ACH Processing Fee

I have been paying my mounthly assessments by ACH for several years. I was recently told that all ACH transactions will now have an added $3 fee each month. The management company said this is not a charge they are adding, but is being made by the company/software they use to process the payments.

Our BOD has been interviewing other management companies and tell us that all of them are saying the same thing.

Has anyone else been informed of this fee for ACH transactions?

Sometimes (probably most), this is the bank's doing. I guess they figure people will pay for the convenience, but I think it's a money grab. Why am I paying extra when you're getting the money faster?

Anyway, I usually see a notice about the fee (aka service charge) before paying, so you need to decide at that point if you want to pay. I think you shoukd still offer ACH as an option, but encourage homeowners to make payments through their own banks to save time and money. Most will even allow you to set up recurring payments, which works even better.

Think our ACH fee is zero.

I use the bank’s bill pay. No charge for that either.

Our current MC, monthly payments. We are changing MC's 5/1/24, so we shall see:

-Accepts checks in person at their office. Free.

-Processes mailed checks at no charge. They say it takes 10-15 days for the payment to post to account. I use Bill Payment through my bank. Sometimes it's a little late, but I allow for that. Free.

-Accepts credit cards on their portal. Fees are very high, but it's an option.

-Accepts direct payments on their portal. Allows owners to control their payments, but costs $2 to make a payment.

-Encourages draft payments. Have to fill out a form. Have to follow up to see if they got it. Have to check that they've processed it. No one ever answers the phone. Need to cancel or change it? Fill out another form and wait for the results as they state 5-7 business days for changes.

I use direct payment and drafts for all my payments. BUT, if I can't log-in to change or cancel it, then I find another way to pay.

Stopped mailing vendor payments at work 2 years ago because of stolen mail/check fraud. Now use bank's bill pay for free, or 3 day ACH for $1.00, overnight is $5.00, and same day is $30.00. If I can control the draft, I'll sign up for that. Only checks written are handed directly to the vendor at time of sale.

Will update after we receive notice from new MC regarding how to make payments.

I will pay extra not to sign up for drafts that I can't control.