A bank product — most often a refund transfer — lets your client pay preparation fees out of their refund instead of out of pocket. The refund is routed to a partner bank, fees are deducted, and the remaining balance is disbursed to the taxpayer by direct deposit, check or card.
For your office, the practical benefit is simple: you get paid. You are not chasing invoices in February, and clients who cannot write a check up front can still file with a professional instead of a discount kiosk.
Fees are disclosed to the taxpayer before they consent. Low back-end fees on all bank products keep the client's cost reasonable while your prep fee stays intact — you keep 100% of what you charge for preparation.
Volume matters. The more bank products your office runs in a season, the stronger your position for pre-season funding, software incentives and rebates paid back to your office on each product used.