Payments & Finance
ACH Authorization Must Follow the Payment, Not Live in a Folder
When a debit is questioned, you need the signed authorization on the account, not in a folder. ConsentPay puts it there automatically.
If you can't connect the payment to the permission, you can't defend either.
Summary
ACH and recurring payments require clear, provable consumer authorization.
Authorization evidence belongs on the account with the payments it covers.
ConsentPay collects a signed authorization and files the PDF on the account automatically.
Key takeaways
Capture authorizations electronically with signature and timestamp.
Process revocations immediately and record them.
See ConsentPay in a demo.
Why it matters
When you debit a consumer's account on their instructions, you need to show exactly what they authorized, when and for which payments. Payment-network rules and consumer-protection laws set the requirements; confirm yours with counsel and your processor.
The folder problem
Many agencies have authorizations, but in the wrong place: a recorded call somewhere, a PDF in a shared drive, a note in the account saying "consumer agreed." When the question comes six months later, someone has to hunt. Sometimes the evidence doesn't match the payments that were actually made, because the plan changed and nobody updated the record.
Keep the whole story together
For every authorization, keep together on the account:
- Who authorized it (the payer, who may not be the debtor).
- What was authorized: amount, fees, frequency, dates, method.
- How: signed electronically, recorded call, written form.
- When: timestamp.
- Which payments it covers.
- Changes: any modification, with its own authorization.
- Revocation: when and how the consumer revoked it, and when you stopped.
- Outcomes: each payment's processor result, returns and cures.
Handle changes and revocations immediately
If a consumer revokes an authorization, scheduled debits must stop, and the record should show when the revocation arrived and when processing stopped. If a plan changes, a new authorization should cover the new terms.
Failed payments are part of the record
Returns and declines should update the schedule and trigger a follow-up workflow, not just a line in a processor report. See failed payments need a recovery plan of their own.
Measure it
- Payments with a linked authorization (target: all).
- Unauthorized-return rate.
- Time to process revocations.
- Failed-payment cure rate.
How ConsentPay solves it
ConsentPay creates the authorization from the account, sends the payer a secure link, collects the signature on their own device in English or Spanish, and files the signed PDF on the account automatically. Fees come from your state rules, only the last four digits of a card are collected, and wrong details mean void and recreate, never editing around a mistake. Payments are recorded on the same account with method and reference.
The bottom line
Authorization isn't paperwork beside the payment. It's part of the payment. ConsentPay keeps them together.
See it working in your agency
Book a 30-minute guided Nexum demo built around your agency's real bottleneck, or call 502ZONE directly at (786) 524-4252. Nexum Open CRM is free: no license fee, no seat fees, no subscription. Add 502ZONE modules only when you want more recovery.
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