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Bank transfer with a reference

Your client pays by transfer from their bank, each payment carries its reference, and Cord records it when it arrives, with no receipts to cross-check.

This feature is new and may not be enabled on your account yet. If you don’t see it, write to us.

What it is

It’s the automatic reconciliation Cord already does with SPEI in Mexico, brought to businesses in Spain, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Your client gets the details of a bank account to pay you and a reference for each payment. When the transfer arrives, Cord identifies it, records the payment on the document, and recalculates the balance, without anyone looking for the deposit in the bank.

The money goes into your payments account and from there to your bank on your payout schedule, just like a card payment.

Rails by country

Cord offers the rail that matches your business’s country, only in its currency:

Your business’s country Rail Currency Details your client receives
Spain, Germany, and France SEPA transfer EUR only Account holder, IBAN, and BIC
United Kingdom Faster Payments, Bacs, or CHAPS GBP only Account holder, sort code, and account number
United States ACH or domestic wire USD only Account holder (or beneficiary), routing number (ABA), and account number
Mexico SPEI MXN only One CLABE per invoice. See Automatic SPEI
  • Spain gets a French IBAN. The payment processor doesn’t issue Spanish IBANs, so businesses in Spain get an IBAN from France. It’s a SEPA account like any other: your client transfers in euros from their bank just as they would to a Spanish account. Businesses in Germany get a German IBAN and businesses in France, a French one.
  • In the United States, never an international wire. Your client can pay by ACH or domestic wire. The details don’t include SWIFT, because an international wire can’t be refunded.
  • Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Peru don’t have this rail. In Canada your client can pay with pre-authorized debit.

One fixed account per client, one reference per payment

Outside Mexico, the account belongs to your client: the same one for every invoice and quote they pay you, on every visit. What changes is the reference, which is unique to each payment.

  • Cord reconciles by the reference first. That’s why the instructions show it at the top, highlighted, with the note to put it in the transfer’s reference field.
  • If a transfer arrives without a reference, it’s applied to that same client’s open payment with the exact amount. If it doesn’t match any, it stays as a balance in your client’s favor (see If they transfer less or more).
  • There are never two open transfer payments for the same invoice. If your client opens the transfer again, they see the same payment with the same reference.

In Mexico each invoice has its own CLABE: money sent to that CLABE can only pay that invoice. See SPEI on the invoice link.

Requirements

  • Country and currency: a business in Spain, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, or the United States, and a document in the rail’s currency (EUR, GBP, or USD). If the document is in another currency, the transfer isn’t offered.
  • An active payments account and the method activated on your account by the payment processor.
  • A client linked to the document. The account belongs to the client, so without a client there’s no one to assign it to. In the preview of an invoice without a client, the link tells you; your client doesn’t see the option.
  • Payment settings permission to turn it on.

Turn it on

  1. Open Settings › Payments › Payment methods with the Payment settings permission. Your payments account has to be active; before that, the Cord Payments methods appear locked.
  2. Under Online payments, turn on your country’s transfer: Automatic SEPA transfer (Spain, Germany, and France), Automatic bank transfer (United Kingdom), or Automatic ACH and wire (United States).
  3. Cord requests the method from the payment processor for your account. While it’s under review, it isn’t offered to any client yet.
  4. Once the processor activates it, it appears on your invoice links and on your quotes’ payment page in the rail’s currency, as long as the document has a linked client.

Turning it off stops offering it on new payments.

Each method shows its status next to its name: In review while the processor turns it on, Active once it’s offered, and Unavailable: check your verification if your payments account is missing a requirement. The Your client will see line at the top only counts what’s Active.

Harlow Building Supplies's (Harlow, UK) Settings › Payments › Payment methods with an active payments account. Under Online payments, each method with its fee: Credit and debit card: Active; Automatic bank transfer: In review; Bacs Direct Debit: Active; automatic payments allowed; and the transfer to your account with the bank, Sort code · Account number and beneficiary. At the top, "Your client will see: Credit and debit card, Bacs Direct Debit and Transfer to your account."

What your client sees

If you also accept cards, your client chooses between Card and Bank transfer under Payment method; if you only have the transfer, they go straight to Pay [amount] by bank transfer. Choosing it shows the Bank transfer instructions:

  • The reference, highlighted with Copy, with the note to put it in the transfer’s reference field.
  • The outstanding amount for that payment, with its currency.
  • The rail’s account details, each with Copy.
  • The Print or save PDF button.
Link for Materiales del Valle USA's invoice INV-000214 with Bank transfer chosen in the selector and, below, the Bank transfer instructions: the reference ZQ4M8T2WXK highlighted with its Copy button and the note to put it in the transfer's reference field, the Amount $11,641.81 USD, Account holder Materiales del Valle USA LLC, Routing number (ABA) 110000000, Account number 000123456789, the note about transferring less or more, and the Print or save PDF button.

With Pay another amount, your client transfers only part of the balance: that payment carries its own reference and the rest stays as the invoice balance. Cord caps the partial payment at the real balance.

The account holder, exactly as shown (EUR)

For SEPA transfers, the instructions show the account holder with the note to enter it exactly as shown. If the name doesn’t match, the bank may hold the transfer.

Bank transfer instructions for Materiales Levante's invoice INV-000187: the reference PH7WQ4KD2M9T highlighted with its Copy button and the note to put it in the transfer's reference field, the Amount 6178,26 € EUR, Account holder Materiales Levante S.L., IBAN FR1420041010050500013M02606, BIC PSSTFRPPXXX, the note to enter the account holder exactly as shown, the note about transferring less or more, and the Print or save PDF button.

On the quote’s payment page

With card and transfer turned on, your client chooses Card or Bank transfer on the payment page. Each part of the charge (deposit, balance, or installment) is a payment with its own reference. From the instructions they can also press Email these to me, which sends them to the client email on file for the quote (up to three emails every ten minutes per link).

Payment page for Harlow Building Supplies's (United Kingdom) quote COT-0091: a £4,800.00 GBP deposit on a £9,600.00 GBP total, with Bank transfer chosen in the selector and the bank transfer instructions: the reference M7QX4T9WKR highlighted with Copy and the note to put it in the transfer's reference field, the Amount £4,800.00 GBP, Account holder Harlow Building Supplies Ltd, Sort code 108800, Account number 00012345, each with Copy, and the Print or save PDF and Email these to me buttons.

How it’s confirmed

When the transfer for the full amount of the payment arrives, Cord records it on the invoice without you doing anything, recalculates the balance, and, if it reaches zero, marks it Paid. On the quote, the charge becomes paid and the quote changes status. In the invoice detail the payment shows as Wire transfer, and in Revenue › Payments, as Bank transfer.

Confirmation depends on the bank’s notice and isn’t always instant. If your client already transferred, they should refresh the link before trying a card.

If they transfer less or more

  • Less. What arrived is held for that payment but isn’t recorded yet: the invoice history notes the incomplete transfer with what arrived and what’s missing, and your client sees the outstanding amount when they open the transfer again. The payment is recorded when the rest arrives, to the same account and with the same reference. If they try to pay by card in the meantime, Cord asks them to finish the transfer.
  • More, or with no open payment. Only the requested payment is recorded; the difference stays in your client’s favor and isn’t your business’s money. If your client has another transfer payment waiting for funds in that currency, it’s applied there; otherwise, the history of their oldest open invoice says so. If they have none, Cord’s team gets an alert: write to us to arrange the return.
  • If nobody applies it, the processor tries to return it to your client after 75 days.
Instructions for invoice INV-000087 on returning after an incomplete transfer: the notice "We already received £4,000.00 GBP of this payment. Transfer £2,840.00 GBP to the same account, with the same reference, to complete it.", the same reference and the Amount still due, £2,840.00 GBP.

Refunds

A transfer payment that came in through the invoice link is refunded from the invoice detail, fully or partially, up to 180 days after the charge. Your client receives an email to provide the bank account the money goes back to, so the invoice needs their email; until they provide it, the refund stays pending and doesn’t reopen the balance. If they don’t respond within 45 days, the refund isn’t completed and the money stays as a balance in their favor in your payments account: write to us to return it.

Refund payment dialog for a €6,178.26 EUR bank transfer payment: the note that the client receives an email to provide their bank account and that the refund waits until then, the 1150.00 EUR amount, the reason, the general tax note, and the fee checkbox checked.

A transfer payment on a quote is returned outside Cord: when you request the refund in Revenue › Payments, Cord creates the task Send the [amount] bank transfer refund and you make the transfer from your bank. See Refunds.

Fee

Outside MXN, Cord charges no platform fee on the transfer. The payment processor applies its own terms. See Cord Payments fees.

Limits

  • Only in the rail’s currency: EUR in Spain, Germany, and France; GBP in the United Kingdom; USD in the United States.
  • Only on the invoice link and the quote’s payment page. Not in the client portal, automatic payments, or retainers: from the portal, your client opens each invoice and pays it from its link.
  • Needs a client linked to the document.
  • On the quote, it only exists on the payment page with a method selector. If your account still uses the previous payment page, the transfer outside Mexico only appears on invoices: write to us.
  • No international wire or SWIFT.

Common problems

My client doesn’t see the transfer. The document isn’t in the rail’s currency, it has no linked client, the method is turned off in Settings › Payments › Payment methods, or the processor hasn’t activated it on your account yet.

My client transferred without the reference. If the amount exactly matches one of their open payments, it’s applied there. If not, it stays as a balance in their favor and is applied to their next transfer payment in that currency.

My client’s bank held the transfer (EUR). Check with them that the account holder was entered exactly as shown in the instructions.

My client paid two invoices with a single transfer. Each payment has its reference. Whatever doesn’t belong to a payment stays in their favor; ask them to make one transfer per invoice with its reference.