The RCA Board of Directors recently made a decision to change our online payment processing system from PayPal to Wild Apricot Payments, powered by AffiniPay. Wild Apricot provides the Website Management Software that we use to administer the RCA website, and they recently started offering their own payment processing service. The Board researched the new offering and decided it was in our best interest to make the switch. The following are the main reasons for this change:
- All payments received will be transferred automatically to our SunTrust checking account on a daily basis.
- We will no longer need to maintain two separate accounts (SunTrust and PayPal) and move money between accounts.
- No fees will be applied at the time payments are received. Processing fees will be billed to RCA once per month instead of having them deducted from each payment which is how it was done with PayPal.
- The processing fees are the same that we paid through PayPal (2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction).
- This allows for much cleaner financial reporting because all payments will go through the SunTrust checking account with processing fees listed as a separate line item each month.
This change took effect on March 15th. If you make any online payments through our website, it should work very similar to how it has in the past with one minor change. Instead of being redirected to the PayPal website to make your payment, you will be directed to a secure Wild Apricot payment form within the RCA website to make your payment. Your credit card information will not be stored by Wild Apricot. It will be securely transmitted to AffiniPay where it will be processed. AffiniPay is a payment gateway that specializes in payment solutions for non-profit associations.
We will keep our PayPal account open for the next couple of months to be sure all is going to run smoothly on this new payment system. Assuming all goes well, we will close the PayPal account and move all funds to the SunTrust checking account by the end of our fiscal year (May 31st). If you have any questions or concerns about making online payments through our website, please contact our Director of Finance, Angie Parrish at diroffinance@richcomp.org.