Overview
By the end of this article you can take an E-Check payment through any of the four SmartMoving workflows that support it, and you know where a customer can add a crew tip along the way. E-Check payments let a customer pay from a bank account using a routing and account number, processed through the ACH (Automated Clearing House) network.
Once E-Check payments are enabled in SmartMoving, you can accept payments across multiple workflows, including the web app, customer portal, Crew App, and for storage accounts.
Before You Begin
Available to accounts that take E-Check payments through Remedy Payments. E-Check is set up per branch, so a branch without it does not offer E-Check even when another branch does.
Customers must provide valid bank account information.
For phone payments, customer authorization is required before proceeding.
No extra permission or setup is needed for the crew tip step. It is part of the customer portal payment flow.
If your company requires a backup card for E-Check, the customer is also asked to accept the Payment Authorization and Card-on-File Terms and to save a credit card. Your team sets this per job, with a default per service type. See How to Use a Backup Card for E-Check Payments.
Method 1: Taking an E-Check Payment in the Web App
Use this method when collecting a payment directly with the customer over the phone or in person.
Steps:
Open the opportunity and click + Payment in the Payments card header, then select Take Payment.
Select E-Check card to continue.
E-Check payment options appear as cards rather than a dropdown
Read the customer authorization script displayed in the app, which appears in-app and is also provided here.
👉Learn more about customer authorization and the script here.Ask the customer to confirm authorization, then select Yes.
Enter the payment amount and click Next.
Enter the customer’s:
Routing number
Account number
Account type (typically checking)
Confirm the payment. The payment begins processing and appears on the opportunity.
Note: The web app E-Check flow does not include the crew tip step. To record a tip on a payment you take in the office, add the tip to the job in Accounting. The tip step is part of the customer portal flow described in Method 2 and Method 4.
Using a Saved E-Check Account in the Office
When a customer has saved an E-Check account, it appears with their saved cards in the payment wizard, so your team can take a payment against it without asking for bank details again.
Open the opportunity and click + Payment in the Payments card header, then select Take Payment.
Choose the customer's saved E-Check account from the saved payment options.
Enter the payment amount and confirm the payment.
Note: The customer authorization script does not appear when you use a saved E-Check account, because authorization was captured when the customer saved it. The script still appears when you enter bank details by hand.
Method 2: Taking an E-Check Payment via the Pay Your Invoice Portal
Customers can submit E-Check payments on their own using the Pay Your Invoice portal.
Steps:
The customer opens the Pay Your Invoice link.
The customer verifies their identity using a one-time passcode (OTP). The OTP is sent to the contact information on file.
After verification, the customer selects E-Check as the payment method.
If your company requires a backup card for this job, the Payment Authorization and Card-on-File Terms open first. The customer reads them and agrees to continue.
On the Connect your bank step, the customer enters their account holder name, routing number, account number, and bank account type.
If a backup card is required, the customer completes Backup payment method on the same screen, marked Required for E-Check with $0 charged now. They choose one of their Saved Credit Cards or click Add New Card.
The customer clicks Next.
The Add a tip for your crew? step opens.
The customer chooses a tip percentage tile, chooses No tip, or types an amount in Tip Amount, then clicks Continue to Payment. The confirmation screen opens.
The customer reviews the confirmation screen, which shows the payment amount, a + Crew Tip row when a tip was chosen, and the Total that will be debited.
The customer accepts the terms and clicks Pay [amount] with E-Check. The bank account is debited the payment amount plus the tip, and the success screen shows a Crew Tip row when a tip was added.
Note: While the tip step is still to come, the advance button reads Next rather than Pay [amount] with E-Check, because that click does not take the money yet.
Note: When a backup card is required, the customer is told before they pick a payment method. The E-Check option on the payment page reads A backup card is required for E-check payments and will be charged if the E-check bounces, and the same line appears on a bank account they have already saved.
💡 SmartTip: When adding a backup card, the customer can click Same as E-Check to copy the billing details they just entered rather than retyping them.
Adding a Crew Tip During an E-Check Payment
Can a customer tip the crew when paying by E-Check? Yes. The Add a tip for your crew? step appears in the customer portal E-Check flow, and the tip is debited with the payment and recorded on the invoice as a crew tip.
Where the tip step sits in the E-Check flow
Bank details entered during the payment: the tip step comes after the bank details screen and before the confirmation screen. This order means the total the customer confirms is the total that is debited.
Saved E-Check account: the tip step is the first screen, because there are no bank details to enter.
What the tip step shows on an E-Check payment
The heading Add a tip for your crew? and the line Tips are optional and go to the crew from your move.
Three percentage tiles, 20%, 15%, and 10%, each showing the dollar amount it works out to. On a phone the tiles stack two across.
A No tip tile and a Tip Amount field that is always available.
A running summary showing Payment Amount, Crew Tip, and Total.
Back and Continue to Payment buttons.
No card processing fee note. E-Check has no card fee, so the bank account is debited the payment amount plus the tip and nothing else.
How the tip percentages are calculated
The three tiles are a percentage of the invoice's remaining balance, sales tax included. They are not a percentage of the amount the customer is paying on this transaction.
Worked example: an invoice with a $1,080.00 remaining balance shows tiles of $216.00 for 20%, $162.00 for 15%, and $108.00 for 10%.
A customer can type any amount from $0.00 upward, with up to two decimal places. There is no upper limit, and the tip is allowed to be larger than the payment amount.
Changing a tip before the payment goes through
The confirmation screen shows a + Crew Tip row with an Edit link. Clicking Edit returns the customer to the tip step with their earlier choice still filled in.
The Services Performed panel carries an Add Tip link next to the Crew Tip row, which reads Edit Tip once a tip is chosen.
Changing the payment amount after choosing a tip sends the customer back through the tip step, so the tip is confirmed against the amount they are paying.
No tip is recorded if the customer abandons the payment or the payment is refused.
Adding a Backup Card During an E-Check Payment
When your company requires a backup card, the customer saves a credit card alongside their bank details. The card is charged $0 when it is saved, and is charged only to recover the payment if the E-Check is returned unpaid.
What the customer is asked for
The Payment Authorization and Card-on-File Terms, on their own step before the bank details.
A card on the Backup payment method step, marked Required for E-Check with $0 charged now.
Once a card is chosen it appears as the E-Check Backup Card, and the customer can click Change Payment Method to pick a different one. The card also appears in the payment summary under Backup Payment Method before they submit.
Note: A customer paying with a saved E-Check account does not see the terms step. They accepted those terms when the account was stored.
To set the requirement, see How to Use a Backup Card for E-Check Payments, which also covers recovering a returned payment.
Method 3: Paying Storage Fees with E-Check
E-Check payments can also be used for one-time storage charges.
Steps:
The customer logs in to the Pay Your Invoice portal.
The customer verifies their identity using an OTP.
The customer selects E-Check as the payment method. The bank details screen opens.
The customer enters their bank details and confirms the payment. The payment applies directly to the storage account.
Note: Self storage invoices paid from the Storage page have no crew tip step. There is no crew on a storage charge to tip. A residential job that carries a Storage In Bound or Storage Out Bound service is a regular job invoice, and the tip step applies to it like any other.
Method 4: Taking an E-Check Payment via the Crew App
Crew members cannot enter bank details directly, but they can send an E-Check payment request to the customer.
Steps:
In the Crew App, select E-Check as the payment method.
Tap Send E-Check Request. A payment link is sent to the customer by email or SMS.
The customer opens the link, which takes them to the Pay Your Invoice portal with E-Check already selected.
The customer follows the same steps as Method 2, including the terms and backup payment steps if your company requires a backup card for the job, then the Add a tip for your crew? step unless the invoice already carries a tip.
The customer chooses a tip or chooses No tip, then confirms and submits the payment.
The Crew App displays a loading indicator while the payment is processed. Once payment is confirmed, the crew can proceed with closing out the job.
⚠️ Warning: If the crew has already recorded a tip on the job, the customer is not offered the tip step on the payment link, because an invoice carries one tip. Decide with your crews whether the tip is collected at closeout or left to the customer at payment, so a customer is not asked twice or missed entirely.
What Gets Saved After an E-Check Payment
Two different things can be saved when a customer pays by E-Check, and they do different jobs.
The bank account. Customers can save their E-Check account details in the customer portal for faster checkout on later payments. See Saving E-Check Payment Methods.
A backup credit card. When your company requires one, the customer also saves a credit card that is charged only if the E-Check is returned unpaid.
A customer paying with a saved E-Check account lands on the Add a tip for your crew? step first, because there are no bank details to enter. They choose a tip or choose No tip, then continue to the confirmation screen.
Note: A saved E-Check account does not show the terms step. The customer accepted those terms when the account was stored.
When the Crew Tip Step Does Not Appear on an E-Check Payment
The tip step is skipped in these cases. This is by design, not an error.
The invoice already carries a tip. An invoice holds one tip, including a tip the crew collected at closeout or a tip the office recorded. No tip option is offered.
The customer is paying a deposit by E-Check. A deposit is taken before the work is done, so there is nothing to tip for.
The payment is being taken in the office web app. Method 1 has no tip step. Add the tip to the job in Accounting instead.
The payment is a self storage charge paid from the Storage page. Storage payments have no tip option.
One more case worth knowing: if a tip reaches the invoice from another place while the customer is partway through paying, the payment is refused with the message This invoice already includes a tip. and the bank account is not debited.
What Happens After an E-Check Payment?
E-Check payments settle through the ACH network and may take several days to fully process.
Payment status updates automatically.
If a payment is returned or voided, SmartMoving handles chargeback detection and notifications.
A crew tip is recorded on the job once the payment clears, and the success screen shows a Crew Tip row.
An E-Check that clears and later bounces or is voided reverses the money but leaves the recorded tip on the invoice. Adjust the tip on the job when a payment is reversed.
A tip marks the job's crew wages out of date, because the tip changes what the crew is owed. See Finding Jobs With Out-of-Date Crew Wages for how to catch these before you run payroll.
For companies synced to QuickBooks, a tip on a finalized job queues the QuickBooks invoice for regeneration. A QuickBooks item must be mapped for Tips, or the tip is left off the QuickBooks invoice and the payment does not apply.
When a backup card is saved and the E-Check is returned unpaid, your team can charge that card to recover the payment. The recovery posts as a credit card payment with no surcharge added, stamped with who recovered it and when. See How to Use a Backup Card for E-Check Payments.
Best Practices
Agree with your crews on who asks for the tip. If the crew records a tip at closeout, the customer is not offered the tip step on the payment link.
Send the E-Check request from the Crew App before recording a tip, when you want the customer to choose their own tip amount.
Map a QuickBooks item for Tips before your first tipped E-Check payment, so tipped invoices sync cleanly.
Check the Crew Wages Out of Date filter on the Accounting Jobs list before closing a payroll period, so an E-Check tip reaches the crew who earned it.
Read the customer authorization script for every phone E-Check payment, and record the customer's confirmation.
Wait for an E-Check to clear before treating the job as paid, since the payment can be returned after it is submitted.
Getting E-Check Turned On
The Remedy Payments team sets up E-Check for your account, per branch, and walks you through the options.
To take E-Check payments, book an E-Check plan discussion with Remedy Payments.
A backup card is a credit card, so card processing has to be set up as well. To add it, book a card plan discussion with Remedy Payments.
Troubleshooting
The customer says they were not offered a tip option when paying by E-Check. Check whether the invoice already carries a tip from the crew or the office, whether the payment was a deposit, and whether it was a self storage charge paid from the Storage page. A tip step is skipped in all three cases.
The advance button reads Next instead of Pay [amount] with E-Check. A tip step is still to come, so that click does not take the payment. Click Next to reach the tip step, choose a tip or choose No tip, then continue to the confirmation screen.
The customer wants to change the tip after reaching the confirmation screen. Click Edit next to the + Crew Tip row on the confirmation screen. The tip step reopens with the earlier choice filled in.
The E-Check tip step shows no processing fee, but the credit card flow does. E-Check has no card processing fee. The bank account is debited the payment amount plus the tip and nothing else.
The customer sees the message "This invoice already includes a tip." and the payment is refused. A tip reached the invoice while the customer was partway through paying. Reload the Pay Your Invoice page and take the payment again. The tip already on the invoice stands.
An E-Check payment bounced, but the tip is still on the invoice. A reversal returns the money and leaves the recorded tip in place. Adjust the tip on the job in Accounting, then recalculate the job's crew wages.
The customer was asked to save a credit card when paying by E-Check. A backup card is required for that job. The card is charged $0 at the time it is saved, and is charged only if the E-Check is returned unpaid. To let a customer pay by E-Check without one, turn off Require backup card on that job first.
The customer saw a terms screen before entering their bank details. The Payment Authorization and Card-on-File Terms open first when a backup card is required for the job, because the customer is authorizing you to store and charge a card. A customer paying with a saved E-Check account does not see it.