Connecting your marina's bank account to Dockwa may be the most important step in the Dockwa sign up process; it is the gateway to seamless transactions between your boaters and your bank account. By connecting your bank account, you enable boaters to instantly pay you for your dockage through the Dockwa app; you'll never have to spend time swiping a credit card, cashing a check, or writing down payment information.
When connecting your bank account, you will be your marina's Federal Tax ID, bank account number, and the last four digits of your Social Security Number. This is the same practice as when you ask employees for their full social security and bank account info, so that you may deposit paychecks directly into their bank account.
This information is sensitive, so we hope it does not stop you in your tracks. If you are hesitant to share it, we’re here to tell you that:
1) You are not alone
2) Providing this information is in compliance with the highest standards of information security
3) The direct deposit form is what enables you to attract new boaters and get paid quickly through Dockwa
In Good Company
Many our marina partner contacts were initially hesitant to share sensitive financial information with a third party. If you’d like to talk to one of our marina partners about connecting your bank account to Dockwa, click here to send us an email with your concerns. We’ll get you in touch with a fellow marina employee who can testify to the importance and security of connecting your bank account.
Ensuring Security
Each piece of information you provide when connecting your bank account is in the interest of security. Let’s start with your marina’s Federal Tax ID. Because Dockwa facilitates the transfer of boater funds to your bank account, we need to ensure your marina is the real deal (ie. a real business in the eyes of the US government)! Your marina’s Federal Tax ID does just that. Similar to an individual’s Social Security number, a marina’s Federal Tax ID confirms its validity as a legitimate business. Without this validation, we cannot transfer boater funds to your bank account.
Next up: the last four digits of your Social Security Number. While malicious, shadow company “fronts” are likely few and far between in the marine industry, we ultimately need to protect the financial transactions enabled by the Dockwa platform from nefarious use, no matter what. The Financial Institution Regulatory Authority (FINRA) outlines how to do this in their Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program. Namely, we need to associate a real human being with a real human-run business in order to transfer payments between boaters and a business’s bank account. By providing the last four digits your SSN and your marina’s Tax ID, we have what we need to ensure secure financial transactions, as laid out by US law.
Note: In order to be fully compliant with the latest US regulations for payment processing, you must be an owner (partial or full), general manager or harbormaster of the marina to be the one to connect Dockwa to your business bank account.
Letting the Money Roll In
While financial transaction data security is of utmost importance, its implications are not as fun as those of providing your marina’s bank account routing number. This data point is crucial to allowing dockage payments to be deposited directly into your business’s bank account. No waiting for checks to arrive, no steps needed for you to take to get your money, just boater dollars added to your account as your dockage is booked. To fortify this process, we work with Stripe, the industry leader in secure internet payment processing, to ensure that each boater payment is delivered not only swiftly but safely to your bank account.
If you have any more questions about connecting your bank account, please reach out to the Marina Success Team. It’s time to get you paid!
With your Direct Deposit form complete, it's time for your onboarding call with your Marina Success Manager. During this call you'll learn how to accept reservations and we'll push your profile live. Learn more in our next lesson.
