Help: Direct Payment

This page enables you to pay your debts electronically from your checking or savings account. In order to use the Direct Payment page, you need to have your banking information registered (see Update Banking Information for more information).

The form is broken into three sections:

  1. Financial Institution: Show the name of the bank and type of account you have registered. The account and ABA numbers are not displayed for security reasons. If the bank shown is not correct, select the [Update Bank] link and correct the bank information.
  2. Loans and Payments: Each loan on file is shown with the outstanding balance, payoff amount, current amount due and the amount of your payment.
  3. Options: In this section, you can select the type of payment, and determine if you will be notified by Email when the transaction is processed.

Loans and Payments section
Each of your loans is shown along with a spot to enter the amount of your payment. The first time you enter the Direct Payment page, the payment amount will default to the current amount due. You change this to a smaller or larger amount. There are some rules you should be aware of:

  1. The minimum amount of a payment must be 10% of the current due. If the payment does not meet this minimum, it will be marked as an error.
  2. The maximum amount of a payment cannot exceed the payoff amount for the loan. If you exceed the maximum, it is marked as an error.
  3. If your payment for a particular loan is less than the current due, you are responsible for making alternate payment arrangement to meet your payment. Payments less than the current due but within the 10% rule are not marked as errors. Interest and late fees will accrue if a full payment is not made by the due date.
  4. You may enter whole numbers (e.g., 45) or dollars and cents (45.02). Do not enter a dollar sign. Only digits and a single decimal point are allowed. Obviously, negative numbers are also not permitted.


You may adjust the figures any number of times. Press the Calculate button to validate your inputs and see a new total.

Option section
The first checkbox on the Direct Payment form enables you to select between the two types of payments.

  1. If the box is not checked, the payment you request will be a "One-Time" transaction. Just as the name implies, a One-Time transaction will only happen one time. Once this transaction is sent to your bank, no other transactions will be made unless you specifically request it.
  2. If the box is checked, the payment you request will be submitted every month (very similar to our existing ACH program). When a transaction is submitted to the bank, another is automatically placed in the Direct Payment system (marked as 'pending'). If you do nothing, it will be submitted every month on or about the same day. You always have the option of changing the payment distribution, up to 24 hours prior to the transaction being submitted to your bank.


The second checkbox provides you the option to receive an Email stating that the transaction was processed and submitted to your bank. This way you will be reminded when monies are about to be drawn from your account. If you request this option, you should also provide an Email address in the space provided. If you enter an Email address for the account holder (on the Banking Information page) and on this page, an Email will be sent to both parties.

There are two buttons on the bottom of the form. Submit will freeze your input and allow you one more chance to change, cancel or accept the transaction. The Cancel button will remove any record of this transaction from our web site. If you cancel a transaction, you cannot recover your inputs. You will need to start the Direct Payment process again.

Once you have pressed the Submit button, you will see an authorization page which contains a copy of the information from the initial page. Also included is the 'Electronic Contract' you are signing which details the terms of the transaction. You must carefully read the agreement. If you disagree with any portion, press the Cancel button to have the transaction completely removed from ECSI's system. If you agree to the terms and would like ECSI to process the transaction as shown, press the I Accept button.