Bank Transfer

The Bank Transfer plugin is an offline gateway. The invoice shows your bank details; the client sends the money from their own bank and, if you allow it, reports the transfer reference on the invoice; you check your account and record the payment yourself. It needs no merchant account, no keys and no connection to anything, takes any currency, and is free. It is switched on by the installer, so a new shop can take payments from the first minute. It is also the pattern the other offline gateway, Mobile Wallet, follows. The shared parts of all gateways are in Payment gateways.

Switching it on

It is already on after the install and is the default payment method. To check or change it:

1. Open Setup → Payment Gateways. Bank Transfer is under Manage Existing Gateways.
2. Press Configure, fill in the settings below and save.
3. Open an unpaid invoice in the client area to see what the client sees.

If you ever deactivate it, press Activate on the tab All Payment Gateways to bring it back.

Settings

What the client sees

On an unpaid invoice: Please transfer (the amount) to the account below and quote invoice #number as the reference, your bank details in a box, your payment instructions, and, if reporting is on, the form Already paid? Tell us the transfer reference with the button I have paid.

When the client sends the reference:

• the invoice status becomes Payment Pending;
• a line is added to the invoice's Admin Notes: Bank transfer reported by the client on (date): (reference);
• an entry is written to the Activity Log;
• you get a bell notice, Bank transfer reported, and the administrators get an e-mail, Invoice Payment Notification, in which the transaction field says (reported, not yet confirmed);
• the client sees a thank-you note on the invoice.

An empty reference is refused (Please give the transfer reference.). The reference is not checked against your bank; it is only what the client says.

Typical workflow

1. The client orders, gets an invoice and chooses Bank Transfer.
2. They send the money and, if you allow it, report the reference.
3. You open Billing → Invoices, tab Payment Pending, or follow the bell notice.
4. Check your bank statement for the amount and the reference.
5. On the invoice open the tab Add Payment: enter the amount, the date, Bank Transfer as the payment method and the bank's reference as the transaction ID. Save. The invoice turns Paid and the order moves on as usual.
6. If the money does not arrive, leave the invoice as it is and write to the client, or cancel the invoice.

There is no callback for this gateway and nothing to whitelist. There is no refund call either: pay the money back from your bank and record it on the invoice's Refund tab with Offline refund (record only) or Add to the client credit balance. See Invoices and payments.

Tips

• Put the name of your shop and a phone number in Payment instructions so that clients can reach you when a transfer goes wrong.
• Add a Fee % or Fixed fee if your bank charges for incoming transfers.
• Switch Let clients report a transfer off if you do not want reports; the client then sees only your details.
• For several banks, list them all in the one Bank details box.

Troubleshooting

• The gateway is not offered on an invoice: it is not activated, or it is missing from the list on Setup → Payment Gateways.
• The bank details box shows the starter text: you have not edited it yet.
• The client cannot report: the invoice is not Unpaid (for example it is already Payment Pending), or the reference is empty.
• Billing → Gateway Log stays empty for this gateway, because it has no callback. Look at the Activity Log and the invoice's Admin Notes.

More in Troubleshooting.