Drake Pay – Overview and Frequently Asked Questions

Article #: 18314

Last Updated: November 06, 2024

 

Tags:Drake Pay

Drake Pay logo

Overview

Drake Pay is a secure, modern solution that you can use to streamline and simplify how you receive payments for tax preparation services. Multiple payment options are available whether you meet with your customer in-office or connect with them virtually via Drake Portals.

  • You can drive revenue and gain new customers by providing familiar payment options for your services including credit, debit, and contactless payment options.

  • You can expect to receive payment within two business days after processing.

  • The Drake Pay platform, in partnership with Infinicept® Launchpay, is PCI compliant.

  • You will have access to educational resources and tools to ensure that your payment-acceptance processes are safe, secure, and PCI-compliant. These resources are available at no additional cost!

  • Drake Pay is integrated with Drake Software products, so invoicing, payments, and reporting are automated and hassle-free.​

The video Drake Pay demonstrates how to apply for and use this new solution. Also see Drake Pay Transactions (with a POS Device) and Drake Pay Transactions (without POS device).

Frequently Asked Questions

Drake Pay is a secure, flexible payment acceptance solution designed for tax professionals and their customers. Drake Pay clients/users (the tax preparer/professional) can offer their customers (the taxpayer) multiple payment options that can be accepted in-office or online. These payment options include credit, debit, or contactless payment. You can use Drake Pay for any return type.

At Drake Software, we understand the importance of flexibility and choice when it comes to offering your customers (the taxpayer) payment options. In support of this commitment, we created Drake Pay, a modern payment solution tailored for your tax business that gives you the freedom to securely accept credit, debit, or contactless payments. Online or in person, it’s fast and easy – funds are typically deposited into your account within 2 business days from the date of sale. Best of all, Drake Pay is integrated with Drake Software, so invoicing, payments, and reporting are automated and practically hassle free. Click here to apply for Drake Pay. The application process and set-up are free!

With Drake Pay, your customers (the taxpayer) can pay using Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. They can also make payments via contactless payment.

Currently, Drake Pay does not have ACH/e-Check acceptance or processing capabilities, but this is a feature we’re evaluating for future implementation.

Contactless payment allows your customers (the taxpayer) to make purchases without physically handing their card to you or requiring you to swipe it through a Point of Sale (POS) device. This technology, also referred to as “tap & go,” enables users to tap their phone or card at an enabled POS device to authorize payment.

Cards that enable users to make contactless payments most often have a symbol on the front or back of their card that looks like a radio wave, or a Wi-Fi symbol turned on its side.

Currently, Drake Tax®, Drake Portals™, Drake Zero, and Web1040 are integrated with Drake Pay. Drake is committed to enhancing and simplifying payment acceptance for tax professionals; therefore, we will routinely evaluate integrating additional proprietary products with Drake Pay.

Drake Pay is available beginning with Drake Tax 2023 and Drake Accounting 2024.

Unlike most payment acceptance solutions, Drake Pay was created specifically for tax professionals to accept credit, debit, or contactless payments securely and easily. Best of all, Drake Pay is integrated with Drake Software – reducing the time and effort often spent when choosing another service provider to support tax practices. Invoicing and reporting are automated and practically hassle free. There are no set-up fees or long-term contracts required. Ready to start using Drake Pay? Click here to begin the merchant application process.

You must meet all the following requirements to use Drake Pay:

  • Operate as a business based in the U.S.

  • Be a current Drake Software tax preparer/tax professional using Drake Tax, Drake Portals, Drake Zero, or Web1040.

    Note  Drake Pay is available starting with Drake Tax 2023 and Drake Accounting 2024. It is not integrated in prior years of Drake Tax.

  • Complete and submit a Drake Pay merchant application. To begin the merchant application process, click here.

  • Receive a Drake Pay merchant application approval.

Please contact our customer support team at (828) 349-5724 or email us at drakepaysupport@drakesoftware.com with questions or issues related to completing your Drake Pay merchant application.

To get started, simply complete and submit a Drake Pay merchant application. To begin the application process, click here.

The Drake Pay sponsor bank is SVB/First Citizens Bank. The sponsor bank can also be referred to as merchant bank, acquiring bank, or acquiring financial institution.

  • There are no setup fees to use Drake Pay and no long-term contracts.

  • Drake Pay users just pay a low fee of 2.85% + $0.25 per credit or debit card transaction. This fee is paid by the firm/preparer, not the taxpayer.

  • No Monthly Fee!

  • Chargeback Fee: $25.00 per item (see the agreement for details).

  • PCI Non-Compliance Fee: $25.00 per month.

Currently, Drake Pay is only available to businesses based in the U.S.

Yes, Drake Pay is available to all Drake Software customers including CPAs, enrolled agents, accountants, bookkeepers, and tax professionals. To learn more about becoming a Drake Pay client visit our Meet Drake Pay information page.

Applicants can receive approval as soon as the same day! Sometimes, applicants may be asked to provide additional information before a decision can be determined – this can also extend the amount of time it takes to receive an application decision.

Business days are Monday through Friday, except for federal or bank holidays observed in the United States.

The Back-Office Portal is a tool available to all Drake Pay users so they can review transaction data, disputes, and deposits for all locations. Users can also view their fee profile, other business specific information and export data with which reports can be created.

Drake Pay users can access the Back-Office Portal here.

Please call our customer support team at (828) 349-5724. We will need the following information to process your request:

  • Drake Pay Merchant ID

  • First Name & Last Name

  • Email Address

Note  To assist with your request, we may need to share the information you provide to us with Launchpay, our payment facilitator. By providing the requested information you agree that we may do so.

You cannot directly import data from Drake Pay into QuickBooks; however, you can export an Excel spreadsheet from the Drake Pay Back-Office Portal and then import transactions into QuickBooks. Select Export to export the transaction list in a .csv format. A message appears indicating that the export is in progress and that a notification and download link will be emailed to the user when the export is ready. Note that the email will come from no-reply@infinicept.com.

If using QuickBooks, you will need to contact QuickBooks support directly for assistance with formatting it to a version that QuickBooks is able to import.

See Drake Pay – POS Device Ordering for details on purchasing a compatible device. These devices will enable you to accept in-person credit, debit and contactless payments in-office or on-the-go.

You will need to purchase a POS device that is fully integrated with Drake Pay. As a reminder, if the device you use to accept in-person payments is not integrated with Drake Pay, you will still be able to securely accept payments via manual entry within the software.

Drake Software has partnered with Launchpay™ for the acceptance and processing of payments via Drake Pay. Launchpay's technology components conform to and have been certified to meet the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Secure Software Standard. The components used by Launchpay are included on the Validated Payment Software list maintained by the PCI Security Standards Council. Additionally, Drake Pay clients will have access to FREE educational resources related to payment safety and security.

Launchpay is the payment facilitator Drake Software has partnered with to enable the acceptance and processing of payments via Drake Pay.

The PCI Secure Software Standard provides a set of security requirements as well as assessment procedures for performing PCI Secure Software Assessments. The Secure Software Assessor training covers the PCI Secure Software Requirements and Assessment Procedures (PCI Secure Software Standard).

This list contains Validated Payment Software that has been assessed by a Secure Software Assessor to confirm adherence to the PCI Secure Software Standard. The assessment and validation are documented by the Secure Software Assessor in a Report on Validation (ROV). The PCI Council urges merchants and service providers to use validated payment software in their payment environments.

Although the PCI Council reviews these reports for quality management purposes, the PCI Council does not independently confirm the reports or the data or information they contain, nor does the PCI Council perform any testing or analysis of software, products, functionality, performance, suitability or compliance with the Standard.

Today, Drake Pay does not offer fraud protection services. Launchpay, Drake's payment facilitation partner, monitors Drake Pay transactions to watch for suspicious behavior and report it if needed. If you have any additional questions or concerns regarding fraud protection, you should seek legal advice.

Funds are deposited into the bank account you provided during the Drake Pay merchant application process.

Typically, payments are deposited into the bank account (provided during the Drake Pay merchant application process) within 2 business days from the date of sale.

No, there is no minimum amount required.

Once you log-in to the Drake Pay Back-Office portal you will be able to view your scheduled and completed deposits. In addition, you will have access to your merchant details, data specific to transactions that have settled and chargebacks. Click here to log in to the Drake Pay Back-Office Portal.

Please contact our customer support team at (828) 349-5724 or email us at drakepaysupport@drakesoftware.com.

A chargeback refers to a card payment dispute that is lodged by the cardholder or the issuing bank and is a demand by the Issuer for the merchant to make good the loss on a fraudulent or disputed transaction. When successful, a chargeback results in funds being returned to the cardholder at the expense of the merchant.

Please call our customer support team at (828) 349-5724.

Please contact our customer support team at (828) 349-5724 or email us at drakepaysupport@drakesoftware.com.

Please call our customer support team at (828) 349-5724. We will need the following information to process your request:

  • Drake Pay Merchant ID

  • First Name & Last Name

Note  To assist with your request, we may need to share the information you provide to us with Launchpay, our payment facilitator. By providing the requested information you agree that we may do so.

Their statement will show the DBA (doing business as) name that you included on the accepted Drake Pay Application. Note that the DBA name is limited to 24-characters (including spaces).

No, there are no hard credit pulls performed.

Payments Terminology Glossary

Term Definition

Acquirer, Acquiring Bank, Acquiring Financial Institution, Bank, or Sponsor Bank

Refers to an entity, typically a financial institution, that processes payment card transactions for merchants. See also Payment Processor.

American Express

Refers to American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. or its successors or assigns.

Card or Payment Card

Refers to an account, or evidence of an account, authorized and established between a Cardholder and a Payment Network, or representatives or members of a Payment Network, that the merchant accepts from Cardholders/customers as payment for a good or service.

Cardholder

Refers to the person or entity to whom a Card is issued or who is authorized to use a Card.

Card Network, Network, or Payment Network

The role of a card network is to facilitate transactions between merchants and card issuers. To do this, card networks create virtual payment infrastructures and charge merchants interchange fees for processing credit or debit card transactions. The four major credit and debit card networks are Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.

Card Present (CP) Transaction

Refers to when payment details are captured in-person, at the time of the sale. Typically card present transactions cost less than card not present Transactions because there is more risk when there is no person or card at the time of purchase.

Card Not Present (CNP) Transaction

Refers to when neither the cardholder nor the payment card is physically present at the time of the transaction.

Chargeback

Refers to the reversal of any Transaction pursuant to the Operating Rules for whatever reason.

Client, Merchant, Sponsored Merchant Sub Merchant, Tax Preparer or Tax Professional

When these terms are used in reference to Drake Pay, they are referring to the legal entity identified in the Drake Pay Merchant Application.

Contactless Payment(s)

Refers to a type of payment that allows cardholders to make purchases without physically handing their card to the merchant or requiring the merchant to swipe it through a Point of Sale (POS) device. This technology, also referred to as “tap & go,” enables cardholders to tap their phone or card at an enabled POS device to authorize payment.

Discover

Refers to Discover Financial Services, LLC or its successors or assigns.

Mastercard

Refers to Mastercard International Incorporated or its successors or assigns.

Payment Facilitator or Launchpay

When these terms are used in reference to Drake Pay, they are referring to Launchpay LLC.

Payment Processor

A vendor that handles the transactional logistics of accepting credit and debit card payments. The role of a payment processor is to manage authorization and settlement of card transactions. When a consumer/customer uses a card to pay for their purchase, the processor receives the request and sends it to the card network. Once the network returns the authorization response, the processor routes that response back to the merchant. After transactions are authorized, they must be settled, which means that the funds must be moved from the consumer’s/customer’s bank to the merchant’s bank. The processor manages this process as well.

PCI DSS

Refers to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.

Settlement

Refers to the transfer of funds from the acquirer to the merchant. For Drake Pay merchants, settlement typically occurs within 2 business days from the date of sale.

Settlement Account

Refers to the account maintained by the Merchant at a bank or depository institution acceptable to the Acquirer for credits and debits related to transactions, refunds, chargebacks, processing fees, indemnified losses, and other amounts payable to Acquirer or the Payment Networks.