Note: Pay by Bank is currently available to US customers only and is rolling out gradually — you may not see it in your account right away.
Pay by Bank lets your customers pay proposals, quotes, and invoices directly from their bank account — all within the PandaDoc signing flow. No external gateway account is needed. PandaDoc handles setup through Plaid (bank verification) and Stripe (ACH processing), so you can start collecting bank payments in just a few clicks. Payments settle in 2–4 business days at up to 1.5% per transaction — significantly lower than typical card processing rates.
How Pay by Bank works
Pay by Bank uses two trusted financial infrastructure providers behind the scenes:
Plaid verifies your payer's bank account securely and generates a payment token. No raw bank credentials are stored on PandaDoc servers.
Stripe processes the ACH debit using the token from Plaid and initiates the bank transfer.
You enable Pay by Bank once in Settings. From there, payers see a Bank Transfer option at checkout and complete payment by authenticating their bank through Plaid Link — a secure, familiar bank login flow.
Watch a video overview:
Enable Pay by Bank
You only need to do this once. You can enable Pay by Bank either from the Collect payment step in your template or from API and Integrations in Settings.
To enable it via Settings:
Go to Settings > API and Integrations.
Find and select Pay by Bank.
Select Enable and provide your business details.
Complete the Plaid Link flow to connect and verify your bank account.
PandaDoc sets up an ACH account on your behalf — you don't need a separate Stripe login.
To enable it directly in your template:
Select Add step > Collect payment and select the added step.
Select Enable next to Pay by Bank.
Provide your business details and complete the Plaid Link flow to connect and verify your bank account.
That's it. Pay by Bank has been added.
Add Pay by Bank to a template
Once enabled, you can add Pay by Bank as a payment method to any document.
Open a template.
Add a Collect payment step.
In the Collect Payment step, Pay by Bank will be automatically selected as the payment method if it's the only payment gateway you've connected.
If you have previously connected another payment method, scroll down to Payment methods and select Edit, toggle on Bank transfer under Pay by Bank, and select Done.
Send the document to your recipient as usual.
Note: If you have other payment gateways connected, Pay by Bank appears alongside them and payers can choose their preferred method at checkout. If Pay by Bank is your only connected method, it's shown as the default. Pay by Bank supports one-time payments only — it's not available for recurring or installment payment types. When Pay by Bank is enabled, Stripe credit card payments remain available, but Stripe Dynamic and Stripe Bank Transfer ACH are not supported alongside it.
How payers complete payment
Here's what your recipient sees when a document includes Pay by Bank:
The payer opens the document and completes any required fields or signatures.
At checkout, they select Connect bank account.
Plaid Link opens — the payer selects their bank.
Customer selects Pay now
The payment is initiated and the payer sees a confirmation that the document is complete.
Note: Payers don't need a PandaDoc account to complete payment. If their bank isn't supported by Plaid, they'll see an error message. If another payment method is available on the document, they can use that instead.
Payment statuses
Pay by Bank payments appear in your Payments dashboard alongside your other payment methods. Because ACH transfers take time to settle, you'll see these statuses:
Status | What it means |
Initiated | The payer authorized the bank transfer. Processing has started. |
Pending | The ACH debit is in transit. Settlement typically takes 2–4 business days. |
Paid | Funds have settled successfully. |
Failed | The payment couldn't be processed (e.g., insufficient funds, account closed). Check the document record for details. |
Returned | The payment was reversed after initially succeeding — this can happen if the payer disputes the transaction or there are account issues. |
Overdue | A payment due date passed without a completed payment. |
Marking a payment as paid
If your customer pays outside PandaDoc (e.g., via wire transfer or check), you can manually mark the payment as paid to keep your records accurate.
In Payments, hover over the document and select the ellipsis (⋮).
Select Mark as paid.
Add an optional private note for your records.
Toggle off the payer notification if you don't want them to receive an email, then select Mark as paid.
Note: Mark as paid is only available when the document is in Waiting for payment status. Any manual status changes are recorded in the document's audit trail.
Fees and settlement
Detail | Info |
Transaction fee | Up to 1.5% per transaction |
vs. card processing | ~3% for most credit card processors |
Settlement time | 2–4 business days (US ACH) |
Supported region | United States only |
Supported currency | USD only |
Frequently asked questions
Is my bank account information stored by PandaDoc?
No. PandaDoc never stores your raw bank account credentials. Plaid uses secure tokenization — only an encrypted token is passed to Stripe to initiate the payment.
What happens if the payer's bank isn't supported by Plaid?
The payer will see an error message and can use another payment method on the document if one is available.
Can I use Pay by Bank alongside other payment gateways?
Yes. If you have other gateways connected (Stripe, PayPal, etc.), Pay by Bank appears as an additional option and payers choose their preferred method at checkout. Note that Stripe Dynamic and Stripe Bank Transfer ACH are not available when Pay by Bank is enabled — Stripe credit card payments continue to work normally.
Why does settlement take 2–4 business days?
ACH transfers are processed in batches through the US banking system and aren't instant. This is standard for ACH payments. You can track the payment status in your Payments dashboard throughout the process.
Do I need a Stripe account to use Pay by Bank?
No. PandaDoc creates and manages the Stripe connection on your behalf when you enable Pay by Bank. You don't need to sign up for or manage a Stripe account separately.
Learn more about collecting payments with PandaDoc.