Connect your banking

Your terminal collects money from your customers. Your banking connection passes that money on to you. Until your bank account is linked and approved, you can take payments, but the money cannot reach you.

Have your business details, your bank details and an ID document ready before you start. The overview page lists exactly what you need.

Link your bank account

Open the Citizen Pay Dashboard in your browser and sign in with the account you created when you ordered your terminal.

Not set a password yet? Use the invitation email we sent to the address you gave when ordering. If you cannot find it, check your spam folder before asking for a new one.

Open your banking settings

Go to Settings and choose Banking.

You will see where your banking connection stands. On a new account, it says it is not set up yet.

Confirm your business details

Fill in or check the details of the business that will receive the money:

Registered business name, exactly as it appears on your company paperwork
Company registration number
Registered business address
VAT number, if your business is VAT registered
The type of business you run, for example a limited company or a sole trader

We check these against public business registers, so small differences matter. "Baker & Sons Ltd" and "Bakers and Sons Limited" are not the same thing.

Add your bank account

Add the account you want your money paid into:

Account holder name — the name on the account
IBAN or account number and sort code, depending on your country
BIC / SWIFT, if you are asked for it

Copy these straight from your bank statement or your online banking, not from memory. One wrong character means your payouts get sent back, and that costs you days.

One business account, please

The account holder name must match the business name you entered in the previous step. Personal accounts, accounts belonging to a different company, and savings accounts that cannot receive transfers will all be refused.

Confirm who you are

Every business that accepts card payments has to have its identity checked. This is the law for payment providers, not a Citizen Pay rule.

You will be asked to upload:

A photo of a valid passport or national ID card for the business owner or a director
Sometimes proof of your address, such as a utility bill or bank statement from the last three months
For companies with several owners, the same for anyone who owns a significant share of the business

Lay documents flat, photograph them in good light, and make sure all four corners are in the picture. Blurry or cut-off photos are the usual reason a check has to be done again.

Send it in

Check everything over, then send it in. Your banking connection now shows as pending while we run the checks.

You can close the dashboard at this point. There is no need to keep the page open, and the terminal does not have to be switched on.

What happens after you send it in

The checks are usually finished within one to two working days.

We email you as soon as there is a result, and Settings → Banking always shows where things stand:

Pending — we are checking your details. There is nothing for you to do. Wait for the email.
Action needed — something could not be confirmed. Open your banking settings and follow the note explaining what to fix. Usually it is a document to upload again.
Verified — your account is linked and your payouts can start. Move on to payment connections.

With some banks we also confirm the account with a tiny test deposit: a few cents that turn up on your statement with a reference code. If you are asked for that code, find it on your statement and type it into the dashboard to finish the link.

You can carry on in the meantime

While your banking is still pending you can already work through payment connections and try a test payment. The money simply waits in your Citizen Pay balance and is paid out as soon as your account is approved — nothing is lost.

Once your account is approved

Payments taken on your terminal are gathered up in your Citizen Pay balance and paid into your bank account on a regular schedule. You can see each payout, and the payments that make it up, under payouts.
Your first payout usually takes a little longer than the ones after it, because it starts counting from the day your account was approved rather than the day your first payment came in.
Want to switch to a different bank account later? Come back to Settings → Banking and add the new one. Expect a short round of checks again, and keep the old account open until the first payout has landed in the new one.

If your account has been pending longer than you expected, or a payout has not arrived, see troubleshooting.

Connect your banking

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