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Electronic
Fund TransfersPaid On Time, Every Time
What are Electronic Fund Transfers or EFTs?
EFTs process pre-authorized debits or credits
from one bank account to another within a 48 hour period to handle your
company's payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable and/or NSF checks
(RCK - returned checks). This electronic computer based process requires
the use of special licensed software and a modem. All transactions are
governed by the Federal Reserve Banking System.
For those of us familiar with ATM cards at gas station
pumps and grocery store check out lines, the concept of EFTs continues
to earn the confidence of consumers and is therefore being applied in
more and more settings. Over the past several years, EFTs have gained
in popularity among businesses as well. Now any business, regardless of
size, can use EFTs to conduct a variety of financial transactions.
What are the benefits of EFTs?
The benefits of EFTs are many. For receivables,
benefits include prompt payment of your customers bills each month
and early notice of insufficient funds. You get your cash on time, every
time. While there is a small fee per transaction for this service, EFTs
eliminate the need to print, process and send a monthly bill in many instances.
This can save you as much as $2.25 to $3.00 or more per customer. Thus,
you could lower your costs for labor to prepare statements as well as
postage and the cost of paper used to print statements. EFTs also
reduce late payments and the need to send out reminder notices.
EFTs can actually increase your customer retention.
This is most likely to occur in businesses that bill the same amount on
a month to month basis for ongoing services such as pest control companies,
newspapers, pool services, security companies and the like. Having the
fee automatically deducted from your customers checking account
increases the retention of those who might otherwise let the service lapse.
You can save hundreds, even thousands, of dollars
on your billing and administrative costs, dramatically improve your cash
flow and eliminate many of your collection hassles by using the EFT services.
While you are saving money, your customers benefit
from EFTs as well. With ETT Consulting, customers will no
longer have to worry about missing billing deadlines. Bills are paid even
when your customers are away from home. No more writing checks, no more
postage, no more service charges for checks and no more embarrassing second
billing notices and late payments. EFT is free to your customers and your
customers will appreciate this value added service.
How does the EFT transfer process work?
First you have your customers sign a form that authorizes
you to deduct their payment on a certain date. Your customers provide
you with a checking deposit slip to verify all account information. Then
you create the initial database. According to the billing cycle, the amount
of your customers bill is then automatically debited from their
checking account and deposited into your account. In the case of payroll,
your account is debited and your employees account is credited each
pay period.
Who inputs the information into the computer?
ETT Consulting provides the software and training to
you so you can download needed transaction information directly from your
existing accounting systems using the EFT for Windows ASCII format. This
means no re-keying of data which minimizes errors and expedites the process.
Typically hundreds of transactions can be downloaded and sent to ETT
Consulting in a matter of minutes.
How much time is required to establish the initial
EFT database?
It only takes a few seconds per customer to input
name, bank account number, routing transit number of their bank, the amount
of the debit, and the due date. Its that simple! Once the database
is established, the only component that changes each billing cycle is
the due date and perhaps the monthly charge.
How safe are EFTs?
All EFTs are governed by the Federal Reserve
Banking System. Only pre-authorized transactions are allowed to be processed.
This is strictly enforced by the Federal Reserve. Customers must authorize
all EFT debits from their checking account in writing.
How will I know that the information sent to ETT
Consulting has been received and processed?
The ETT Consulting software prints several
different reports for you. Both before and after the data has been sent,
you can print a report that documents your transaction. ETT Consulting
provides you with a status report the same day that verifies all of the
transaction information. You will know within 24 to 48 hours if
any of your customer transactions failed to process due to insufficient
funds or incorrect data entries. Most banks take as long as two or more
weeks to notify businesses of insufficient funds on checks being processed.
Clearly ETT Consultings EFT services offers your business
a better alternative to processing checks for financial transactions.
How much will I pay for the EFT services from ETT
Consulting?
ETT Consulting bases its transaction fees entirely on
volumethe more EFT transactions, the lower your fee. One EFT transaction
consists of one debit and one credit of the same dollar amount. The fees
do NOT vary by the amount of the transaction. You pay the same amount
for a $5 transaction as you do for a $500,000 transaction. In nearly all
cases, this figure is less than the cost your business bears to process
receivables, payables and/or payroll transactions by checks.
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