How to Add a New Bank Account

All Merchants processing on the Payrix Platform are required to have at least one U.S. based bank account on file. Therefore, new Merchants are prompted to enter their bank account during the onboarding process. This document will guide you through the process of adding additional bank accounts for Merchants that are already boarded.

Payrix Merchant Bank Account Requirement

All Merchants boarded to the Payrix Platform are required to have an active U.S. based bank account on file. A bank account serves two purposes for a Merchant:

Bank account for deposits - Merchants are required to have a bank account on file in order to receive deposits for the money in their Available Balance. This processing income is sent via ACH to their bank account on file through a withdrawal/payout.
Bank account for debits - When a Merchant has a negative Available Balance - for example, as a result of a dispute or refund for a transaction that was already deposited in their bank account - Payrix will generally debit their bank account to cover the negative balance. Therefore, Merchants are also required to have a bank account on file for debits.

Merchants can have a single bank account on file for both payouts and debits, one bank account on file for deposits and another for debits, or they can submit multiple bank accounts and select each’s unique purpose.

Validating a Merchant’s Bank Account

As a Payment Facilitator, Payrix has legal and regulatory responsibilities to validate any bank account submitted by a Merchant. This validation includes ensuring that the bank account is active, what type of account it is, and that it belongs to the owner or business. Furthermore, bank account validation prevents funds from being sent to an incorrect bank account as the result of a Merchant typo or invalid information.

To streamline this process, we’ve partnered with Plaid to allow Merchants the option to link their bank account which instantly validates the information they submit. If a Merchant chooses to link their bank account with Plaid, they’ll be redirected to a secure web page where they will be prompted to choose from the list of eligible banking institutions and login to their online banking.

The Merchant’s bank account information will be securely relayed to Payrix by Plaid, ensuring that it is valid and that payouts will be sent to the correct account.

If a Merchant’s banking institution is not eligible for Plaid validation, or if the Merchant wishes to skip Plaid validation, they also have the option to manually submit their bank account information. If a Merchant manually submits their bank account, they may be required to submit documentation (e.g. a bank statement etc.) to the Payrix Risk team to validate their account.

How to Link a Bank Account with Plaid

With Plaid enabled, Merchants will be prompted to go through the bank account linking process as they sign up. Follow these step-by-step instructions for linking additional bank accounts after the onboarding process:

Step-By-Step Instructions for Linking a New Bank Account with Plaid

Because this process will require the Merchant to submit their confidential online banking login, it should only be done by Merchant users directly and not by Pro Clients on the Merchant’s behalf.

Step 1 - Open the Merchant’s Profile & select the Banking tab

Click on the Profile icon located at the top right of the Portal and select the Banking tab.

Step 2 - Hit “Add New Account” & select the “Link Account” option

Next, hit the Add New Account icon. In the popup, select the Link Account option and indicate whether this bank account is intended for deposits, debits, or both (All).

Step 3 - Complete the Plaid prompts

Once you are redirected to Plaid’s secure web page, follow the prompts to complete the process of logging into your online banking to link a new bank account.

How to Manually Add a New Bank Account

If a Merchant’s bank if not eligible for linking via Plaid, or if they wish to skip the Plaid process, they can also manually add a new bank account.

Step-By-Step Instructions for Manually Adding a New Bank Account in the Portal

Step 1 - Open the Merchant’s Profile & select the Banking tab

Click on the Profile icon located at the top right of the Portal and select the Banking tab.

Step 2 - Hit “Add New Account” & select “Add Account Manually”

Next, hit the Add New Account icon. In the popup, and the Add Account Manually option and indicate whether this bank account is intended for deposits, debits, or both (All).

Step 3 - Complete the “Add Bank Account” form

Lastly, complete the required bank account fields and hit Add when complete. You can also open Advanced Options for additional optional fields.

“Add Bank Account” fields & descriptions

Field	Required	Description
Type	Required	From the dropdown menu, select what time of bank account is being added. It is important to specify if a bank account is a corporate or personal account.
Routing Number	Required	Enter the 9-digit routing number associated with this bank account.
Account Number	Required	Enter the account number associated with this bank account.
Usage	Required	From the dropdown menu, select whether this bank account will be utilized for deposits, debits, or both (All).
Bank Account Name (Advanced Options)	Optional	You can give the new bank account a custom name to differentiate from other bank accounts on file.
Account Description (Advanced Options)	Optional	Use this field to give the bank account a custom description if desired.

Manually Adding a New Bank Account via the API

Bank accounts can also be manually submitted via the Payrix API by sending a POST request to the /accounts endpoint. In the BODY of the request you will include the Payrix Entity ID of the Merchant, as well as the data for the following fields:

Field	Required	Description
method	Required	Indicate the bank account type. Valid values: Please note, it is important to indicate if the bank account is a corporate or personal account.
routing	Required	Enter the 9-digit routing number associated with this bank account.
number	Required	Enter the account number associated with this bank account.
primary	Required	Is this the Merchant’s primary bank account? Valid values:
type	Required	Is this bank account for deposits, debits, or both (all). Valid values:
name	Optional	Give the bank account a custom name to differentiate it from other bank accounts on file.

You can find the full description of this resource in our API Reference.

Sample code for adding a new bank account

Location

Syntax

URL

[POST]https://api.payrix.com/accounts

CODE

HEADER

Content-Type:application/json
APIKEY:{{private_api_key}}

CODE

BODY

{
    "entity":"t1_ent_5e93c00b9b1e2ae33931674",
    "account":{
        "method":"8",
        "routing":"021000021",
        "number":"112233445566"
    },
    "primary":"0",
    "type":"all",
    "name":"BofA New Account"
}

CODE