ACH Payments (Studio Guide)

Everything you need to know about enabling and managing ACH payments for your studio.

Overview

ACH allows your clients to pay directly from their bank account at a lower processing fee (1.8%) than credit cards. You enable and manage ACH from Business Settings — clients handle their own bank account setup independently.

Note: ACH is a standalone feature. You do not need Walla Offset enabled to accept ACH payments. These are two separate features that can be used independently of one another.

Important: ACH is not instant — processing takes 3–10 business days. Payments show as successful at time of purchase, but failures can occur after services have already been used.

Enabling & Managing ACH

Enable or disable ACH in Business Settings
Default processing fee: 1.8% — this is absorbed by your studio and is not passed to clients
ACH can be enabled without Walla Offset
ACH must be enabled if you want to use Walla Offset — but Walla Offset is not required to accept ACH payments
Changes take effect immediately

When Disabling ACH

Payments already initiated will still process normally
Upcoming scheduled payments — including recurring plans and enrollments — will fail

Heads up: If you have Walla Offset enabled and disable ACH, Walla Offset will automatically be disabled as well.

Business Settings — ACH disable confirmation modal

What ACH Can (and Cannot) Be Used For

Purchase Type	ACH Supported?
Class drop-ins	Yes
Appointment bookings	Yes (listed under drop-ins at front desk)
Enrollment payment plans	Yes (installment payments)
Plan purchases & recurring billing	Yes
Retail & gift card purchases	No
Late cancel / no-show fees	No
Split payments	No
Charges requiring immediate confirmation	No — credit card required

ACH cannot be set as a client's default payment method. If a client has only ACH on file and a fee is triggered, it will be added to their account balance instead.

Front Desk Usage

Staff can process ACH only if the client already has a bank account saved to their profile
Staff cannot add a bank account on a client's behalf — clients must complete setup themselves via the Walla App or Widget
If a client's bank is not supported, ACH will not appear as a payment option

Front desk — ACH available under Drop-in when booking an appointment

Failed Payment Scenarios

Because ACH takes 3–10 days to process, failures may occur after services have been used. Here's how Walla handles each scenario:

Scenario	What Happens
Class already attended	Visit stays valid; amount added to client's account balance
Class not yet used	Booking is cancelled
Appointment — past bookings	Remain valid; converted to account balance owed
Appointment — future bookings	Automatically cancelled
Weekly recurring plan	Cancelled immediately on first failure (no retries)
Monthly recurring plan	Up to 3 retry attempts, then cancelled
Cancellation within window	Late cancel / no-show penalties still apply

Refunds

Full and partial refunds supported across plans, classes, appointments, and enrollments
Refunds are always returned to the client's original bank account — processing time 3–10 business days
If a payment is still processing, it may need to be cancelled rather than refunded depending on timing

Transaction flow: Processing → Completed → Refunded

Quick Reference

Setting	Details
Processing fee	1.8% (absorbed by the studio)
Processing time	3–10 business days
Default payment method	Cannot be set as default
Who sets up bank account	Client only — staff cannot add on their behalf
Walla Offset requirement	ACH must be enabled to use Walla Offset — but Walla Offset is not required for ACH
Weekly plan failure	Cancelled immediately on first failure
Monthly plan failure	Up to 3 retries, then cancelled
Refund destination	Always returned to client's original bank account