Plaid facilitates ACH donations by acting as an intermediary between iDonate and the donor's bank. It works by authorizing, verifying, and processing ACH donations.
How it works
- User Authorization: Donors login to their banking institution within the iDonate giving form, granting Plaid permission to access their bank account information. This authorization is a one-time process and involves securely linking the user's bank account.
- Plaid Integration: iDonate uses Plaid's API to connect to the donor's bank. Plaid supports a wide range of banks and financial institutions.
- Bank Verification: Plaid verifies the bank account details provided by the donor, ensuring that the information is accurate.
- Plaid looks for the following info to make the transaction:
- Auth - bank information
- Identity - is the donor who they say they are?
- Balance - does the donor have enough money to make this transaction?
- Plaid looks for the following info to make the transaction:
- ACH Transactions: Once the bank account is verified, iDonate can initiate the eCheck transaction using Plaid.
- Donation Processing: iDonate processes the donation like a regular eCheck donation.
- Transaction Data: iDonate receives the donor’s identity (name, address, and email*), and payment method (eCheck) from Plaid as part of the Transaction Details.
The Donor Experience
Below is a step-by-step guide for the donor's experience using Plaid
- The donor selects their gift amount, and chooses “eCheck” as their payment type. When Plaid is enabled, the donor’s selection will result in all other personal information being removed from the giving form view. This information will be captured from Plaid’s identity verification.
- Once the donor clicks the Give button to donate, the Plaid interface will popup. The donor must agree to the terms before they can continue making their gift.
- Then, the donor can search for and select their banking institution.
- If the donor looks for a bank that doesn’t exist in the Plaid system, they will be prompted to try another payment type and be sent back to the giving form.
- If the donor selects a valid bank, they will be redirected to login to their banking institution via another popup.
- After successfully logging into a valid institution, the donor will again accept the terms and conditions for what information they are sharing with Plaid.
- Once the donor has logged into their banking institution, they will receive a message that their account has been successfully linked.
- Clicking “Continue” will take the donor to the iDonate confirmation page.
- If something goes wrong, such as invalid credentials, insufficient funds, or Plaid is disconnected for any reason, the donor will receive this message.
- If the donor attempts to leave the Plaid popup before completing their donation, they will receive this message.
FAQs
Q: Are donations that are processed through Plaid different from regular eCheck donations?
A: As far as reporting and the iDonate backend is concerned, donations processed using Plaid appear in the iDonate backend the same as regular eCheck donations.
*Q: What happens if a bank does not return the donor’s email?
A: We use the nodonoremail@idonate.com if no email is returned by the donor’s bank.