Connect your banking
Link the business bank account your payouts are paid into, and get it verified.
Your terminal collects payments from your customers. Your banking connection is what moves that money on to you. Until a verified bank account is linked, payments can be taken but the money cannot be paid out.
Before you start, have your business details, your bank details and an ID document ready. The overview page lists exactly what these are.
Link your bank account
Sign in to the Citizen Pay Dashboard
Open the Citizen Pay Dashboard in your browser and sign in with the account you created when you ordered your terminal.
If you have not set a password yet, use the invitation email 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 the current status of your banking connection. On a new account it reads as not yet set up.
Confirm your business details
Enter or check the details of the business that will be receiving 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
These details are checked 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
Type these straight from your bank statement or online banking rather than from memory. A single wrong character means payouts are rejected and returned, which 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.
Verify your identity
Every business that accepts card payments has to be identity-checked. This is a legal requirement for payment providers, not a Citizen Pay preference.
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 owning a significant share of the business
Photograph documents flat, in good light, with all four corners visible. Blurred or cropped photos are the usual reason a check has to be repeated.
Submit for verification
Review everything, then submit. Your banking connection moves to a pending state while the checks run.
You can close the dashboard at this point. You do not need to keep the page open, and you do not need the terminal switched on.
What happens after you submit
Verification is usually finished within one to two business days.
You will be emailed when the result comes through, and the status in Settings → Banking always shows where things stand:
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | Your details are being checked | Nothing. Wait for the email. |
| Action needed | Something could not be confirmed | Open the banking settings and follow the note explaining what to correct, usually a document to re-upload |
| Verified | Your account is linked and payouts are enabled | Move on to payment connections |
Some banks are also confirmed with a small test deposit, a few cents that appear on your statement with a reference code. If you are asked for that code, find it on your statement and enter it in the dashboard to finish the link.
You can carry on in the meantime
While verification is pending you can already work through payment connections and run a test payment. Money simply waits in your Citizen Pay balance and is paid out as soon as your account is verified — nothing is lost.
Once your account is verified
- Payments taken on your terminal are collected into your Citizen Pay balance and paid out to your bank account on a regular schedule. You can see each payout, and the transactions that make it up, under payouts.
- The first payout usually takes a little longer than later ones, because it starts from the day your account was verified rather than the day your first payment came in.
- To change to a different bank account later, come back to Settings → Banking and add the new account. Expect a short round of checks again, and leave the old account open until the first payout has landed in the new one.
If your account has been pending for longer than you expected, or a payout has not arrived, see troubleshooting.