MyFuelPortal - Why Can't I add an ACH Bank Account through the Portal?

Article Summary:

Environment:

• The MyFuelPortal Customer Portal

Resolution / Answer:

What is an ACH profile?

An ACH profile is a bank-draft payment method stored on the customer’s account in Cargas Energy. It is used when your company drafts the customer’s bank account by sending a file to your bank.

That file is an ACH file. After you run the Automatic Payment routine in Cargas Energy, you download the ACH file and upload it to your bank’s ACH portal. The bank then moves the funds.

ACH profiles:

• Are created in Cargas Energy, not in MyFuelPortal
• Do not go through a payment gateway
• Show on the customer’s AutoPay Information screen under ACH

For steps to add one in Energy, see How do I set up an ACH profile on a customer account?

What is an eCheck profile?

An eCheck is also a checking or savings account, but it is stored as a payment gateway profile. When the account is charged, the gateway processes the payment.

eCheck profiles:

• Can be added by staff in Cargas Energy or by customers in MyFuelPortal
• Show as eCheck / Cargas Pay (or another gateway) on the account, not as ACH
• Are used for one-time portal payments and, if you allow it, AutoPay through the gateway

Can customers add ACH in MyFuelPortal?

No. End users cannot create an ACH profile in the customer portal.

MyFuelPortal’s Payment Methods page can add credit cards and, if enabled, eChecks. There is no way to add an ACH profile. If a customer enters routing and account information in the portal, they are adding an eCheck, not an ACH profile.

That is why the bank information may not appear on the ACH tab in Cargas Energy, and why staff cannot treat those submissions as ACH AutoPay.

ACH profiles must be created by staff in Cargas Energy. After an ACH profile exists on the account, MyFuelPortal can use it for AutoPay if your portal is configured to include ACH payment methods on the AutoPay schedule screen. ACH will not appear as a payment method for regular one-time portal payments.

If you want customers to be able to select an existing ACH profile when they set up AutoPay, contact Cargas Support to confirm that option is enabled for your portal.

How ACH works in MyFuelPortal

Once an ACH profile exists in Energy:

1. The customer can attach it to an AutoPay schedule in MyFuelPortal, if your portal allows ACH on AutoPay.
2. Cargas Energy later includes that account when you run Customer > Payments > Automatic Payments for ACH.
3. You generate and download the ACH file, then upload it to your bank.

The portal does not send the draft to the bank. Your Automatic Payment routine and bank upload still do that.

How eCheck works in MyFuelPortal

If Allow eChecks is enabled in the MyFuelPortal Admin Portal (Settings > Payments):

1. The customer opens Make a Payment > Payment Methods.
2. They choose Add eCheck and enter name on account, account type, account number, and routing number.
3. MyFuelPortal sends that information to your payment gateway and saves an eCheck profile on the Cargas Energy account.
4. The customer can use that eCheck for a one-time payment. They can also use it for AutoPay if you allow gateway AutoPay.

Those payments are captured through the gateway, not through the ACH file routine.

Related Articles:

What is the difference between using ACH and taking eChecks in Cargas Energy?

MyFuelPortal: AutoPay Setup and Configuration

Generating automatic payments to capture via ACH

Capturing Automatic Payments via ACH

MyFuelPortal: Allow eChecks Setting

MyFuelPortal: How Do End Users Update Their Payment Methods?