#anush_banktransfer-fundinginstructions
icy scaffoldBOT
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edgy skiff
Hello! To clarify, when you say you're using "ACH" does that mean ACH direct debit, or are you doing ACH credit transfers?
Basically I'm wondering if this is what you're using now or not: https://docs.stripe.com/payments/sources/credit-transfers
woeful cloak
Credit transfers. We provide the bank account number/details and the customer initiates the payment.
edgy skiff
Gotcha. So our guidance there is to switch to bank transfers: https://docs.stripe.com/payments/bank-transfers
woeful cloak
Got it. What about pre-filling the amount for the payment intent? Bank transfers will still need a payment intent, right?
We just dont know in advance what the amount will be, nor do we know how often they will send funds
edgy skiff
They use Payment Intents, but not in the way you're thinking. Have a look at the accept a bank transfer guide to see how the process works: https://docs.stripe.com/payments/bank-transfers/accept-a-payment
woeful cloak
Yes, I did see that before. But it talks about overfunding and underfunding... this means that an amount needs to be pre-filled, right?
edgy skiff
To clarify, though, when you say you don't know how much they're going to transfer, does that mean you're not asking them for a specific amount?
edgy skiff
But you don't prescribe an amount, you leave it up to them?
woeful cloak
Yes. It's generally used to help with refunds in case of diasters... most recent example is the hurricane in FL.
These cause a lot of refund requests and their connect balance may not be enough
So they top up with the expected amount of refunds they approximate.
edgy skiff
If I understand correctly, what you would want to do is have them tell you what amount they want to add, then create the Payment Intent with that amount, then give them the bank account details to deposit that amount into.
woeful cloak
But we don't want to do that. That seems like a step backwards in terms of usability and ease of use from the Sources API.
What is the best way for a managed connect account to top-up their balance?
Perhaps thats the more approprate question 🙂
Programmatically, of course
edgy skiff
With the constraint of using ACH credit transfers, or just in general?
woeful cloak
In the US in general. They prefer bank credit transfers over other methods because that incurs the least amount of fees.
edgy skiff
My first thought is to build a payment form that accepts ACH direct debit payments which would land in my platform account. The form would be behind authentication so I know which connected account is making the payment. Then, when the payment lands in my platform's available balance, I'd transfer it to the connected account that made the payment.
Would that work for your use case?
To clarify, this would use ACH direct debits, not Bank Transfers: https://docs.stripe.com/payments/ach-direct-debit
Optionally, you could also save the ACH bank details provided during the first payment and reuse them later, so you wouldn't have to ask for the bank details each time.
woeful cloak
ACH direct debits would require the whole "bank verification" process though, right?
edgy skiff
Yes. There are instant and microdeposit verification options.
Oh, wait, my colleage just let me know about funding instructions, which might be what you really want: https://docs.stripe.com/payments/customer-balance/funding-instructions
That lets you get a virtual bank account number to give to them to fund without specifying an amount up front.
icy scaffoldBOT
woeful cloak
Yes, I think this is more appropriate.
It's kinda what we were doing with Sources as well. Using a virtual bank account.
smoky nexus
anush_banktransfer-fundinginstructions
woeful cloak
I think this clarifies things. So the existing virtual bank accounts in the source would automatically be converted to the new mechanism if I understand right?
smoky nexus
Not sure about that part, you'd need to confirm with the team that is helping you with that migration. My understanding is yes but I'm not certain and the docs you shared aren't public docs