As of Oct 1st, Treez is no longer sending SMS pay links. Stronghold now sends these links.
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General
What is Treez Pay ACH?
Treez Pay ACH is a digital payment solution that provides your customers with a convenient way to pay for their online orders using their mobile devices. You can embed a Stronghold payment page into your eCommerce menu and customers can link their bank account once and can use the same linked account to pay for future orders. For more details on the customer experience, click here.
What is Stronghold?
Treez and Stronghold have partnered to offer a fully integrated, compliant ACH payment solution. As you already know, Treez offers eCommerce and point of sale. To put it simply, Stronghold oversees the financial and technical aspects of the integration that make digital payments possible. You can read more about the company here.
Is Treez Pay ACH powered by Stronghold secure?
Yes, confidential customer banking details are not accessible by the dispensary, Treez, or Stronghold. To complete a mobile payment via Treez Pay ACH, customers simply log in to their online banking provider once by entering their credentials (login & password), and by doing so, are protected by the same level of security their banking institution provides.
With this process, there is no new account creation (security exposure) required and it piggybacks on existing banking-level security. Additionally, 2-factor authentication is utilized to safeguard against fraudulent activity, the ACH purchase maximum is limited to $999 to reduce exposure, and Treez Pay ACH charges always appear transparently on bank statements.
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Using Treez Pay ACH (Customer Experience)
How do my customers pay for their orders using ACH?
When using ACH, how a customer can pay for their order depends on which payment process you choose to configure. There are two ACH payment process options to choose from:
SMS
When a customer places an order on your Treez eCommerce menu or through any Treez-integrated menu partner, they’ll receive a text message containing a #${PaymentLink} which allows them to pay for their order via Stronghold. With that link, they’ll be able to securely link their bank account for seamless repeat checkout — no account creation required. Once the customer links their account, they’ll simply need to confirm the items and total amount being charged to them, and tap ‘Pay’.
eCommerce
The Stronghold payment page is embedded into the Payment and Checkout pages of your eCommerce menu and allows customers to pay for orders without ever leaving the menu. Customers can link a new bank account by logging in through their selected banking provider or pay with the tap of a button using an already linked account. After linking, they’ll simply need to confirm the items and total amount being charged to them, and select ‘Pay Now’. The checkout button text can be configured in Configurations > Config Page > eCommerce > General Requirements.
If you choose this approach, notifications containing the Unicode #${PaymentLink} should be disabled so customers don’t receive an SMS link to pay via Stronghold after having already paid.
Do customers need to enter their bank information every time they purchase?
Nope! Customer information is saved in their account, so while they’ll need to log in to their Treez eCommerce account each time they purchase for security reasons, they won’t need to complete the full sign-up process after their first transaction.
Is customer banking information secure?
Yes, confidential customer banking details are not accessible by the dispensary or Treez.
Is there a limit to how much customers can purchase in a single transaction?
Yes, the current bank-to-bank transaction limit for ACH is $999.
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Using Treez Pay ACH (Store Experience)
Does Treez Pay ACH work with integrated eCommerce/menu platforms?
Yes! As long as your eCommerce provider is integrated with Treez, you can continue using an external platform and still offer Treez Pay ACH as a payment option.
How will workflows at my store change when I have Treez Pay ACH?
Because this is a fully integrated payment type, not much!
After the customer prepays for their order, an ‘Authorized’ icon will appear in the upper right-hand corner of the order’s card on your Treez Fulfillment Dashboard.
'Authorized' status means Stronghold has checked the status of the customer’s bank account, and the account is active and funded.
An authorization check does not pull funds from the account immediately, allowing Sell Treez users to cancel 'Authorization' status tickets without processing a refund.
A 'Paid' status occurs after the order has been moved to 'Completed' or 'Out for Delivery', at which point, Stronghold then pulls funds from the account.
When a customer comes to pick up the order, any orders marked as 'Paid' simply need to be handed off with a receipt. Any fees you collect are viewable in your Cash Handling module and Sales reports for easy tracking and management.
How Can I Refund an ACH Payment?
If the order has been completed and a partial refund has not already been issued, the payment may be fully refunded via ACH for the entire order amount. The payment can be partially refunded, but only in Cash or Treez Reward Dollars (if enabled).
ACH Refunds will appear in the following locations:
Cash Handling > Daily Totals There are two ACH sections that appear on this page:
ACH refunds will appear under ‘Cash Drawer Daily Summary’ because ACH refunds are issued at POS, and therefore will be attached to a cash drawer.
All other ACH orders will appear in the ‘Online Prepaid’ section, as usual.
Reports > Sales
Product Sum & Product Log ACH refunds will be reflected in the ‘Returns’ column.
Payment Log The ‘Payment Type’ is listed as ‘ACH Refund’ and the ‘Payment Name’ will show as ‘ACH’.
The receipt printed will be a distinct Refund Receipt.
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Application Process
How do I apply for Treez Pay ACH?
Your first step is to fill out this pre-application form. Once it’s been submitted, a Stronghold representative will guide you through completing the full application. If you have any questions throughout the process, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Customer Success Manager.
Do I need a bank account to apply?
Yes, you’ll need a bank account under either the dispensary entity or a management company.
We recognize banking can be challenging for cannabis businesses. If you are having difficulty opening a bank account, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager for resources on the subject that may be helpful.
Note: Personal banking accounts do not meet the requirement, and are ineligible to apply.
If I have multiple locations, do I need to submit separate applications for each location?
You’ll only need to submit one of the pre-application forms per each ownership entity. When you’re completing the application, enter both addresses in the Address field. For example, John Smith, Inc owns two dispensaries: Blue St. and Green St. He’d complete one online application for John Smith, Inc. and enter the addresses for both Blue St. and Green St. on the form.
Why is there so much information required during the application process?
Stronghold’s standard process for onboarding merchants may seem like a lot of information, but it’s vital for them to have a thorough understanding of your business. Stronghold payments are fully transparent and compliant, unlike some other payment options that operate in an unreliable ‘gray area’, which is why Stronghold operates with a much lower risk of being shut down. It’s important for Stronghold to verify that you’re operating at a level that complies with all of the same regulatory requirements they must meet.
Is my application information kept confidential?
Yes. After submitting the pre-application, you’ll receive a mutual nondisclosure agreement from Stronghold to complete. Stronghold will only ever share information relevant from a regulatory perspective with their originating depository financial institution (ODFI). This information is not shared with Treez.
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Onboarding
Once I’m approved, what does the onboarding process entail?
Getting started with Treez Pay ACH is a breeze, and believe it or not, it typically takes about 30 minutes. After you’re approved, your Customer Success Manager will schedule a time for training and set up. This process includes defining your fees, configuring your SMS messages, and walking you through what your customers and budtenders will see when using Treez Pay ACH.
Do I need to submit my logo during the onboarding process? What are the specifications?
Yes, your logo is required for certain elements of the integration. For example, we display your shop’s logo on the page where customers confirm their payment to your dispensary. The ideal specifications are 500 x 500 px.
How do I access my Stronghold Merchant Dashboard?
After your application is approved, Stronghold will send you login instructions to access your Stronghold Merchant Dashboard where you can view transaction-level reporting and settlement information.
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Fees
What fees are operators subject to?
Standard fees are 3.9% of the order total plus $0.50/transaction. The ability to automatically collect fees from your customers to offset this cost is built into the integration. Subject to change.
How can operators recoup fees from customers?
The integration with Treez allows you to apply flat dollar amount fees to Treez Pay ACH orders to recoup operating fees in the form of a convenience fee. During the onboarding process, your Customer Success Manager will help you decide what amount makes sense for your business and set up your fee structure.
How are customer fees applied?
Customer fees will automatically be applied to the order, and the fees collected will be reflected in your daily deposits from Stronghold.
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Additional Information
Where can I find more information about TreezPay ACH?
If you’d like to learn more about the program, please contact your Customer Success Manager who will walk you through any questions you may have. You can also visit Stronghold’s website here.
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