Checks

Mercoa supports check payments to vendors who do not accept ACH payments. Mercoa will print and mail checks to vendors on your behalf, or your customers (C2) can print and mail checks themselves.

Key Considerations for Check Payments

Checks in Mercoa are printed using the account and routing number of the bank account you have linked to Mercoa.

Mercoa does not take custody of the funds, which allows your customer to maintain control of their cash flow.

Checks can only be printed against true checking accounts. Most BaaS providers’ checking accounts are actually virtual accounts, which cannot be used for check payments.

We recommend printing a test check to deposit into your bank account to ensure that the check can be processed.

Enabling Check Payments

Once a bank account has been linked to Mercoa, you can enable check payments by updating the checkEnabled field on the bank account.

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curl -X POST https://api.mercoa.com/entity/ent_8545a84e-a45f-41bf-bdf1-33b42a55812c/paymentMethod \
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     -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" \
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     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
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     -d '{
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  "type": "bankAccount",
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  "accountNumber": "99988767623",
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  "accountType": "CHECKING",
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  "routingNumber": "12345678",
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  "checkOptions": {
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    "signatoryName": "John Doe",
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    "enabled": true,
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    "initialCheckNumber": 5000
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  }
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}'

For the vendor to receive a check, you will need to create a payment method for the vendor with the type set to check.

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curl -X POST https://api.mercoa.com/entity/ent_21661ac1-a2a8-4465-a6c0-64474ba8181d/paymentMethod \
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     -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" \
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     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
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     -d '{
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  "type": "check",
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  "addressLine1": "123 Main St",
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  "city": "New York",
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  "country": "US",
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  "payToTheOrderOf": "John Doe",
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  "postalCode": "10001",
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  "stateOrProvince": "NY",
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  "addressLine2": "Apt 1"
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}'

Creating the Invoice

When creating the invoice, specify the source bank account as the paymentSourceId and the vendor’s check payment method as the paymentDestinationId.

By default, checks will be printed and mailed to the vendor. This can be changed by setting the paymentDestinationOptions on the invoice.

Printing the Check

Once the invoice has been created and is in the SCHEDULED status, you can generate the check PDF by using the generate check endpoint.

Once this endpoint has been called, the invoice will be automatically marked as PAID regardless of the delivery method selected on the invoice. This is to prevent duplicate payments.

Customizing Delivery Methods for Check Payments

Mercoa enables organizations to control which delivery methods (such as payment speeds and mail priorities) are available for check payments on a global and per-entity basis.

• Global Configuration: Set the default delivery methods for all entities using the Payment Methods dashboard.
• Per-Entity Customization: Override or restrict delivery methods for specific entities using per-entity feature customization.

This dual-layered approach ensures you can maintain broad organizational controls, while still tailoring payment options to unique compliance, cost, or operational needs for individual entities.

Use Case: If you want to remove expedited or priority mail options for check disbursements for all entities, configure this in the global Payment Methods. To restrict or expand options for a particular entity (e.g., to comply with a vendor agreement or local regulation), override the global defaults using the entity’s feature customization settings.

Global Configuration

Admins can set the default available delivery methods for all entities within the Mercoa platform. This is managed from the Payment Methods dashboard in the Mercoa dashboard.

Enabling Available Delivery Methods for All Entities

1. Go to the Payment Methods dashboard.
2. Under Available Delivery Methods, edit the list of available delivery methods to add or remove delivery methods.
3. Select the Default Delivery Method.
4. Save your changes.

The delivery methods selected here become the default options available to all entities within your organization. These defaults will apply unless a specific entity has its own customized delivery method settings.

Per-Entity Customization

For exceptions or further customization, delivery methods can be overridden for specific entities via feature customization. Customizing Checks for a Specific Entity

1. Go to the entity’s information page in the Mercoa Dashboard.
2. In Feature Customization, navigate to Available Vendor Destinations.
3. Under check, select the required Available Delivery Methods.
4. Select the Default Delivery Method among the selected Available Delivery Methods.
5. Save your changes.

The delivery methods chosen at the entity level will override the global defaults for that entity only. If no per-entity customization is set, the entity inherits the global settings defined in Payment Methods.