Outbound Payments: Frequently Asked Questions
What is Outbound Payments?
Outbound Payments enables you to easily send funds to your customers, suppliers, or other beneficiaries directly from a payment account, topped up either from your existing collections, or from a verified external bank account.
Who can use Outbound Payments?
At present, it is available for customers with a custom package via the GoCardless API, in the UK. Get in touch to find out more!
Getting Started with Outbound Payments
How do I enable Outbound Payments?
Get in touch with your customer success manager who will talk you through the onboarding process. If you are an existing GoCardless customer you will not need to go through a full onboarding process, however we will require you to answer some additional questions to see if you qualify for Outbound payments.
What is a payment account?
A payment account allows you to send and receive funds directly from bank accounts, which comes with a sort-code and account number.
What is a nominated account?
Any available funds in the payment account will be automatically returned to your nominated (and verified) business bank account on the first Tuesday of January, April, July, and October to comply with regulatory requirements. We'll send you a reminder in advance of these automatic returns, allowing you time to create any necessary payment instructions
How do I top up my payment account?
We will provide you with the sort-code and account number so you can top up directly from a nominated account, as soon as it has been verified on GoCardless.
You can also choose to direct your funds from collections into your payment account so that it can be used for sending money.
How do I initiate an Outbound Payment?
Outbound Payments is available via API and our dashboard. Check out our developer docs for how to set up an Outbound Payment via the API.
In order for you to send a payment via Outbound Payments, you will need to have:
- A customer with an active bank account set up
- Available funds in your payment account
- 2-factor authentication set up with the SMS method
To initiate an Outbound payment via the dashboard:
- First, navigate to the payments page and click on the quick actions button
- Next, click on send money
- Search for the customer or select them from the list
- Enter the payment amount and a payment reference
- If you wish to schedule the payment for a specific date, toggle the schedule payment button and enter the date you wish to send the payment
- Click review payment to check the details before clicking send payment to complete the action.
What information do I need about the recipient to send a payment?
Name on account, account number & sort code.
This data will then be processed through a Confirmation of Payee check, to check whether recipient details match those on the account.
Managing Your Outbound Payments
How can I view my Outbound Payment history?
You can retrieve your transaction history for a particular date range via API or download the account statement from the dashboard.
You can view your account balance by going to manage.gocardless.com/account-balance or by navigating to the account balance section from the payments tab.
Can I cancel an Outbound Payment?
Yes, if an outbound payment has been scheduled for a future date, it can be cancelled anytime before that date. Please note that this does not apply to payments that were sent instantly.
To cancel a scheduled payment:
- Navigate to the payments or account balance page from the payments tab
- Click on the payment you wish to cancel
- On the individual payment page, click the three dots at the top right corner of the page and select cancel.
What are the different statuses of an Outbound Payment?
Below are the statuses and events for Outbound Payments. Check our documentation for the status descriptions.
Security and Compliance
How secure are Outbound Payments?
For an Outbound Payment to a new recipient, we perform a Confirmation of Payee check to let you know whether the details on bank account match those that are entered, checking your money is being sent to the correct account. We also comply with Secure Customer Authentication requirements, to safeguard against anyone being able to fraudulently access your account to view or make payments.
Are there any limits on the amount I can send with Outbound Payments?
Yes, there is a limit of £25,000 per transaction with Faster Payments.
Fees and Charges
Are there any fees associated with Outbound Payments?
Yes, we do charge for Outbound Payments. Reach out to your customer success manager to find out more.
What currencies can I send Outbound Payments in?
At the moment we support GBP payments via Faster Payments in the UK.
Troubleshooting
What should I do if an Outbound Payment fails?
Check the failure descriptions to see the reason for failure, and if you are able to retry immediately or if the failure is due to a reason outside of your control.
Who should I contact if I have a problem with an Outbound Payment?
Get in touch with support.
Why do I receive an error message when trying to disable a payment account?
The payment account is used to fund your outbound payments. This account is managed by GoCardless and cannot be disabled.
Why do I receive an error message when trying to disable my nominated account?
The nominated account is your withdrawal account for outbound payments. This account is configured to receive withdrawals and returns from the payment account. If you want to disable it, please reach out to our support team, who will be able to assist you.
Further Support