Payment methods
Card, SPEI, bank transfer with a reference, bank debit, Mercado Pago, and manual transfer: where each applies, how it’s confirmed, and what your customer sees.
What it is
Cord has two online payment rails and one manual option:
- Cord Payments: card; a transfer that reconciles on its own (SPEI in Mexico and bank transfer with a reference in Spain, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States); and bank debit (SEPA, ACH, Bacs, and Canadian pre-authorized debit). The money lands in your own payments account and from there reaches your bank at the payout frequency you choose.
- Mercado Pago: your customer pays with your own Mercado Pago account, using the methods Mercado Pago offers in your country.
- Manual transfer: you share your bank details and record the payment yourself once you verify it.
Method by country and currency
| Method | Countries | Payment currency | Quote | Invoice | Client portal | Retainer | Automatic payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card (Cord Payments) | MX, US, CA, ES, GB, DE, FR | The document’s sale currency, if the processor supports it | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Interest-free installments (meses sin intereses) (Cord Payments, Mexican credit card) | MX only | MXN only, from MXN 300 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| ES only | EUR only, from €0.50 to €5,000 per payment | Coming soon | Coming soon | Coming soon | No | No | |
 Automatic SPEI (Cord Payments) |
MX only | MXN only | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Bank transfer with a reference (Cord Payments) | ES, DE, FR · GB · US | EUR only · GBP only · USD only | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
 SEPA Direct Debit (Cord Payments) |
ES, DE, FR | EUR only | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| ACH bank debit (Cord Payments) | US only | USD only | No | Yes | Yes | No | Business account only; a personal one pays with one click |
| Bacs Direct Debit (Cord Payments) | GB only | GBP only | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, saved when paying |
| Pre-authorized debit (Cord Payments) | CA only | CAD only | No | Yes | Yes | No | No: paid with one click |
 Mercado Pago |
MX, BR, CO, AR, CL, PE | Whatever Mercado Pago supports on your account | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Manual transfer | All 12 Cord countries | Any | Yes | Yes (manual record) | No | No | No |
In Mexico both rails coexist: Cord Payments is the primary one and Mercado Pago appears as an alternative on the same page. In Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, Mercado Pago is the way to collect online. See Cord Payments fees for the cost of each method.
Turn methods on
- Open Settings › Payments › Payment methods with the Payment settings permission. Each switch saves right away, and the Your client will see line at the top sums up the methods you have turned on.
- Under Online payments, turn on Credit and debit card and, depending on your country, the transfer that reconciles on its own —Automatic SPEI transfer (Mexico), Automatic SEPA transfer (Spain, Germany, and France), Automatic bank transfer (United Kingdom), or Automatic ACH and wire (United States)— and bank debit —SEPA Direct Debit (Spain, Germany, and France), ACH bank debit (United States), Bacs Direct Debit (United Kingdom), or Pre-authorized debit (Canada). Each method shows its status and, under its description, its fee. They can be turned on once your payments account is Active; before that they show Needs an active account.
- Under Automatic payments, leave Allow automatic payments on if you want your clients to be able to save a method in their portal. See Automatic payments.
- If there’s a fee version you haven’t accepted yet, review and accept it in Settings › Payments › Fees. See Cord Payments fees.
- To offer manual transfer, under Manual bank transfer turn on Transfer to your account, enter the bank, the account in your country’s format, and the beneficiary, and click Save changes: the bank details are the only thing on this tab saved with that button. Only the organization owner can change these bank details, and when the account changes Cord emails the owner and the admins. The owner’s email includes the It wasn’t me link: for 72 hours it removes that account, turns off manual transfer so your customers stop seeing it and signs out the sessions that were open with the owner’s account.
- For Mercado Pago, click Connect Mercado Pago on its row, under Other processors. See Mercado Pago.
The rows depend on your business’s country: a business in Mexico sees card, interest-free installments, SPEI, and Mercado Pago; one in Spain, card, SEPA transfer, SEPA Direct Debit, and Bizum, which says Coming soon and isn’t offered to your customers yet (see Bank debit).
Card
Your customer reviews the amount and enters their card details in a form inside the link, without leaving for another page. Their bank may ask for additional verification. The payment shows up once confirmation arrives; closing the screen or returning to the link doesn’t prove it was paid.
Card is the only method for recurring retainers, because it’s the only one that can charge itself every month.
Apple Pay and Google Pay
This feature is new and is being enabled: it doesn’t appear on your customer’s payment page yet. This page will be updated when it’s available.
Once it’s active, your customer will be able to pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay on the same screen as the card: on the quote’s payment page, on the invoice link, and in the client portal.
- They aren’t turned on separately: they come with Credit and debit card in Settings › Payments › Payment methods. If you turn the card off, they aren’t offered either.
- They’re charged as a card: the same fee, the same confirmation, and the same refunds.
- Only on compatible devices: Apple Pay on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac with a card in Wallet; Google Pay in a browser with a card saved to the Google account. If the device doesn’t have them, your customer sees the usual card form.
Automatic SPEI
SPEI is Mexico’s interbank transfer system and only settles in pesos. It appears only on MXN payments of businesses in Mexico with SPEI turned on, on the quote link and on the invoice link; if the document is in another currency, your customer pays by card even if SPEI is on.
When choosing SPEI transfer, your customer sees the SPEI instructions:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Amount | The outstanding amount of that charge, with its currency. |
| CLABE | A CLABE tied to that charge, with a Copy button. |
| Bank | The receiving bank. |
| Beneficiary | Your business name. |
| Reference | The charge reference, with a Copy button. |
| Valid until | If the instructions have a deadline, it appears here. |
From that screen they can Print or save PDF, or click Email these to me.
SPEI instructions by email
Email these to me sends the same instructions (amount, CLABE, bank, beneficiary, and reference), with your business branding, to the customer email registered on the quote. No other recipient can be typed: if your customer needs them at another address, update their record. If the quote has no customer email, the button returns an error and your customer can print or save the PDF. For security, sending is limited to three emails every ten minutes per link.
How it’s confirmed
Each charge keeps its own bank reference, so Cord recognizes the funds without anyone cross-checking receipts. When the money arrives, the charge is marked paid and the quote changes status. Confirmation depends on the bank’s notice and isn’t always instant: if your customer already transferred, they should check the status before trying a card.
SPEI on the invoice link
This feature is new and may not be enabled on your account yet. If you do not see it, write to us.
On MXN invoices of businesses in Mexico with SPEI turned on, the invoice link offers SPEI transfer. If you also accept cards, your customer chooses the method; if you only have SPEI, they go straight to Pay [amount] by SPEI transfer.
- One CLABE per invoice. Each invoice has its own CLABE and keeps it on every visit and every partial payment. Money sent to that CLABE can only pay that invoice: if your customer owes you several, they transfer to each invoice’s CLABE.
- Instructions. Amount, CLABE and reference (both with Copy), bank, beneficiary, and expiry if there is one. Your customer can Print or save PDF. The invoice doesn’t have the Email these to me button: the invoice email already carries its link.
- Partial payment by SPEI. With Pay another amount, your customer transfers only part of it. The rest stays as the balance of the same invoice and the CLABE doesn’t change; the reference can change, so they should always use the one on screen.
- How it’s confirmed. When the transfer for the full amount arrives, Cord records the payment on the invoice without you doing anything, recalculates the balance and, if it reaches zero, marks it Paid. If the invoice is a CFDI stamped as PPD, Cord issues its payment complement with payment form 03, electronic funds transfer.
- If they transfer less. What arrived is held for that payment but isn’t recorded yet: the invoice history shows SPEI transfer with what arrived and what’s missing, and your customer sees the pending amount when they open SPEI on the invoice again. The payment is recorded when the rest arrives. If they try to pay by card in the meantime, Cord asks them to finish the transfer.
- If they transfer more. Only the requested payment is recorded; the difference stays in your customer’s favor and isn’t charged. If the invoice still has a balance, it’s applied when your customer chooses SPEI on it again. If it’s already paid, the history says so and the difference must be returned: write to us to arrange it. If nobody uses it, the processor tries to return it to your customer after 75 days.
- Fee. The SPEI fee from your fee schedule, the same as on the quote.
- Where it doesn’t appear. In the customer portal or in automatic payments: from the portal, your customer opens each invoice and pays it by SPEI from its own link.
Bank transfer with a reference
This feature is new and may not be enabled on your account yet. If you don’t see it, write to us.
Outside Mexico, the transfer that reconciles on its own is the bank transfer with a reference: SEPA transfer to an IBAN in EUR for businesses in Spain, Germany, and France (Spanish businesses get a French IBAN), sort code and account number in GBP in the United Kingdom, and ACH or domestic wire in USD in the United States.
- One fixed account per client and one reference per payment. Cord reconciles by the reference and, if a transfer arrives without it, by the exact amount among that client’s open payments.
- On the invoice link and the quote’s payment page, in the rail’s currency and only if the document has a linked client. Not in the portal, automatic payments, or retainers.
- Less or more: what doesn’t complete a payment isn’t recorded, and any excess stays in your client’s favor.
- No Cord fee outside MXN.
Full details in Bank transfer with a reference.
Bank debit
This feature is new and may not be enabled on your account yet. If you don’t see it, write to us.
With bank debit, your client pays with a direct debit from their bank account instead of a card. Cord offers the scheme that matches your business’s country:
| SEPA Direct Debit |
ACH bank debit | Bacs Direct Debit | Pre-authorized debit (Canada) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Businesses in | Spain, Germany, and France | United States | United Kingdom | Canada |
| Currency | EUR only | USD only | GBP only | CAD only |
| Client’s account | IBAN in the SEPA area | United States bank account | UK bank account | Canadian bank account |
| Confirmation | Up to 6 business days | Up to 4 business days | 4 business days; 7 with a new mandate | Up to 5 business days |
| Refunds | Full or partial | Full only | Full or partial | Full or partial |
| Notice to the account holder | Receives a notice before each debit | Receives a confirmation of the authorization | Receives the mandate and a notice for each debit | Receives the mandate and a notice for each debit |
Bacs and pre-authorized debit have their own rules (a Bacs account is saved when paying, and the bank statement shows the processor as the collector; in Canada your client states whether they pay as a business or an individual, and some accounts are verified with micro-deposits; it isn’t used for automatic payments: your client pays each invoice with one click using the account they saved). Details in Bank debit.
Turn it on
- Open Settings › Payments › Payment methods with the Payment settings permission. Your payments account must be Active.
- Under Online payments, turn on SEPA Direct Debit, ACH bank debit, Bacs Direct Debit, or Pre-authorized debit (Canada), depending on your country. The change saves right away.
- Cord requests the capability for your payments account. While the processor reviews it, the method shows In review and isn’t offered to any client yet.
- Once approved, it changes to Active and shows up as an option on the link of your invoices in the scheme’s currency (EUR, USD, GBP, or CAD), in the client portal, and in automatic payments.
If it shows Unavailable: check your verification, the processor didn’t enable the capability: review the pending requirements of your payments account.
In Spain, Germany, and France, SEPA Direct Debit shows Coming soon if your account doesn’t have it yet: to enable it, the payment processor requires a liveness check that Cord doesn’t offer yet. If you already had it active, it keeps collecting as before.
How a debit works
- Where it’s offered: on the invoice link, in the client portal, and as the saved method for automatic payments, only on invoices in its currency. It isn’t offered on the quote link or for retainers.
- It takes days. While the bank confirms, the invoice shows Payment processing: it can’t be charged again or voided, and the invoice detail says so. When the debit is confirmed, the payment is applied like any other; if the bank declines it, the invoice goes back to being payable.
- Where Cord charges a fee (today, in MXN), it isn’t offered. Cord’s fee is a card fee and there’s no approved rate for debits. Outside MXN, Cord charges no fee; see Fees.
- Turning it off stops offering it on new charges; debits already in progress carry on.
- A confirmed debit can still be disputed: with SEPA, without giving a reason for 8 weeks; with Bacs, at any time; with pre-authorized debit, 90 days on a personal account or 10 business days on a business account. Keep it in mind before handing over something of high value against a debit that was just confirmed.
Mercado Pago
The quote’s payment page and the invoice link show Pay with Mercado Pago. Your customer goes to Mercado Pago’s checkout and returns to your link when done. Cord marks the charge paid only when it reads the approved payment in your Mercado Pago account. Details in Mercado Pago.
Manual transfer
Your customer sees your bank details and transfers from their bank. When you verify the deposit in your bank, you record the payment in Cord: on the quote, on the invoice, or with Record payment from receivables. A receipt sent by the customer doesn’t replace that verification. Refunding a manual transfer is handled directly with your customer.
What the quote, the invoice, and the portal accept
| Quote link | Invoice link | Client portal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card | Yes | Yes, if Card is turned on | Yes |
| Automatic SPEI | Yes, in MXN | Yes, in MXN, with that invoice’s CLABE | No |
| Bank transfer with a reference | Yes, in EUR, GBP, or USD, with a linked client | Yes, in EUR, GBP, or USD, with a linked client | No |
| Bank debit (SEPA, ACH, Bacs, or pre-authorized debit) | No | Yes, in the scheme’s currency | Yes, in the scheme’s currency |
| Mercado Pago | Yes | Yes | No |
| Partial payment | In defined parts: deposit, balance, installments, or the payments of a milestone plan | Free amount: your customer chooses how much to pay | No: each invoice is paid at its balance |
| Several invoices in one charge | No | No | Yes, in the same currency |
| Retainers | Yes, by card | No | No |
The invoice of a quote with a milestone plan is the exception: it isn’t paid in its link or in the portal, but milestone by milestone in the quote link. Its link explains this and links to the plan.
Partial payment of an invoice
On the invoice link, your customer can pay the full balance or click Pay another amount and enter how much they want to pay, by card, SPEI, bank transfer with a reference, or Mercado Pago:
- Cord caps the payment at the real balance: if they enter more than they owe, only the balance is charged.
- There’s a minimum that can be charged online, the processor’s for each currency: for example, 10 MXN, 0.50 USD, 0.50 EUR, 0.30 GBP, or 0.50 CAD. If the amount is lower, Cord tells them the minimum and asks them to pay a bit more or settle the balance.
- Each payment is recorded in the invoice’s payment history and the balance is recalculated. The invoice becomes Paid when the balance reaches zero.
- If the balance changes while your customer is paying (for example, because you recorded another payment), Cord asks them to refresh before continuing.
See Create, issue, and collect invoices.
Switch between bank transfer and card
Your customer can choose another method on the same page, on the quote and on the invoice. Before offering the new one, Cord checks the previous attempt:
- If the previous attempt received no money, it’s canceled and the new method opens.
- If it already received money or has a payment in progress (a partial transfer, SPEI or with a reference, a bank debit in progress, or a card being authorized), it isn’t replaced: your customer sees there’s a payment pending confirmation.
- If two attempts arrive at the same time, the same one is reused instead of creating another.
- If Cord can’t confirm the previous attempt’s status, it doesn’t open another one: it prefers a review over risking a double charge.
While a payment is pending clarification, your customer shouldn’t repeat the transfer or try another method: they should refresh the link or contact you. Cord doesn’t automatically return a transfer that arrives late at old instructions; you resolve that case with your customer.
Limits
- SPEI: Mexico only and MXN only, on the quote link and on the invoice link. Not in the portal or in automatic payments.
- Bank transfer with a reference: only in EUR (Spain, Germany, and France), GBP (United Kingdom), or USD (United States), with a linked client, on the invoice link and the quote’s payment page. Not in the portal, automatic payments, or retainers. No international wire.
- Bank debit: SEPA only in EUR for businesses in Spain, Germany, and France; ACH only in USD for businesses in the United States; Bacs only in GBP for businesses in the United Kingdom; pre-authorized debit only in CAD for businesses in Canada. Only on invoices, the portal, and automatic payments.
- The invoice doesn’t offer retainers.
- Mercado Pago doesn’t run recurring charges, and its chargebacks and mediations are answered from your Mercado Pago account. See Disputes and chargebacks.
- In Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Peru there’s no Cord Payments: online collection is through Mercado Pago.
- A test document (without a valid fiscal issue) can’t be paid online.
Common problems
My customer doesn’t see the SPEI option. The quote or the invoice isn’t in MXN, SPEI is off in Settings › Payments › Payment methods, or your account isn’t active. SPEI doesn’t appear in the customer portal: it’s paid from each invoice’s link.
My customer doesn’t see a pay button on the invoice. Your payments account isn’t active; or Card is off, no other method applies to that invoice (SPEI only in MXN, bank transfer with a reference in your country’s currency and with a linked client, bank debit in its scheme’s currency) and Mercado Pago isn’t connected; or the invoice is a test document.
My customer doesn’t see the bank transfer with a reference. The document isn’t in EUR, GBP, or USD (depending on your country), 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 customer doesn’t see bank debit. The invoice isn’t in the method’s currency (EUR for SEPA, USD for ACH, GBP for Bacs, CAD for pre-authorized debit), the method isn’t Active in Settings › Payments › Payment methods, or it’s a charge in MXN. For SEPA, your SEPA Creditor Identifier may also be missing; Bacs isn’t offered to new clients yet (see Bank debit).
“Email these to me” fails. The quote has no customer email or the sending limit was reached. Your customer can Print or save PDF.
My customer transferred less than they owed to an invoice’s CLABE. The invoice history shows it as SPEI transfer with what’s missing. Ask them to transfer the rest to the same CLABE: the payment is recorded when it arrives in full.
My customer transferred to another charge’s CLABE. Each charge has its own reference. Contact your customer and review the quote’s charges before recording anything by hand.
Integrations using the previous checkout
If an integration still requests a quote’s previous checkout, it receives a link to Cord’s current payment screen, with the same attempt record and the balance due. The response keeps the url field and doesn’t change the accepted fees.