The Video Tutorial icon to the left will launch an 8 minute video explaining the basic functions of your Merchant homepage.
While most functions and upgrade options available through our Vcheck system are applicable to an ACH account, some are not.
Functions and upgrades that do NOT apply to an ACH account include anything to do with printing checks along with Check Batching, Multiple Payees, and Signature Capture. Any page that does NOT apply to ACH is marked with the No/Ban icon on the navigation bar as shown in the image to the left.
Please see this page for an overview of your Merchant's Homepage or Control Panel. The main difference with an ACH account is you will not see a Waiting Checks table. Instead you will have a table with two tabs - one for Sales and one for Credits (refunds). See the image below for the basic layout.
The video linked to above details this table. The most important part is the color coding of each check. Before going further, you may wish to download the Response Code PDF file in case you have a question about what a particular Response Code means. To better explain the color coding, you can refer to the legend at the top of the table:
Declined: You should rarely see this. It indicates that some of the data presented to the ACH gateway was invalid (we validate all data before sending). The Response Code should indicate why the data was rejected.
Voided: Any transaction that has a Status of Ready can be Voided. This usually only applies to checks that have been submitted today. They have yet to be officially processed by the gateway. You can void a check by using the Options - View Check Details button to the right of each check.
Rejected: This occurs when a transaction is rejected by your customer's bank for whatever reason - NSF, Stop Pay, Account Closed, etc. Again, the Response Code will tell you the exact reason.
Unfunded: This usually applies to a transaction that has been fully processed but you later refunded. For a settled transaction, you can initiate a refund via the Check Details page (available under the Options button next to each check).
Funded: This is a complete transaction.
Details about any transactions can be viewed by the Options - View Check Details menu to the right of each transaction.
Voiding a Transaction: You can only void a transaction if it was entered into the system the same day or as long as the Status in the transaction table still shows Ready. To do so, just go to the View Checks Detail page and use the Void Transaction button near the bottom.
Refunding a Transaction: The Check Details page is also where you can Refund a transaction once it has been processed. Once processed, instead of a Void button you will see a Refund Transaction button.
A record of all your ACH transactions is maintained within Vcheck. If you can not find the information you need about a specific checks in the table of transactions, you can always use the Search function.
Basic reports are also available. However, there may be times when you need data about a specific transaction(s) from the Forte Gateway server. In that case you will have to login to the Forte Virtual Terminal. There is a link to do so under the Merchant menu on the left navigation bar. You will need the credentials you were provided in emails from Forte when you account was approved.
The VT (virtual terminal) is a very robust system that can show you more than you ever wanted to know about all your ACH transactions. If you have to get into the VT and are a bit lost, Forte has a complete Help/User's Manual site here.
