Online Help

Setting up an IATS ACH Payment Gateway and Configuring a Merchant Account to Accept ACH Payments

Convio Merchant Accounts can be configured to accept payments through an IATS ACH payment processing gateway. ACH, transactions are processed by transferring funds directly from the constituent’s bank account, rather than by credit card. To accept ACH with IATS you will need to enter into an agreement with IATS. If you already accept ACH with Landmark, you will not have an automated way to migrate existing recurring donor accounts from Landmark to IATS.  Convio will provide best practices recommendations for converting your ACH program over to IATS.

 This feature offers a number of advantages:

  • Support for ACH in US and Canada.
  • Clients can continue processing credit cards with their existing payment gateway (such as, eg: PayFlow Pro) and use IATS for ACH transactions only
  • ACH recurring gifts can, like those made with credit cards, be managed through the Gift Service Center
  • ACH typically costs less per transaction than credit card transactions
  • Bank accounts change less frequently than credit card numbers and never expire; recurring donors who pay with ACH tend to have higher lifetime value than those who pay with credit card

Create an IATS ACH Gateway Account

To configure Convio to accept ACH payments:

  1. Log in as a Convio System Administrator.
  2. Click Setup->Product Configuration. The "Message Catalog Editor" page displays.
  3. Click the Merchant Accounts tab. The "Merchant Accounts" list page displays.
  4. Click Gateway Accounts. The "Gateway Accounts" list page displays.
  5. Click Create Gateway. The "Gateway Type" page displays.
  6. On the "Gateway Type" page, under Title, enter a unique name for the payment gateway.
  7. From the Gateway Account Type list, select either IATS / Ticketmaster (US) or, if you are creating a gateway for processing Canadian payments, select IATS / Ticketmaster (Canada), and for UK payments select IATS / Ticketmaster (UK).
  8. Under Gateway Setup, enter the correct values for the Username and Password for your IATS ACH account. (This information must be acquired from IATS.)
  9. Click Finish to complete gateway setup.

Add the IATS ACH Gateway to your Merchant Account

To add the IATS ACH Gateway you just created to an existing Merchant Account:

  1. Click the Merchant Accounts tab near the top of the screen. The "Merchant Accounts" list page displays.
  2. Select the Merchant Account for which you want to add an ACH payments option from the Merchant Accounts list, and under the Action column, click Edit . The "Account Details" page displays.
  3. Under Credit Card, select the name of the IATS ACH Gateway Account you created above.
  4. Under , select the name of the IATS ACH Gateway Account you created above.
  5. Click Next to display the "Merchant Detail" page.
  6. Under Supported Credit Cards, confirm that the ACH option is selected.
  7. Click Finish to complete your Merchant Account setup.

 

To add the IATS ACH Gateway you just created to a new Merchant Account:

  1. Click the Merchant Accounts tab near the top of the screen. The "Merchant Accounts" list page displays.
  2. Click Create Account. The "Account Details" page displays.
  3. Enter an account name in the Merchant Account Name field.
  4. Select the appropriate Security Category for administrators to access the account.
  5. Enter the tax ID to be associated with transaction revenues processed through this account.
  6. Under Credit Card, select the appropriate gateway account for handling credit card transactions. This can be the same as the gateway account you configured for ACH processing.
    Note:     if you intend to accept only ACH Account payments, leave this option unselected.
  7. Under , select the name of the IATS ACH Gateway Account you created above.
  8. Under Amazon Payments Account and PayPal Account, select the appropriate gateway accounts for processing those transactions. 
  9. Click Next to display the "Merchant Detail" page.
  10. Select every option to the left of each credit card type you want to support.
  11. Under Supported Credit Cards, confirm that the ACH option is selected.
  12. Recurring Transactions should be selected by default. If it is not, and you intend to process recurring transactions with this merchant account, then select this option.
  13. Click Finish to complete your Merchant Account setup.