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Card vs ACH vs Check

The cheapest way to get paid isn't the one with no fee.

A "free" payment isn't free if it parks your cash for months. Card carries a visible fee but pays sooner — so once you price the carry cost of slow money against cash-flow timing, tax treatment, and Level III data, the math can flip. Move the inputs and watch the true net cost land.

Your numbers

Defaults reflect a typical mid-market AP profile. Adjust any field — results update instantly.

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Lowest true net cost

Card is your cheapest way to pay.

Annual savings — card vs ACH
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Annual savings — card vs check
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Lowest
Card
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Net cost of payment
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Net cost per year
Fee0 bps
Carry cost0 bps
Tax + benefits0 bps
Lowest
ACH
0 bps
Net cost of payment
$0
Net cost per year
Fee0 bps
Carry cost0 bps
Tax + benefits0 bps
Lowest
Check
0 bps
Net cost of payment
$0
Net cost per year
Fee0 bps
Carry cost0 bps
Tax + benefits0 bps

Why "no fee" loses

ACH and check look free because their per-transaction fee is pennies. But a payment that takes the full DSO to clear ties up working capital the whole time — that's carry cost, and it dwarfs the sticker fee. Card charges a visible fee, yet it pays on a shorter term, so it carries far fewer days of cost. On top of that, card earns back tax treatment plus benefits ACH and check can't: Level III data savings and lower AR operations cost.

  • Carry cost = (cost of capital + inflation) ÷ 365 × days the cash is tied up. Fewer days, lower carry.
  • Card pays sooner, so its carry window is the card term — not your full DSO.
  • Card-only credits — Level III data and reduced AR operations — pull card's net cost down further.

Illustrative estimate — your diagnostic produces the real number. This calculator uses clean assumptions to show the shape of the math. The actual net cost depends on your supplier terms, interchange tier, tax position, and reconciliation setup — which we baseline in a paid diagnostic.

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