What happens if a client's bank transfer fails or bounces?
For agents: Use this when an employer or employee says a reimbursement “didn’t land,” “bounced,” or stays Pending longer than expected.
What StretchDollar actually moves
StretchDollar only moves ICHRA reimbursements via ACH: Employer bank → Employee bank. StretchDollar never pays the insurance carrier. The employee always pays the carrier directly. A failed bank transfer affects the reimbursement deposit, not carrier billing.
What a failed/bounced transfer means
- A reimbursement was approved (or an auto-reimbursement ran), and StretchDollar attempted ACH.
- The bank rejected or returned the transfer (insufficient funds, invalid/closed account, ACH unauthorized/debit block, etc.).
- The employee did not successfully receive that reimbursement deposit.
- The employee’s individual policy is unchanged — they must keep paying the carrier.
Where failure usually comes from
| Side | Typical issues | Who fixes it |
| Employer (debit) | Insufficient funds, business ACH debit block, unverified/wrong company bank | Employer Admin → Bank Setup; bank may need to allow ACH |
| Employee (credit) | Closed/wrong personal bank account | Employee → Bank Setup in Benefits Portal |
Company-wide failures usually point to employer Account/Bank Setup or a business debit block. One-off failures more often point to one employee’s bank connection.
What clients see today
Admins and employees do not see bank return codes (like R01/R29) in the portal. They mainly see reimbursement status (Pending / Processed / Rejected / Canceled). Status can still look Pending even when a bank return happened — StretchDollar support can investigate the underlying transfer in Dwolla when you escalate.
How to coach the client
- Confirm this is a reimbursement ACH issue (not broker PEPM / Stripe billing).
- Re-state: employee pays carrier; StretchDollar only reimburses.
- Employer Admin: Bank Setup, available balance, ACH authorization with their bank.
- Employee: confirm Benefits Portal bank connection.
- Escalate to support@stretchdollar.com with employer name, employee name/email, and approximate reimbursement date so the team can reprocess after the bank issue is fixed.
Timing tips: Manual transfers attempt after approval. Auto runs typically around the 25th for the following coverage month. Advise employees not to skip carrier payment while waiting on a retry.