Setting Up Direct Pay on Leaf Trade — Retailers
Direct Pay lets you pay your sellers automatically through Leaf Trade using ACH bank transfers via Plaid — no cash, no checks, no manual follow-up. Once configured, payments process automatically when your orders are completed.
Note: Direct Pay must be enabled by the seller on their storefront before you'll need to set this up. If a seller requires Direct Pay, you'll see a prompt when you visit their storefront. |
Why use Direct Pay?
Direct Pay is free to use and gives your team:
Benefit | What it means for you |
Predictable payments | All transactions enter your bank account within one business day — no waiting for payments in transit. |
Easy reconciliations | Automatically track and reconcile every payment in a centralized platform, reducing manual data entry. |
Safety and reliability | Transactions are backed by trusted financial institutions — no worrying about collections or funds lost in transit. |
Centralized accounts payable | Keep track of all your payments to sellers through a single dashboard. |
Cost savings | Eliminate the expense and friction of cash or check by paying directly via ACH through Leaf Trade. |
Setting up Direct Pay
Follow these steps to connect your bank account and start paying sellers via Direct Pay.
Step 1 — Confirm admin access
Only admin users can configure payment accounts on the retailer side.
Navigate to Admin → Users.
Select the user who will be managing payment accounts and open their profile.
Confirm the user has the Admin role checked under their Details tab.
Important: Only admin users can set up and manage payment accounts on the retailer side. There is no separate permissions toggle — admin access is required. |
Step 2 — Navigate to Payment Accounts and accept the terms of service
Navigate to Payments → Payment Accounts in the sidebar.
The first time anyone at your organization visits this page, the Direct Pay Terms of Service will appear.
Scroll to the bottom of the modal and check the box confirming you have read the terms.
Click Accept to proceed.
Important: The terms of service must be accepted by an administrator of the company before Direct Pay can be used. Make sure the right person completes this step. |
Step 3 — Link a bank account via Plaid
On the Payment Accounts screen, click Add Account.
The Plaid modal will open. Follow all prompts to select and link a bank account.
After adding the account, it will appear on the Tokens tab.
If you see "Validating, please wait…" wait a few seconds and refresh the page.
Step 4 — Associate accounts to locations
Once your bank account is validated, click the Locations tab.
For each of your retail locations, select the appropriate bank account from the dropdown.
Once set, that account will be used automatically for all orders placed from that location.
You can update which account is assigned to a location at any time. Orders already created using the original account will need to be updated manually. |
Placing orders with Direct Pay
Checking out
Once your payment account is configured, the checkout experience includes one additional step:
Build your cart as usual on the seller's storefront.
At checkout, you'll see a Select Account dropdown. Choose the payment account you want to use for this order.
You must select an account to place the order.
If you haven't set up a payment account yet
If a seller requires Direct Pay and you haven't linked a bank account:
You'll see a banner on their storefront prompting you to add a payment account before purchasing.
You can browse and build a cart, but you will not be able to complete the order at checkout.
If you see this banner, follow Steps 2–4 above to link your bank account, then return to the storefront to complete your order. |
Payment processing
An order must be in Completed status before it is eligible for payment processing.
Leaf Trade submits payments for processing at 3PM CST on the payment due date.
Orders completed after 3PM CST on the due date will be submitted for processing the following business day.
Payment notifications
Your configured Accounting Contacts will receive an automated email notification when a payment is submitted for processing.
Make sure your Accounting Contact is up to date in your account settings so payment notifications reach the right person in your organization. |
Need help?
If you have questions about setting up Direct Pay, or a seller has told you Direct Pay is required and you're not sure where to start, reach out to your Leaf Trade Customer Success Manager or use the Intercom chat in the bottom right corner of your Leaf Trade window.