FAQ
Questions businesses ask about check drafts
Short, direct answers about how check drafts work, how your customer authorizes them, what banks expect, how printing and depositing work, and what DraftPay costs. No contracts: cancel anytime.
Check drafts
What is a check draft?
A check draft, formally a remotely created check, is a check you create on your customer's behalf using their bank details and their authorization. It has no handwritten signature. Instead, it states that the account holder authorized it. You deposit it like any other check. More on remotely created checks.
How is this faster than waiting for a check?
You don't wait for your customer's check run, a signer or the mail. They approve the exact amount from an email, and you print the draft and deposit it at your own bank that same day. Funds availability then follows your bank's normal hold policy for checks.
Is a check draft the same as an eCheck or an ACH debit?
No. An ACH debit (often called an eCheck) moves money electronically through the ACH network under Nacha rules, through a payment processor. A check draft is a paper check: you print it and deposit it at your bank under check law and Regulation CC. Compare the options.
Who is DraftPay for?
Businesses that invoice other businesses and still get paid by check: agencies, dealership vendors, distributors, contractors and suppliers, IT and professional services firms. Every payer must be a business. See industries.
Can I draft on consumers?
No. DraftPay is for business-to-business payments only, so every payer must be a business.
What does my customer see?
A clean page with your business name, the amount, the dates and plain-language terms. They can approve or decline, and they get a link to revoke the authorization before a draft prints.
Can the emails my customers get show my logo?
Yes. Add your logo and pick a brand color in Settings, and every request, notice and approval page your customers see carries them, so it's clearly from you. DraftPay is credited in small print.
Can the AI make mistakes?
Yes, so nothing is created automatically. Quick Draft fills in the fields from a check photo or invoice and flags anything it isn't sure about. You review and confirm every field before a draft exists, and your customer still has to approve.
Rules and banks
Is it legal?
Yes, with the account holder's authorization. Remotely created checks are defined and governed by the Federal Reserve's Regulation CC, and the account holder must authorize them, one payment at a time or with a blanket authorization. DraftPay won't let a draft be approved until it's covered by your customer's authorization. This isn't legal advice, so check with your own counsel about your situation. The rules in detail.
Will my bank accept check drafts?
Banks set their own rules for remotely created checks. When you sign up, you confirm yours takes them. Not sure? We give you a short note to send your banker.
Will a check draft clear if my customer uses Positive Pay?
Usually, once they approve it. Positive Pay flags checks that aren't on the account holder's issued list, and a draft you created won't be, so it shows up as an exception for them to approve. Ask Positive Pay customers to approve the exception when it appears. More on depositing.
What happens if a payer disputes a draft?
Their bank can return it as unauthorized, and the loss usually flows back to the bank where you deposited it, which charges it back to you. The signed, sealed authorization record DraftPay keeps for every draft is what shows it was authorized. Disputes and returns.
Printing and depositing
What do I need to print?
A laser printer and blank security check stock: our starter kit, or your own. Banks prefer magnetic MICR toner for the line of numbers along the bottom, so ask yours whether regular toner is fine. DraftPay includes an alignment page so your first real draft lines up. Printing guide.
How do I deposit a check draft?
Like any other check: at a teller, at an ATM or through remote deposit, in whichever channels your bank accepts remotely created checks. Ask your bank which ones it allows. Depositing guide.
How fast is the money available?
You can deposit the draft the day your customer approves it. From there, your bank's normal funds availability policy for checks applies, the same as for a check that came in the mail.
Pricing and billing
Is there a contract?
No. Every plan is month to month. Cancel anytime from your billing settings, with no cancellation fee, and you keep access through the end of the month you've paid for.
When am I charged?
Not while we review your business. You pick a plan and put a card on file when you sign up, and billing starts the day you're approved. Change plans, update your card or cancel anytime from your billing settings.
Are there per-draft fees?
No. Each plan is one flat monthly price with a monthly draft allowance. Your bank's usual deposit terms still apply.
Is there a setup fee?
No. The check starter kit ($49 one time, 500 blank check sheets) is optional. Skip it if you already have blank check stock.
What do I need to get started?
Your EIN, your business address and your bank's routing number. It takes about five minutes. Once you're approved: a laser printer with blank check stock, a mobile phone for sign-in codes, and each customer's email so they can approve.
Security
How is bank information protected?
Account numbers are encrypted the moment they're saved. After that the web app can't read them back, and screens show only the last four digits. Every user signs in with two-step verification. Security details.
Who reviews my business?
We verify each business and its owners before drafting opens. Most businesses are verified within two business days, and nothing is charged until you're approved.
Get paid on approval, not on the mail.
Set up in about five minutes. Nothing is charged until you're approved. No contracts, cancel anytime.