Industries
Card and ACH payments in the software each industry runs on
Each vertical pays differently. BrainMerchant processes card and ACH payments for software platforms; here is how payments usually work in each.
Payments by industryWhere card and ACH fit
- Property managementRent, deposits and fees
- B2B invoicingInvoices between businesses
- HealthcarePatient balances and payment plans
- NonprofitsOne-time and monthly gifts
- EducationTuition installments and registration fees
- Field servicesDeposits, progress payments and final invoices
Six industries
Choose your industry
Each page covers industry-specific payment processing for that kind of software: where card payments and ACH bank payments usually fit, and which rules matter most there.
Property management software
Rent, deposits, application fees and HOA dues, plus the authorization and return rules that matter most for rent.
B2B invoicing software
Invoices paid from one business to another, the CCD and CTX formats, and how card and ACH costs compare on larger bills.
Healthcare software
Patient balances, payment plans and treatment deposits in practice software, and why to keep card data out of clinical records.
Nonprofit software
One-time and monthly gifts, event tickets and dues, and the card network platform rules that apply to fundraising and donation software.
Education and school software
Tuition installments, registration fees and deposits, and the rules behind tuition debits on a schedule.
Field service software
Deposits, progress payments and final invoices, from quick repairs to large installs.
Patterns by vertical
Payment processing by industry: how patterns differ
Card and ACH payments by industry follow common patterns, not fixed rules. The same two methods show up in every vertical, in different places, and your customers’ payers still choose.
| Industry | Typical payments | Where card fits | Where ACH fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property management | Monthly rent, security deposits, application fees, HOA dues | Application fees, move-in costs and rent from residents who choose card | Monthly rent and dues, debited under the resident’s authorization |
| B2B invoicing | Supplier and client invoices, often large and on agreed terms | Smaller invoices and clients who prefer to pay by card | Larger invoices between business accounts, using CCD or CTX |
| Healthcare | Balances after insurance, deposits for planned treatment, payment plans | Copays and balances paid from a statement or patient portal | Payment plans and larger treatment balances, with the patient’s authorization |
| Nonprofits | One-time gifts, monthly gifts, event tickets, membership dues | One-time online gifts and event tickets | Monthly gifts from a donor’s bank account under a standing authorization |
| Education | Tuition installments, registration fees, deposits, activities | Registration fees, deposits and one-off activity charges | Tuition installments on a schedule the family authorizes |
| Field services | Deposits, progress payments, final invoices, maintenance agreements | Deposits, service call fees and smaller jobs | Progress payments and final invoices on large installs |
Payers and rules
Why some verticals lean on bank payments
Bank payments tend to carry the bills that are large, recurring or paid by a business. Business payments show the move away from checks: ACH was 41% of B2B payments by number in 2024, up from 25% in 2015, while checks fell to 13%, according to a September 2026 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland brief. As of October 2026, who pays, and how, decides which rules apply:
- Consumer accounts use consumer codes. PPD is one Standard Entry Class (SEC) code for debits to consumer accounts under a standing arrangement, such as recurring bill pay, and it needs the payer’s written authorization, signed or similarly authenticated.
- Business accounts use CCD or CTX. CTX can carry up to 9,999 addenda records of remittance data, so invoice detail can travel with the payment.
- Return windows differ by payer. An unauthorized debit to a consumer account can be returned for up to 60 calendar days; on a business account the window is two banking days.
- Visa disputes usually run longer. Visa cardholders can generally dispute a transaction for up to 120 days, and up to 540 days in some cases.
Card network rules single out some of the same verticals, which matters if your platform is weighing the payment facilitator model: as of October 2026, a payment facilitator’s sub-merchant above a yearly volume threshold generally needs its own agreement with the acquirer, and some merchant category codes (MCCs) are generally exempt from that threshold.
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Volume threshold | USD 1 million a year at Visa; USD 10 million at Mastercard |
| Exempt on both networks | Utilities (MCC 4900), rental real estate (6513), medical (8011, 8050, 8062, 8099), schools (the school codes from 8211 to 8299) and tax payments (9311) |
| Exempt at Visa only | Courts, fines and bail (9211, 9222, 9223) |
| Exempt on neither | Dental, veterinary and child care codes |
What shapes a vertical’s paymentsFive things that vary from one vertical to the next
- Payer typeA consumer account or a business account
- Payment sizeSmall fees or large bills
- How oftenOnce, or on a standing schedule
- AuthorizationWhat the payer agrees to, and how
- Returns and disputesWindows differ for consumers, businesses and cards
Card and ACH from one provider
Don’t see your industry?
The six pages above describe common patterns, not every kind of software. BrainMerchant processes card and ACH payments for software platforms in general.
Tell us how your customers pay today, or see the wider picture of card and ACH payment processing for software platforms.
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Tell us about the industry your software serves
Share who your customers are, what they bill for and how their payers pay today. We’ll walk you through what card and ACH processing with BrainMerchant could look like for your platform.