How to accept a check payment over the phone or by email

What information do you need from your customer?

• Their legal business name and address.
• Their bank's routing number (9 digits) and their account number.
• The email of someone who can approve payments for the business.
• The amount, and what it's for, such as an invoice number.

Is a verbal authorization over the phone enough?

It's hard to prove. If the payment is ever disputed, the question is whether the account holder authorized it, and "they said yes on the phone" is your word against theirs. A signed approval of the exact amount, with a verified email and a timestamp, settles it.

If you record calls, a recorded call can be evidence, and DraftPay lets you record it as the authorization on file. But the simplest path is to send the approval link while you're still on the phone.

How do you take the payment while you're on the phone?

1. 1

   Enter the details

   Type the payer, amount and bank details, or drop in a photo of a check they've sent before.

2. 2

   Send the approval link

   DraftPay emails it to them right away.

3. 3

   They approve while you wait

   They open the link, review the exact amount and terms, and approve, usually in one step.

4. 4

   Print and deposit

   The draft lands in your print queue. Print it and deposit it at your bank.

How do you take it by email?

Same thing, without the call. Ask them to reply with a photo of a check or a voided check, create the draft, and the approval link goes out by email. They approve when they open it.

What if they pay you regularly?

Ask for a blanket authorization once. They approve drafts up to a cap per draft, and you don't need to call or email for each invoice. They get a notice for every draft.

What should you avoid?

• Drafting more than, or later than, what your customer approved.
• Taking payments this way from consumers. DraftPay is for business payers only, and the FTC bans remotely created checks in consumer telemarketing.
• Keeping account numbers in your inbox or a spreadsheet. DraftPay encrypts them the moment they're entered.