Bank products provide a way for your clients to pay your fees and receive their refund with nothing out-of-pocket. If you’re unsure about using bank products, here’s everything you need to know about how they can benefit you and your customer base.
What are tax bank products?
At their core, bank products are simply a disbursement option for your clients’ tax refunds. They also allow your clients to have your fee deducted from their tax refund and offer the option to receive some of the refund in advance. You might also hear bank products called “settlement solutions” and “refund transfers.”
How bank products work
After you’ve confirmed that your client will receive a refund, you can give them the option of using a bank product to receive their refund and pay your fee. The IRS sends the money directly to the refund settlement bank, and the bank disburses your fees to you and the remainder of the refund to your client.
Bank products also allow your clients to choose how they want to receive their refund: as a direct deposit, a check, or a prepaid card. At the end of preparing the client’s tax return, TaxSlayer Pro shows what refund transfer and refund advance options are available to the client
If your client uses a bank product, they will incur bank fees and software fees that are deducted from their refund. You incur no fees for refund transfers.
What else can bank products do?
Depending on the amount of the refund, your client may have the option to receive part of the refund as an advance and be able to select the advance amount. A refund advance is a non-recourse loan secured by the taxpayer’s refund. The bank receives the refund and from it repays the loan, deducts its fees and your fees, and issues the remainder to the taxpayer.
Whichever bank you choose, you will have the ability to offer refund advances. Each bank offers a small interest-free advance loan as well as several loan tiers that include an interest charge.
Getting started with bank products
The TaxSlayer Pro Customer Growth Team can help you choose the bank products that are best for your business. You can apply with one or more banks from within Account Hub / My Account, and upon approval, you will be able to link the bank in TaxSlayer Pro and begin offering refund transfer and advance options right away.
Improve cash flow & grow your business
Using bank products helps remove some of the stress of being paid for your services because the bank handles receiving the payment and depositing your fees to your bank account.
Offering bank products also gives you an edge over tax preparers who don’t utilize bank products. You can offer your services at no out-of-pocket costs to your clients, and you can help them get their money faster. To take full advantage of bank products, differentiate yourself from your competitors. Advertise how you can help your potential clients get their refunds more quickly with no upfront costs.
Bank products are a great solution for clients who aren’t able to pay tax preparation fees up front and those who wish to receive some of their tax refund in advance. If you’ve been hesitant to try bank products, the experts at TaxSlayer Pro can answer any questions you may have and how to get started.
This article was last edited on July 28, 2021.