Converge by Elavon is far more than a virtual terminal — it's a complete payment ecosystem that handles every transaction channel your business needs. This guide walks through the platform's major features so you can unlock its full potential and make payment acceptance simpler, faster, and more profitable.
Getting Started with Converge
Access Converge at convergepay.com — no software installation required. New merchants receive an email invitation from Elavon to set a password and activate their account. Once inside the dashboard, take a few minutes to configure user roles, set up your locations, and connect any hardware (card readers, receipt printers) you plan to use. The onboarding flow guides you through the essential settings before your first transaction.
The Virtual Terminal
Converge's Virtual Terminal lets you key-enter credit and debit cards from any browser. It's the foundation of card-not-present acceptance — phone orders, mail orders, invoiced payments — without any dedicated hardware. You can store customer cards in the PCI-validated token vault during checkout, run pre-authorizations, capture or void them later, and process refunds against any prior transaction directly from the terminal screen.
For in-person sales, connect a USB or Bluetooth card reader to accept EMV chip, swipe, and contactless NFC/tap payments. The same Converge dashboard handles both card-present and card-not-present transactions in one unified view.
Recurring Billing and Subscription Management
Converge's recurring billing engine lets you automate card and ACH charges on any schedule — daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or fully custom intervals. Store customer payment methods in the vault, create a billing plan, assign the customer, and Converge handles every subsequent charge automatically. When a card declines, Converge's dunning management captures the decline reason, flags the record, and can automatically retry on a configurable schedule before alerting you to follow up.
For businesses with high ACH volume — membership fees, SaaS subscriptions, B2B invoices — Converge's integrated ACH module processes single and recurring bank debits through the same dashboard. Combine card-on-file and ACH billing under one platform to reduce administrative overhead.
Converge Invoicing and Pay-by-Link
Converge's invoicing module lets you send professional invoices directly from the platform using pre-built templates. Add line items, apply taxes, and attach your logo, then email the invoice with an embedded payment link. Customers click the link, enter their card details in a hosted payment page, and the transaction posts to your Converge account in real time — no phone call, no manual entry required.
Pay-by-Link goes further for ad-hoc payments: generate a one-time secure payment URL and share it via SMS, email, or any messaging app. The customer completes checkout in under 30 seconds. Both invoicing and pay-by-link support stored card checkout for returning customers, accelerating repeat payments significantly.
ACH Processing
Converge's ACH module supports single-entry and recurring bank debits via the ACH network. It includes a web-based interface for capturing bank account details, obtaining EFT authorization, and scheduling debits. For B2B merchants, ACH is significantly cheaper per transaction than card processing — moving recurring revenue to ACH where customers consent can meaningfully reduce your processing costs month over month.
ACH transactions processed through Converge follow NACHA rules automatically. Same-day ACH options are available depending on your Elavon configuration. Returned items (NSF, account closed, etc.) appear in your dashboard with the appropriate return code so your team can follow up immediately.
Multi-Location and Multi-User Management
Converge supports multi-location businesses under one master account. Add each location from your account settings — each gets its own users, permissions, and transaction stream, while you retain centralized reporting and chargeback management across all sites. This architecture suits franchises, healthcare networks, restaurant groups, and any business with multiple physical or virtual processing locations.
User roles are fully granular. Assign each employee only the permissions they need: cashiers can process sales; managers can run refunds and view reports; accountants access full financial reporting but can't process transactions. Audit logs track every user action in the system.
Reporting and Analytics
Converge's reporting suite covers every dimension of your payment data. Build reports by date range, payment type, user, location, batch, card type, or transaction status. Export any report to CSV or PDF for accounting and reconciliation. Schedule recurring exports to be delivered automatically to your email — useful for daily settlement reports or weekly performance summaries.
The real-time dashboard shows live sales volume, open batches, recent transactions, and funding status. For businesses that need to track performance against targets, the dashboard's at-a-glance metrics give you an immediate read on how the business is running without digging into reports.
Converge Mobile
The Converge mobile app for iOS and Android mirrors the full dashboard experience on your smartphone. Accept card-present payments through a connected reader, process refunds, view real-time transaction history, and manage open batches from anywhere. All card data processed through the mobile app is tokenized — no sensitive card data is stored on the device, eliminating PCI liability even if the phone is lost.
Next-Day Funding and Batch Management
Batch your transactions before 10 PM ET and receive your deposit the following business morning. Converge's batch management screen shows all open and closed batches, their settlement status, and expected funding dates. You can close batches manually at any time during the business day or set them to auto-close at your preferred time. Same-day ACH funding is available for qualifying merchants — ask your Elavon representative about eligibility.
Conclusion
Converge is designed to grow with your business — start with the Virtual Terminal and card-on-file recurring billing, then activate invoicing, ACH, and mobile as your needs evolve. Every feature is accessible from the same browser-based dashboard with no additional software to manage. For setup assistance or a walkthrough of any feature, contact Elavon support at (844) 647-3616.