Why ACH beats cards for $1K+ marketing-agency retainers
Card processing on a $2,500/month retainer costs you $720–$900/year in fees. ACH via Plaid costs you $36. Here's the math and the operational reality of moving big retainers off cards.
“Card processing on a $3,500/month agency retainer is $1,260/year. ACH is $24/year. Multiply by 50 clients and the difference funds a hire.”
The card math nobody puts in writing
Standard card processing rates for a marketing agency on Stripe are roughly 2.9% + 30¢ per charge. American Express runs higher (3.5%+).
On a $2,500 monthly retainer: $2,500 × 2.9% + $0.30 = $72.80 per charge × 12 months = $873.60/year per client.
On a $3,500 retainer: $1,260/year per client.
If you have 50 clients averaging $1,800/month on cards, you're paying roughly $32,000/year in processing fees. That's the marketing budget for two new clients, or a half-time hire.
The ACH math
Standard ACH processing via Stripe or Plaid is 0.8% capped at $5 per transaction. On a $2,500 retainer the cap binds: $5 × 12 = $60/year per client. On a $3,500 retainer: also $60/year.
Sub-$625 charges fall under the cap and pay 0.8% × monthly amount × 12 months. Even on small charges, ACH wins.
Total annual savings on the 50-client example above: $32,000 (cards) − $3,000 (ACH) = $29,000/year. Identical revenue, identical fulfillment, no client downside.
Why most agencies still run on cards
Friction at sign-up. The classic ACH form is a routing number + account number + voided check + 1–3 day verification. Most agency clients won't do that on a Tuesday afternoon when they're stressed about marketing performance.
Card is the default. Stripe Checkout, every invoice tool, every form prompts for a card first. ACH is an option somewhere in the second column.
No bank-link option. If you're not on Plaid (or a Plaid competitor), the only way to capture ACH is the manual form above.
How Plaid removes the friction
Plaid Link is a hosted modal. The client clicks a button, sees their bank's name, logs into online banking via Plaid's modal, picks the account they want to use. Total time: 60–90 seconds. Verification is instant.
Behind the scenes, Plaid hands you a token that exchanges for a Stripe Source or an Authorize.net eCheck.Net payment profile. From there, auto-draft on the invoice due date works exactly like card auto-draft.
In HubWho, we put Plaid Link prominently in the customer portal and on the first invoice payment screen. Clients who would never fill in a routing-number form will absolutely click 'Link your bank' if the modal looks like their bank.
What to say to a client who pushes back
Most agency clients aren't pushing back on ACH — they're defaulting to whatever the agency offers. If you offer card-only, they'll pay by card.
For the rare client who wants to pay by card 'for the points,' calculate the value of their points (typically 1.5–2% cashback) against the 2.9% + 30¢ they're costing you. On a $2,500 retainer, their cashback is ~$37.50; your processing fee is $72.80. You're underwriting their points.
A polite framing: 'We default to ACH for retainers above $1,000/month because it lets us reinvest the processing savings into your campaigns. If you'd prefer card, no problem — but here's the bank-link option if you want to try the easier path.'