
· Portal + API with webhooks and ledgers—launch fast, automate deeply.
· Analytics that matter: DSO, return codes, recovery rate, blended $/1k moved, cohort performance.
· Security & compliance by default: KYB/KYC, OFAC, audit logs, immutable events.
Bottom line: With Liftoff, you route money on the cheapest rails, fix failures before they become costs, and reconcile without friction. It’s the 2025 payment cost rewrite—already live.
Implementation checklist (you can start this week)
· Turn on $0 ACH/$0 debit for collections.
· Enable invoice e-payments + recurring invoices; add pre-due reminders.
· Require account validation for new payers; set retry windows by segment.
· Wire webhooks to GL/ERP/CRM for auto-recon and receipts.
· Add RTP for payouts/refunds where instant matters.
· Review dashboards weekly; trim NSFs and watch blended cost drop.
· Ditch per-transaction costs with $0 ACH and $0 debit—and don’t sacrifice speed thanks to RTP.
· Reduce NSFs using validation, reminders, and intelligent retries instead of brute force.
· Turn invoices into one-click payments and reconcile automatically.
Liftoff Platform bundles all of it—payments, risk, automation, analytics—so your TCO goes down, and your cash flow speeds up.
FAQs
Is “$0 ACH/$0 debit” really zero?
Yes, for collections on Liftoff. Your per-transaction fee is $0 on ACH pulls and debit transactions in this program. (Standard bank/network exceptions may apply in edge cases; we’ll outline your exact plan in writing.)
Will this reduce my return rates?
Indirectly, yes—because validation + reminders + targeted retries reduce the most common failure codes (R01/R09, R03/R04). Fewer returns = lower cost and fewer tickets.
What if my customers prefer cards?
No problem. You can keep debit as a $0 option for one-off invoice payments while using ACH for recurring collections.
How fast can we fund or refund?
Use RTP for instant payouts and Same Day ACH for “today” windows. Collections stay on $0 ACH for best economics.
Do I need engineers to launch?
No. Start in the Portal in minutes; when you’re ready, use the API + webhooks to automate end-to-end.