You accept bank transfers in Shopify with a manual payment method: the built-in “Bank Deposit” or a custom one with a name your customers recognise. The customer places the order, Shopify records it as payment pending, the customer transfers the money, and you mark the order as paid when it arrives. No app is needed for that. What decides whether it runs smoothly is the wording of your instructions and how you match payments to orders.
When bank transfer makes sense
Bank transfer suits shops in countries where customers are used to paying that way, shops with large baskets where card fees add up, and customers who have no card or prefer not to use one. A bank transfer started by the customer is not a card payment, so there are no card chargebacks.
It has real costs too. The order waits for the money, you match payments yourself, and some customers never pay. Decide up front whether that trade suits your shop, and plan the manual steps below.
Set up the manual payment method
- In Shopify admin open Settings, then Payments.
- Under Manual payment methods add Bank Deposit, or create a custom payment method and name it, for example, “Bank transfer”.
- Add payment instructions, as described in the next section.
- Save, and place a test order to see what the customer sees.
Shopify renames these screens now and then. If a label looks different, look for the manual payment methods list under the payment settings.
Remember the exact name of the method. Scanay, or any automation you add later, recognises bank transfer orders by that name.
Write instructions customers can follow
Instructions are the part customers read when they are about to pay. Make them complete, so nobody has to write to you to ask what to do.
- Who to pay: the recipient’s name exactly as it is on the account.
- Which account: the full IBAN.
- How much: the order total and the currency.
- Which reference: the order number, and say that it is required.
- By when: the number of days you hold an unpaid order.
- What happens next: you ship once the payment is on your account.
Here is a short example:
Please pay the total of your order to Kavarna Lipa d.o.o., IBAN SI56 1910 0000 0123 438. Use your order number as the reference. We hold your order for 5 days and ship it as soon as your payment arrives.
The IBAN above is the fictional one the Scanay site uses in its examples.
Match each payment to its order
When the customer pays, you have to find the order.
- Ask for the order number as the reference. It is unique and it is what you search for.
- Orders paid by manual methods are shown as payment pending. When the money is on your account, open the order and choose Mark as paid.
- Ship after you mark the order as paid, not before.
- Check pending orders on a fixed day each week. For orders past your deadline, send one reminder and then cancel.
A pending order stays pending until you mark it as paid or cancel it. If you do not cancel, unpaid orders pile up, so write down your rule and stick to it.
Why the reference goes wrong, and a fix
The weak point of the whole flow is the customer typing in the IBAN, the amount and the reference. A missing reference means a payment you cannot place. A typo in the IBAN means a payment that goes astray.
A payment QR code takes the typing away. The customer scans it in their banking app and the recipient, IBAN, amount and order number are already there. Scanay adds one to each bank transfer order e-mail, in the format of the customer’s country. How that works is in how to add a payment QR code to Shopify bank transfer orders, and the setup guide lists the steps.
A checklist before you go live
- The payment method has a clear name that customers recognise.
- The instructions name the recipient, IBAN, amount, reference and deadline.
- A test order shows the instructions in the order confirmation e-mail.
- You know who checks the bank account for new payments, and how often.
- You have a rule for orders that are not paid in time.
- If you sell abroad, you have an account for each currency and country you promise.
Questions
Do I need an app to accept bank transfers in Shopify?
No. The manual payment method is built in. An app is only needed to add things around it, such as a payment QR code in the order e-mail.
Can I show a different bank account for each country?
The built-in instructions are one block of text. If you sell in several countries with different accounts, Scanay shows each customer the account for their country, together with the code for that country’s banking standard.
What happens if the customer never pays?
The order stays as payment pending until you cancel it or mark it as paid. That is why the deadline in your instructions matters.
Does bank transfer work for customers in other countries?
Yes, if your account can receive the payment. Within the euro area a SEPA transfer works across borders. The payment QR code standards in Europe article shows which code each country’s banking apps read.