Card vs bank payments

Customers can pay by card or by bank account (ACH). Both work everywhere a payment happens in PoolChecker Pro; they differ in cost and timing.

The trade

• Cards: instant answer (paid or declined), higher processing fee. Right for one-off jobs and customers you do not know yet.
• Bank (ACH): a much lower fee, but the money takes a few business days to actually clear. Right for recurring monthly plans and large invoices for established customers, where the fee difference is real money over a year.

What "processing" means

An ACH payment shows as processing from the moment the customer authorizes it until their bank settles it. During that window PoolChecker treats the amount as spoken for: the invoice's remaining balance already reflects it, so neither you nor the customer can accidentally charge that portion again. Processing is not "maybe"; it is "in flight".

The honest edge case

Very rarely, an ACH payment fails AFTER it looked settled (insufficient funds caught late, a disputed withdrawal). When that happens, PoolChecker reopens the invoice: a bill that showed Paid returns to issued-and-unpaid, because that is now the truth. You will see the failed payment in the history with its reason. It is jarring the first time, but the alternative (books that claim money you do not have) is worse. Chase it like any open invoice; a fresh payment link is one tap.

Saved methods

Either type can be saved on file from the secure link you send off the customer's page. One saved method powers everything downstream: two-tap charges for completed work, recurring monthly billing, and installment plans. For monthly accounts, a saved bank account is the sweet spot: lowest fees on your most predictable revenue.

What it costs you

Every payment record shows its exact split: the processing fee and the small PoolChecker platform fee, both taken from the payout, never added to the customer's bill. No spreadsheet reverse-engineering required; open any payment and the numbers are right there.