My Comments

• Electronic Check Processing - 10/13/2006
  Melissa--Thanks for your interesting question. The short answer is no, right now I don't know of any payment processing system that can be fully integrated with a salesforce.com type CRM. However, any system with a robust import/export capability can be used in conjunction with a CRM to track customer payments. A workflow would look something like this: 1. Complete customer record is stored in CRM with unique identifying record #. Custom field (s) are added to CRM to hold data about payment processing 2. Customer mails a check or makes an ACH payment from a website form or via phone 3. That check is processed by payment processing system, and the unique identifying record # is included in the customer data for the transaction. 4. ACH batch is exported from payment processing program, including the unique field, into a .csv file. 5. That .csv file is uploaded into the CRM using a data append, so that information about the check transaction is appended to the main CRM record. The details would likely need to be worked out on a system by system basis. But, I know my company PaySimple can provide this type of integration. I'm not certain about other payment processors.
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• Electronic Check Processing - 10/13/2006
  Shara--Thanks for your great question. Quite honestly, there are no real drawbacks to electronic check processing--it is definitely the wave of the future. NACHA quotes several statistics from the Federal Reserve showing that processing checks electronically is helping the overall economy by significantly reducing the amount of paper-pushing and human labor involved in processing all types of money transfers--particularly those involved with checks. Further, there are even those who believe it is helping the environment by saving paper and thus requiring fewer trees to be cut down. Finally, while some people may be concerned about security when processing checks electronically, the experts all agree that it is actually safer--because there are fewer points of human intervention where personal information might be acquired unlawfully. The real issue is of course money. It may seem on the surface that paying to process each check electronically, instead of taking it to the bank and processing it for "free," is a disadvantage. However, when you look at the true cost of "legacy" check processing--from time to go to the bank, to time to manually update ledgers, etc. --you actually save money with electronic check processing. While exact estimates vary, according to NACHA you typically save 55% on average.
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• Auto Recurring Billing - 10/13/2006
  Melissa-- Although this may sound a bid biased, I would highly reccommend that you talk with PaySimple--the company for which I work. We work with many small non-profits to set up electronic payment plans. We often get asked why organizations should go with us instead of a friendly local bank--and our answer is that the bank's offering is considerably more limited than ours. If all you want is an electronic payment plan, the bank is a fine choice, and in some cases a less expensive one. But, working with PaySimple, you will not only get payment plan functionality, but you will also get the ability to accept donations online (from bank accounts or credit cards) and to enable your donors to set up their own payment plans online--even if you don't have a website. PaySimple would host that form for you--and you could provide a link via email or in your written communications. I believe that PaySimple is unique in offering a hosted online payment function as part of its core system--at no additional charge. Finally, with most payment processing companies that offer auto recurring billing you will get an online merchant console from which you can track all transactions and do robust reporting. These vary in functionality and user-friendliness, but are often more than you will get from working with a bank. I hope that helped some, and wasn't too self-serving.
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