Why does it take so long to receive payments through merchant services?

Hi everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback here.  This community thread dates back to early 2018 and many things have changed since then.  In the interest of ensuring that we are setting the proper expectations and addressing everyone’s concerns, we felt it was important to provide an updated response that reflects the current state of our payments processing options.

New QuickBooks Payments Customers?

Please note, if you are new to QuickBooks Payments, your initial batch (all the payments you process in a day get batched together) will be delayed up to 5 business days.  Please refer to our article Find out when QuickBooks Payments deposits your money for more information on the payments process.

Current payments funding plans

If you are a current Intuit Payments customer, your funding times will fall under one of the following combinations, based on the product you are using:

*Business Days do not include Weekends or Federal Banking Holidays.  For a list of U.S. Federal Banking holidays, visit the U.S. Federal Reserve site.  

Note that QuickBooks Online with payments is currently the only product offering Faster Funding.  QuickBooks Desktop with payments typically have 2 day funding for ACH and credit cards.

Banking impact on payments

There have been a lot of comments on banks and how they play into the funding times.  All banks vary and we cannot guarantee that funding will be exactly the same for each.  We are by no means blaming banks for the delays.

I’d like to share a personal experience to illustrate.  I’ve worked for two companies over the past 15 years. When I started working for the first company, I had set up direct deposit for my paychecks with a major American bank.  My husband and I had several bad experiences with them and decided to switch to a local credit union. Following that transition, my paycheck deposited a day and a half faster than it had before.  At the second company, I had moved to a new state, but still chose to set up my direct deposited paycheck with the same credit union and part of my check was deposited into a pre-paid Visa account.  My paycheck deposits to the credit union only a day faster now and a day and a half faster to the pre-paid Visa account. My point here is that the speed of payment varies as your combination of transmitting bank to receiving bank changes.  There really is no way to control who your customers are banking with, so this is going to vary.  

Current payments processing pricing

There have also been many questions regarding pricing.  Below is a table that explains our current pricing structure.  Please note, these are subject to change and the QuickBooks Payments pricing (https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payments/pricing/) page is the best place to check for the most current rates.

How our rates compare

There have been several comments regarding price comparisons.  Below is a table that highlights how our QuickBooks Online Payments pricing compares with two of our competitors.

*Rates are accurate as of September 24, 2019.  Fee comparison excludes PayPal ACH for sending money to family and friends.

Next Business Day Funding eligibility

It is important to note that we have been on a very long journey, rolling out Next Business Day funding to our eligible customers in phases.  Unfortunately, not everyone is eligible for this. I know this may be frustrating, but please know that we take this very seriously. We consider many factors before making this determination. Please also note that Next Business Day funding is currently offered only to QuickBooks Online with payments.

Where are the ACH funds which are paid, but not yet deposited

It is important to remember that payments processing creates a certain level of risk. Those are risks that impact both you, the merchant, and QuickBooks. Unfortunately, a combination of consumers who submit incorrect bank information and individuals who are trying to commit fraud make it critical to build in processes that will mitigate that risk. Holding funds in a Reserve Account was one of those processes. Therefore, in the past, you may have noticed that while our ACH processing took longer than most other organizations, it was free and other organizations charged a fee. Both of these options are designed to mitigate or cover the risk. 

We recognize, as a small business owner, that cash flow is crucial to your success. It is one of our top priorities to get you paid faster, and something that we are continuously working on. However, there is still the challenge of managing risk while delivering payments faster.  This is part of how we arrived at the current Faster Funding model and fees.

Other delay factors

There are other things that could create delays in funding ACH payments.  These include, but are not limited to: 1. The customer submitting incorrect ACH information, 2.  The customer disputes/stops an ACH payment 3. The merchant makes changes to their bank account without notifying QuickBooks.  4. Credit card payments with issues that are part of the same batch as ACH payments.

When you are concerned about a payment delay, we recommend checking your payment status in the Merchant Service Center .  Here you will find the current status of your payments according to the information which has been provided to QuickBooks. 

Is Intuit making money/interest off of my held funds?

No. Intuit is not earning money off of these funds.  As clearly stated in Section 13 of the merchant agreement, "unless expressly agreed in writing, the Reserve Account will not bear interest."  Intuit did not and does not gain money by holding funds. Rather, this timing helped to mitigate risk. It’s important to note that we are held to the same banking standards as other financial institutions. We have a vested interest in following the law. Further, that is not who we are as a company.

Is QuickBooks Payments the best option for your business?

Given all the factors mentioned above, it really depends.  I can offer a little guidance with regard to fees for QuickBooks Online with payments.  (Desktop with payments ACH fees are a flat $3, regardless of transaction amount. See table above.)

If you are going to be processing ACH payments over $1000, here is a table that shows what that looks like with 3 payments processors:

If you are going to be processing ACH payments for under $100, here is a table that shows what that looks like with 3 payments processors:

Thank you for your contributions and your time on this thread.  We hope that you are able to find the best payments solution for your business and we value your feedback.