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Credit cards and ACH solve different government-payment problems. Cards are usually the more familiar option for a person or business paying a tax, fee, fine, license, or other government charge. ACH is generally the preferred mechanism for federal disbursements—money the government sends to individuals and businesses—because direct deposit avoids many paper-payment steps. Neither method is automatically cheaper or faster in every situation. The right choice depends on payment direction, transaction size, settlement requirements, payer access, reconciliation work, processor terms, and the agency’s legal authority.
The clearest published cost benchmark is federal card activity, not a card-versus-ACH price study. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that more than 85 federal entities received $43.604 billion through payment cards and paid $784 million in fees during fiscal year 2023. That aggregate covered credit, debit, and prepaid cards, and represented about 1.8% of revenue or $1.06 per transaction on average. It is a bounded benchmark for the entities and transactions GAO examined—not a universal rate for every public agency and not a comparable ACH cost figure.
Start with the payment direction: collections and disbursements are different
Before comparing costs or timing, identify who is sending the money.
Collections: money paid to government
Collections include taxes, court fees, permits, licenses, tuition, recreation charges, tolls, fines, and other amounts owed to a public entity. A card payment gives the payer a familiar checkout experience and a rapid authorization response. The agency receives card-network and processor services but incurs fees under its acquiring arrangement. ACH collections can work well for bank-account payments, recurring obligations, or larger amounts, but the agency must evaluate its originator setup, returns, authorization controls, bank fees, and reconciliation process.
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Disbursements: money sent by government
Disbursements include benefits, salaries, vendor payments, grants, refunds, and other outgoing funds. The federal Treasury identifies direct deposit through ACH as its preferred disbursement mechanism for payments to individuals and businesses. That policy addresses payments from the federal government; it does not establish that ACH is the best method for collecting money from taxpayers, licensees, or other payers.
A card-versus-ACH decision can therefore change depending on direction. A public agency accepting a fee may prioritize broad payer choice and an easy online checkout. The same agency sending a payroll payment may prioritize predictable bank settlement, account validation, and low per-payment operating cost.
| Question | Card acceptance | ACH processing |
|---|---|---|
| Typical direction considered here | Money collected by a government entity | Money collected or disbursed, depending on the program |
| Primary user action | Payer presents card details or a card through an approved channel | Payer or recipient supplies bank-account information and authorization |
| What the published federal evidence quantifies | FY 2023 aggregate card revenue and fees | Rules and operating arrangements; no comparable aggregate ACH collection cost |
| Federal policy example | Card Acquiring Service accepts cards for participating federal entities | Treasury prefers ACH direct deposit for federal disbursements |
What the federal card-cost benchmark actually says
GAO’s report Payment Cards: Costs and Benefits for Federal Entities (GAO-25-107298, published in 2025) found that more than 85 federal entities received $43.604 billion through payment cards and paid $784 million in fees in fiscal year 2023. GAO calculated the fees at approximately 1.8% of revenue and an average of $1.06 per transaction.
Those numbers combine credit, debit, and prepaid-card activity. They describe the covered federal entities’ aggregate results for FY 2023, not a quoted price for an individual agency, a forecast for a future year, or a credit-card-only rate. Transaction mix, average ticket, card type, volume, merchant-category rules, negotiated contracts, and the agency’s acquiring arrangement can move an individual result above or below the aggregate.
GAO also found that interchange represented nearly 90% of the fees paid by the selected entities in FY 2023. The proportion varied by entity, card type, transaction mix, and arrangement. The finding explains why a simple “processor percentage” does not describe the entire cost.
How card-acceptance costs are built
Interchange
In a typical Mastercard or Visa transaction described by GAO, interchange goes to the card issuer. It is generally influenced by the card product, transaction type, merchant category, security controls, and other network rules. An agency normally does not negotiate interchange directly with the cardholder’s bank.
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Network fees
The card network charges network-related fees for routing and operating the payment system. These charges can include assessment or other network components set under the applicable network rules.
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The processor or acquiring institution charges for routing, authorization support, settlement, reporting, risk controls, and related services. Contracts may use a percentage, a per-transaction amount, bundled pricing, or a combination. Minimums, gateway charges, chargeback handling, tokenization, and reporting can affect the total even when the visible checkout fee looks small.
Why volume and ticket size matter
A $10 online payment and a $10,000 payment can produce different effective percentages when a fixed per-transaction component is present. Conversely, a percentage-based component can dominate large payments. GAO reported that some federal entities reduced fees by meeting volume thresholds or limiting accepted card types or transaction amounts. Such controls may lower expense but can also remove a payer’s preferred card or make a service less accessible.
Refunds are not a general offset
GSA SmartPay generated $488 million in spending-based refunds in FY 2023 on $37 billion in net eligible funds spent. Those figures concern purchase-card spending programs, not fees charged when agencies collect money from the public. They should not be subtracted from the $784 million collection-fee benchmark as though they were the same program or revenue stream.
What is known—and not known—about ACH cost
Treasury identifies 31 CFR Part 210 and the Federal Reserve ACH Operating Circular as governing sources, with Appendix D governing ACH for federal agencies. Those authorities establish operating rules, responsibilities, and settlement arrangements; the cited Treasury material does not publish one universal ACH price or a federal-wide ACH collection-cost average that can be placed beside GAO’s card figure.
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For a defensible business case, measure the agency’s own cost per successful payment and per exception. Include implementation and recurring charges, returned-payment losses, fraud investigations, call-center work, and the cost of reconciling deposits to individual accounts. Do not compare the federal card benchmark with an ACH number unless both figures use the same scope, period, payment direction, and cost categories.
Speed: authorization, settlement, and funds availability are separate
“Fast” can mean three different events:
- Authorization: the payment request receives an approval or decline.
- Clearing and settlement: payment instructions are exchanged and obligations between institutions are settled.
- Funds availability: the receiving government account can use the money.
A card authorization is usually an immediate response to a request, but that response is not the same as final settlement. ACH timing depends on the operating window, submission schedule, receiving institution, payment type, and any return or exception.
Federal Card Acquiring Service example
Treasury says Card Acquiring Service (CAS) transactions are accepted throughout the day and have next-day funds availability. Prior-day transactions settle to Treasury’s Federal Reserve account before 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. This is a CAS-specific operating example. It should not be presented as a promise for every government card contract, state processor, local portal, or payment made after a particular cutoff.
ACH operating windows
Treasury’s ACH page points agencies to 31 CFR Part 210, the Federal Reserve ACH Operating Circular, and Appendix D. The cited page does not promise one settlement duration for all ACH payments. An agency must check the applicable payment type, origination schedule, banking arrangement, and return rules before publishing a delivery estimate.
Same Day ACH for eligible federal disbursements
Treasury guidance allows eligible federal disbursements to settle on the day they are originated through Same Day ACH. The described program has a $1 million ceiling per payment, submission cutoffs that depend on the application used, and a $0.052-per-payment fee paid by the Fiscal Service. Treasury says not to use Same Day ACH to move forward regularly scheduled benefits, salary, or similar recurring payments.
Same Day ACH narrows a possible timing difference for qualifying outgoing payments; it does not make every ACH transaction immediate, and it is not a general rule for card collections. Agencies must verify eligibility, cutoff times, payment limits, and the current program terms.
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Convenience, access, and payer choice
Why agencies accept cards
Federal entity officials told GAO that payment cards can reduce the administrative burden of handling cash and checks, improve customer satisfaction, and help track spending. Cards are also familiar to many online users and can avoid the need to type a routing number and account number at checkout. A payer may have a card but not want to disclose a bank account for a one-time government charge.
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Where ACH can be more practical
ACH can fit recurring obligations, payroll, benefits, vendor invoices, and high-volume bank-account payments. A scheduled debit or credit can reduce repeated manual entry, while direct deposit avoids printing and mailing checks. The agency still needs enrollment controls, account-change verification, returned-payment workflows, and a way to match incoming or outgoing entries to the correct case, account, or recipient.
Access and exclusion risks
Card-only payment can exclude people who lack a card, have limited credit access, or prefer not to incur card debt. ACH-only payment can exclude people without a bank account or those unwilling to share bank details. Offering multiple channels may improve access, but each additional channel adds reconciliation, support, fraud, and contract-management work.
Can government charge a card fee?
The answer depends on the agency, jurisdiction, payment type, contract, and specific legal authority. GAO cites authority for the Internal Revenue Service to pass through card fees and a statutory user fee at the Defense Commissary Agency. GAO also reported that Treasury officials were not aware of surcharge or convenience-fee authority for other entities using its Card Acquiring Service.
That federal information is not blanket legal advice for state or local programs. Before adding a surcharge or convenience fee, an agency should confirm the governing statute or regulation, payment-channel rules, procurement terms, required disclosures, and whether the fee may be charged for the particular obligation.
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau uses this wording in guidance about debt collectors. Its opinion says the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Regulation F prohibit debt collectors from charging payment-channel fees unless the underlying agreement expressly authorizes them or law affirmatively permits them. That rule addresses debt collectors; it should not be generalized to every government agency, tax portal, court, or licensing program.
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Reconciliation, controls, and operational workload
Card reconciliation
Card deposits may arrive as batches rather than one bank entry per payer. The agency must connect settlement reports, authorization data, refunds, disputes, and chargebacks to its receivables system. A strong implementation defines the source of truth for transaction status and specifies how canceled, duplicated, reversed, or disputed payments are posted.
ACH reconciliation
ACH files and bank reports also require matching. Prenotes, returns, unauthorized-debit claims, account changes, and timing differences can leave an entry pending or require re-posting. The agency should define how it identifies an ACH item, how long it waits before treating a payment as final for the relevant service, and which team handles returns.
Security and fraud controls
Cards require controls for stolen credentials, disputed transactions, account takeover, and unusual activity. ACH requires controls for account validation, unauthorized debits, compromised credentials, and fraudulent changes to recipient instructions. Neither channel eliminates fraud; each shifts where controls, evidence, and staff attention are needed.
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Set channel rules before launch rather than discovering them during a high-value payment or a service outage. Document:
- Maximum and minimum transaction amounts for each channel.
- Whether recurring payments, refunds, partial payments, and reversals are supported.
- Card types accepted and any volume or ticket thresholds in the contract.
- ACH entry class, authorization method, prenote or verification requirements, and return handling.
- Cutoff times, holidays, maintenance windows, and the definition of “funds available.”
- Who bears processor, bank, dispute, return, and convenience-fee costs.
- Data-retention, accessibility, privacy, and audit requirements.
A payment method can be technically available yet unsuitable if the contract excludes the needed card type, the ACH originator cannot support the required entry, or the reconciliation feed cannot be imported into the agency’s financial system.
A practical decision framework
- Classify the flow. Mark it as a collection, a disbursement, or both. Do not apply the federal direct-deposit preference for outgoing payments to an incoming-payment decision.
- Define the service promise. Decide whether the public needs authorization immediately, same-day settlement, next-day availability, or only a posted date. Publish the actual cutoff and exception language.
- Build a complete cost model. For cards, include interchange, network, acquiring, gateway, dispute, refund, and reporting costs. For ACH, include origination, bank or processor, returns, validation, fraud, integration, reconciliation, and staffing costs.
- Segment by payment size and frequency. Compare one-time small payments, recurring debits, payroll-sized credits, and high-value transactions separately. A blended average can hide the channel that is expensive for a particular group.
- Check access needs. Identify people without cards, people without bank accounts, language or accessibility requirements, assisted-payment needs, and privacy concerns.
- Verify authority. Confirm whether a surcharge, convenience fee, debit authorization, or payment restriction is permitted for this agency and obligation.
- Design reconciliation before procurement. Require transaction-level identifiers, settlement reports, return and dispute data, refund handling, and an escalation path in the processor or bank contract.
- Test failure paths. Run declined cards, duplicate submissions, ACH returns, late files, refunds, chargebacks, account changes, outages, and cutoff misses. Measure staff work and payer communications, not only the successful transaction.
- Review the evidence date. GAO’s benchmark is FY 2023 data published in 2025. Treasury’s card page was updated February 25, 2026, and its ACH page March 4, 2026. Recheck current limits, fees, operating windows, and legal authorities before implementation.
Choosing a channel by use case
| Use case | Likely starting point | Questions that can change the answer |
|---|---|---|
| One-time public fee or fine | Offer cards for familiar checkout; consider ACH as an additional option | Can the agency lawfully pass through fees? Are transaction limits or accessibility needs decisive? |
| Recurring tax or permit payment | Evaluate ACH authorization and scheduled debits | How are account changes, returns, cancellations, and consent records handled? |
| Federal benefit, salary, or vendor disbursement | ACH direct deposit is Treasury’s preferred federal mechanism | Is the recipient enrolled and eligible? Are cutoff, return, and exception processes ready? |
| Urgent eligible federal disbursement | Consider Same Day ACH | Does the payment stay below $1 million, meet the application cutoff, and avoid the recurring-payment restriction? |
| High-value collection | Compare channel limits and full costs rather than assuming cards are available | What are the contract’s card limits, ACH authorization rules, settlement risk, and reconciliation requirements? |
Bottom line for agencies and payers
Cards offer broad familiarity and a quick authorization experience, but the federal benchmark shows that acceptance fees are material: $784 million on $43.604 billion of FY 2023 card revenue across the covered entities, including credit, debit, and prepaid cards. ACH may fit recurring payments and federal disbursements, yet the cited sources do not establish a universal ACH cost or settlement time. Same Day ACH can accelerate qualifying federal disbursements within a $1 million limit and program cutoffs, while Treasury’s CAS example provides next-day card funds availability rather than instant final settlement.
Choose the channel only after separating collections from disbursements, pricing every operational component, defining the required funds-availability promise, checking payer access, and confirming legal authority. For many public programs, the practical answer is not one universal winner but a controlled combination of channels with transparent fees, clear timing, and reconciliation designed around the agency’s actual workload.
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