Every time a parent pays a registration fee with a credit card, a processor takes a cut — typically around 2.9% + 30¢, and on some club platforms 3.5% + $1 or more. It feels small on one payment. It is not small across a club.
Run the math on your own club
Say you have 200 players paying a $400 season fee — $80,000 in registrations. Here's what payment processing costs on that volume:
| Method | Rate | Cost on $80,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Card (3.5% + $1) | club-platform card rate | ~$2,990 |
| Card (2.9% + 30¢) | standard card rate | ~$2,380 |
| ACH bank debit (~0.8%, capped) | SoccerClubHQ Pro | ~$1,000 |
On a single $400 registration that's roughly $15 by card vs about $3–4 by ACH. Multiply by a few hundred families and the difference is a uniform set, a tournament entry, or a scholarship for a kid who couldn't otherwise play.
What is ACH, and why is it so much cheaper?
ACH (Automated Clearing House) is a direct bank-to-bank transfer — the same rails as direct deposit. There's no card network (Visa/Mastercard) taking an interchange cut, so processors charge a small flat percentage that's usually capped at a few dollars. Card fees, by contrast, scale with the payment forever — the bigger the registration, the bigger the cut.
The trade-offs are minor for club use: ACH takes a couple of business days to settle (fine for registration, which isn't an impulse purchase), and the family enters bank details instead of a card. That's it.
How to actually get families onto ACH
- Default to bank payment in checkout. Most families will use whatever's pre-selected. Make ACH the default and offer card as the backup, not the reverse.
- Show the savings. If your platform lets you pass fees to families, a parent paying by card might see a small surcharge while ACH is free — a gentle nudge that's also more honest.
- Use it for the big stuff. ACH matters most on large payments (registration, travel fees) where the percentage really bites. Concessions and small spirit-wear orders can stay on cards.
The catch: a lot of club platforms don't offer ACH at all
This is the part to check before you pick a platform. Several popular youth-sports tools are card-only — there's simply no bank-payment option, so every registration pays the full card rate. If getting paid is a big part of what your club software does, the absence of ACH is a quiet, season-long cost. (See our SoccerClubHQ vs Jersey Watch comparison for a concrete card-only example.)
SoccerClubHQ is ACH-first: families default to bank payment, cards are available for anyone who wants them, and ACH runs as low as 0.8% capped at $5 on our Pro plan. Dues collection — ACH included — is available on every tier, even Free. It's the cheapest honest way we know to get a club paid.
The one-line takeaway
If your club collects real money from families, the single highest-leverage finance decision you'll make is defaulting to ACH instead of cards. It's the same dollars in your account — minus a few thousand in fees you were never getting value from.
Collect dues with ACH built in
Set your fee, default families to bank payment, and keep more of every registration. Free to start, no card required.
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