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Overview

The Forte ACH gateway lets customers pay via ACH bank transfer (eCheck) directly from their bank account. Payments are processed securely through Forte’s payment platform. To take card payments through Forte as well, add Forte as a card gateway. See Card gateways (Spreedly). Forte is available in two scenarios:
  • Plan signup checkout — Customers can select Forte when signing up for a membership plan
  • Pay via invoice — Customers who receive an invoice can pay it using Forte from My Invoices in the Members Portal

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Features

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Configuration Parameters

To configure Forte, go to Settings → Billing and payments → Payments and currency → Payment methods and select Forte ACH.

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Required Settings

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Previous Members Portal only

The previous version of the Members Portal uses Forte’s older Checkout v1, which signs payments with a different pair of credentials. Fill these in only while customers still pay through that version.

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Optional Settings

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Obtaining Forte Credentials

Forte issues two different kinds of credentials, and Nexudus uses each for a different job:
The two pairs are not interchangeable. Forte rejects a Virtual Terminal API Login ID where an API Access ID is expected, and the other way round. A Virtual Terminal API Login ID is much shorter (typically 10 characters) than an API Access ID (32 characters), so a short value in API Access ID (REST) is a sign the pairs have been swapped.
Dex shows the API Secure Key only once, when you create the credentials. If you lose it, regenerate it in Dex and update it in Nexudus.

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Moving to the new Members Portal

The new Members Portal uses the same API Access ID (REST) and API Secure Key (REST) as recurring ACH payments. If you already collect recurring ACH payments through Nexudus, these are filled in and there is nothing to change. Keep the Virtual Terminal credentials only while customers still pay through the previous version of the Members Portal.

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Setting up Forte

  1. Create an account with Forte at forte.net
  2. Complete the Forte onboarding process to receive your credentials
  3. Create a set of API credentials in Dex and note your account and location IDs, as described above
  4. In Nexudus, go to Settings → Billing and payments → Payments and currency → Payment methods
  5. Select Forte ACH and fill in your credentials:
    • Account ID and Location ID
    • API Access ID (REST) and API Secure Key (REST)
    • API Login ID (Virtual Terminal) and Secure Transaction Key (Virtual Terminal), only if customers still pay through the previous version of the Members Portal
  6. Enable “Enable ACH bank payments” to activate the gateway
  7. Toggle “Use test servers” for sandbox testing before going live

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How Forte works in checkout

  1. When a customer selects Forte during checkout, Nexudus signs the payment details with your API Secure Key
  2. Forte Checkout v2 is loaded from https://checkout.forte.net/v2/js
  3. A payment button is rendered with Forte data attributes containing your API Access ID and the signed payment details
  4. When clicked, the customer is presented with Forte’s secure payment interface
  5. After payment, Forte returns the result to Nexudus, which checks its signature and sends the customer to the payment complete page
  6. Invoice status changes to “Processing” until the payment clears.
  7. Customer and payment tokens are stored for recurring billing
The Forte integration supports both plan signup checkout and booking/product/event checkout. Customer tokens are stored automatically to enable recurring payments without re-authentication.

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Sandbox testing

When sandbox mode is enabled:
  • Forte Checkout is loaded from https://sandbox.forte.net/checkout/v2/js instead of the production endpoint
  • All API calls are routed to Forte’s sandbox environment
  • Use the account ID, location ID and API credentials from your Forte sandbox account

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Troubleshooting

  • Payment button not appearing — Verify all required credentials are configured and ACH payments are enabled
  • “Forte is not configured for this location” — Fill in both API Access ID (REST) and API Secure Key (REST)
  • Forte rejects the payment form or its signature — Check that API Access ID (REST) holds an API Access ID from Dex, not the shorter Virtual Terminal API Login ID, and that the API Secure Key belongs to the same set of credentials
  • Recurring payments not working — Ensure the customer has completed at least one successful payment to generate tokens
  • Sandbox mode not working — Confirm “Use test servers” is enabled and you are using sandbox credentials