Customer enrolment
Whether the customer must link a bank account before the first payment, how many steps that takes, and what share of your customers will abandon it at the counter.
Cannabis ACH and pay-by-bank providers: how to compare
You are evaluating ACH or pay-by-bank acceptance for a cannabis or hemp business.
Short answer
ACH and pay-by-bank move money directly from a customer's bank account, so the comparison is about enrolment friction and return handling rather than interchange. The questions that decide it are: does the customer have to connect an account before paying, how are returns and reversals charged back to you, when do funds settle, how are refunds issued, and does the method cover in-store as well as online sales. Every provider below documents a bank-linked or eCheck product on its own site.
This page does not rank providers and makes no claim about any company that its own public pages do not state. Every cell below links to the source page and the date we read it. No "best", cheapest, approval-rate or network-acceptance claim appears here about anyone, including us. Last reviewed August 18, 2026.
What to compare
Returns, reversals and disputes
ACH has no interchange but it does have returns. Get the return codes you will see, the fee per return, and who bears the loss when a payment reverses after goods have left the store.
Settlement timing and funding schedule
Same-day, next-day or multi-day funding materially changes working capital. Confirm cut-off times and holiday behaviour in writing.
Refund mechanics
How a refund is issued, how long it takes to reach the customer, and whether partial refunds are supported at the till.
Channel coverage
In-store, online pre-order, delivery and subscription flows are often separate products. Check which are included.
Reserve and exposure
Whether the provider holds a reserve against returns, at what percentage, and under what conditions it changes.
What each provider publishes
Sourced from each company's own public pages. Blank cells mean the fact is not published, not that it is unfavourable.
| Attribute | Aeropay | POSaBIT | Paybotic | Dama Financial by LeafLink |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payment methods publicly documented | Names Pay (bank-linked payments), Payout, AeroSync (bank account connection) and Guard.Source, read August 18, 2026 | Names POS payments with split payments and multiple processor support, debit payments, and "POSaBIT Pay", a pay-by-bank option it describes as powered by Plaid.Source, read August 18, 2026 | Its solutions index names PIN debit card processing, eCheck/ACH, eCommerce payment processing, gift card programs, merchant cash advance, cannabis banking (checking accounts) and a smart safe.Source, read August 18, 2026 | Names business checking and savings accounts, secure credit cards and business funding up to $250,000, with payments described as ACH, wire or check.Source, read August 18, 2026 |
| Stated market focus | Published use cases are gaming, specialized retail, e-commerce, marketplaces and subscriptions.Source, read August 18, 2026 | Cannabis retail across in-store, online ordering and delivery, described as omni-channel; no non-cannabis verticals were named on the pages read.Source, read August 18, 2026 | Names retail cannabis dispensaries, medical marijuana dispensaries and delivery, CBD/hemp retail and CBD/hemp eCommerce.Source, read August 18, 2026 | Cannabis businesses nationwide; no sub-verticals such as delivery, CBD or e-commerce were named on the pages read.Source, read August 18, 2026 |
| Publicly documented POS or software integrations | Publishes developer documentation at dev.aero.inc and a merchant knowledge base at help.aeropay.com.Source, read August 18, 2026 | Its integrations page names Dutchie, Jane, Dispense, Weedmaps, Leafly, Wikileaf, Metrc, BioTrack, Headset, Alpine IQ, Onfleet, Green Check, Divvy, Enlighten, Eyerate, Sticky Cards, Springbit and GBG, and refers to open APIs.Source, read August 18, 2026 | No named third-party POS or software integration partners and no developer documentation were found on the pages read; the debit page instead states "no integration with the POS system necessary".Source, read August 18, 2026 | No POS or software integration list and no developer documentation were found on the pages read.Source, read August 18, 2026 |
| Pricing information published publicly | No rate card was found on the pages read, and no dedicated public pricing page was located on 18 August 2026.Source, read August 18, 2026 | No rate card is published on its payments page; the published path is "Book a Demo".Source, read August 18, 2026 | No rate card is published. The debit page refers to a one-time onboarding cost and "low monthly fees" without amounts, and a promotion page advertises waived monthly maintenance fees and up to five free terminals per location.Source, read August 18, 2026 | No rate card is published; financing is described as having "competitive rates", and the site states account terms and fee schedules are available when you apply.Source, read August 18, 2026 |
| Support model described publicly | Lists a support centre for personal users and a separate merchant knowledge base; no support phone number or published hours were found on the pages read.Source, read August 18, 2026 | Publishes a support phone number (1 855 767 2248), a support request form and a demo request form.Source, read August 18, 2026 | Publishes a support phone number (844.420.4729), a support email address and a "24/7 Dedicated Support" statement.Source, read August 18, 2026 | Describes "expert support" from cannabis banking specialists and shows an on-page chat widget; no support phone number, hours or knowledge base link was found on the pages read.Source, read August 18, 2026 |
| Limitations stated on the provider's own pages | Not published publicly. | States it is "PCI DSS compliant & TLS-Certified where possible" and describes POSaBIT Pay as requiring the customer to connect a bank account through Plaid.Source, read August 18, 2026 | States that because cannabis is federally illegal most banks and national card networks will not process these transactions; its debit product requires the customer to enter a PIN, and its banking product requires app-loaded funds or a linked external bank account.Source, read August 18, 2026 | States banking services are provided by third-party partner banks (First Option Bank and Dart Bank, Members FDIC), that the company is a fintech and not an FDIC-insured bank, and that deposit insurance is subject to conditions.Source, read August 18, 2026 |
Head-to-head detail: Cannabis Pay Hub vs Aeropay, Cannabis Pay Hub vs POSaBIT, Cannabis Pay Hub vs Paybotic, Cannabis Pay Hub vs Dama Financial by LeafLink.
Questions operators ask
- Is ACH legal for cannabis businesses?
- ACH itself is a normal US bank payment rail, and it is used by cannabis operators through providers whose sponsor banks knowingly serve the industry. The constraint is the bank's willingness and compliance programme, not the rail, which is why the provider's banking relationship and stated limitations matter more than the technology.
- How is pay-by-bank different from a cashless ATM?
- Pay-by-bank debits the customer's bank account for the exact sale amount, typically after the customer links an account. A cashless ATM processes a rounded withdrawal at the counter and gives change in cash. Their fee structures, receipts and compliance treatment differ, and some providers have moved away from the latter.
- What does ACH cost for a cannabis merchant?
- Usually a flat fee or a low percentage per transaction plus return fees, rather than interchange. Because no provider in this set publishes a rate card, compare written quotes on identical volume and return assumptions.
Keep reading
Other guides: How to compare cannabis payment processors · How to compare dispensary payment processors · Cannabis debit payment alternatives: the options compared
Related references on this site
Definitions, state rules and solution pages that support the criteria used in this guide.
GuideBank paymentsACH is the workhorse of cannabis B2B. It moves money between bank accounts cheaply and predictably — as long as you understand returns, authorisation records and the exposure window you are accepting. This page covers ACH only.Open QuestionPay by bank for dispensariesACH moves money directly between bank accounts rather than over card networks. For dispensaries it is used in two ways: business-to-business payments to vendors, distributors and landlords, and consumer pay-by-bank or wallet flows where the customer authorises a debit from their bank account, usually for pre-orders, delivery or account-funded wallets. ACH settles in one to a few business days and can be returned after the fact, so it fits pre-order and B2B flows better than instant in-store checkout.Open QuestionWho processes payments for THCA flower storesThere is no fixed list of processors that work with THCA, because eligibility depends on each provider's current risk policy, its sponsor bank, and the specific THCA formats you sell. Some high-risk and hemp-focused processors have underwritten THCA merchants directly, mainstream payment facilitators generally exclude the category, and eligibility can differ for flower versus edibles versus concentrates. Confirm THCA eligibility in writing with any provider before building your checkout around it.Open QuestionACH funding time cannabisStandard ACH entries typically settle in one to three business days, and same-day ACH is available for qualifying entries, but cannabis merchants frequently see additional provider-imposed holds — often one to five extra business days — to cover return risk. Your effective timing is set by your agreement, not by the network alone.Open GuidePillar guideCannabis payments are not one product. They are a set of arrangements — each with different costs, funding behaviour, customer experience and stability — assembled around what your license type, state and banking access allow. This guide explains the whole landscape so you can judge an offer instead of accepting one.Open ComparisonCannabis Pay Hub vs AeropaySearched by operators looking specifically at bank-linked (pay-by-bank) payments rather than card or terminal-based acceptance.Open
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