This article provides answers to general questions about Vendor Direct. Here, you’ll find helpful information to help you with setup, making payments, understanding the benefits of using Vendor Direct, and how to troubleshoot issues.
General FAQs
- What's Vendor Direct?
- Is Vendor Direct secure?
- How do I set up Vendor Direct?
- Why'd my vendor's payment method switch to Vendor Direct?
- Which vendors get activated for Vendor Direct?
- Why should my vendor use Vendor Direct?
- Why should I use Vendor Direct?
- How does my vendor get paid?
- How do I know which vendors are set to Vendor Direct?
- How do I export my vendors list?
- Does my vendor have to pay a fee to receive Vendor Direct virtual card payments?
- Can I invite my vendor to accept Vendor Direct?
Troubleshooting FAQs
- What assurances are provided for Vendor Direct payments?
- My Vendor Direct payment hasn't cleared yet. What should I do?
- What do I do if my vendor needs help processing their payment?
- What if my vendor doesn't process the full amount of their Vendor Direct payment?
- When will my vendors receive my payments?
- Where's my payment?
- What should I do if the remittance email is incorrect?
- Why do I have to enter an address or account number to make a payment for some vendors?
- My vendor can’t find their payment email. What should I do?
- What email address do the payment emails come from?
- Can I cancel a Vendor Direct virtual card payment?
- How can I get confirmation that my vendor has processed my payment?
- How can I get detailed information on how a vendor processes my payment?
General FAQs
What's Vendor Direct?
Vendor Direct is a digital payment option available on Bill.com. With it, you can quickly make secure payments to your customers and vendors without paying extra fees. When you pay using Vendor Direct, we generate and send your eligible vendor a single-use Mastercard or Visa number that they can use just like a virtual credit card.
Is Vendor Direct secure?
Yes. Unlike mailed checks that you have to wait on and risk getting lost in the mail, a Vendor Direct payment is a single-use, virtual card. This is convenient because there's no paper and no relying on traditional mail. Your vendor’s information isn't stored, so once they use it, it’s done!
How do I set up Vendor Direct?
We make sending and receiving payments as easy for you as possible! If your vendor accepts virtual payments, we'll automatically update their payment method to Vendor Direct, so you don't have to do a thing! Your workflow of uploading, approving, and paying bills doesn’t change, and your payments still come out of your bank account and we don’t charge you payment transaction fees.
If you'd like to turn off Vendor Direct, simply reach out to Customer Support for assistance.
Why did my vendor's payment method switch to Vendor Direct?
Since Vendor Direct is the preferred payment method for most Bill.com users, we’ll automatically update your eligible vendor’s payment method to Vendor Direct if they accept virtual cards.
Which vendors get activated for Vendor Direct?
Bill.com regularly verifies and updates card acceptance policies of vendors across the US. Only vendors who meet the following criteria are eligible for Vendor Direct activation:
- Accept virtual cards
- Have informed Bill.com that they’re willing to accept virtual cards
Why should my vendor use Vendor Direct?
- They'll receive payments instantly
- With Vendor Direct, they don’t have to process checks.
- We send payments with remittance information to reduce time spent reconciling payments.
Why should I use Vendor Direct?
- There's no transaction fee for payments sent through Vendor Direct
- You can send payments instantly at no additional cost
- Bill.com does the legwork of following up on unprocessed payments and making sure your vendor’s payment information is up-to-date.
- You have access to a managed network with thousands of vendors who accept Mastercard or Visa.
How does my vendor get paid?
Once you approve the bill, we'll deliver a payment using the payment delivery method listed for the vendor. We send most payments via email, but you can easily view the vendor's profile to see how each vendor was paid.
We send payments by email from account-services@inform.bill.com.
How do I know which vendors are set to Vendor Direct?
We determine if your vendor is eligible to use Vendor Direct. If they're eligible, we enable their account to receive payments. You’ll see the eligible vendor on your vendors list and on the eligible vendor’s profile. You can use these steps to filter your vendors list to show all vendors who we pay with Vendor Direct:
- Select Vendors in the navigation menu
- Select the Pay by dropdown
- Select Vendor Direct
How do I export my vendors list?
- Sign into Bill.com and select Settings
- Select Import / Export Under Import / Export
- Select Export next to Vendors
- Select Export with filters
- Under Field, select Preferred Payment Method
- Under Value, select Vendor Direct
- Select Export with filters
Does my vendor have to pay a fee to receive Vendor Direct virtual card payments?
No. We don’t charge eligible vendors fees to receive Vendor Direct payments, but. their merchant card processor might charge them to accept card payments. Those fees can vary. Still, most eligible vendors choose to accept fees from their merchants because it allows them to get paid instantly.
Can I invite my vendor to accept Vendor Direct?
Of course you can! If you’d like to send your vendor an invitation to start using Vendor Direct, simply fill out this page, using your vendor’s information.
Once we receive this completed form, our team will verify that your vendor accepts virtual cards, and if so, enable them to update their payment method to Vendor Direct.
Troubleshooting FAQs
What assurances are provided for Vendor Direct payments?
With Vendor Direct, we guarantee you that we’ll send your payments to your eligible vendor, on time. If you have other issues, we provide excellent Customer Support to help resolve your issue. You can rest assured that we won’t debit your account more than once for a transaction.
My Vendor Direct payment hasn't cleared yet. What should I do?
In general, it can take up to 7 business days for a payment to clear, since most eligible vendors don’t process their payments daily. We suggest you wait until after this 7 business day window before you take further actions. The good news is that most vendors finish processing Vendor Direct payments within 5 business days.
If your eligible vendor hasn’t processed the payment after 15 days, we’ll let you know in the Expiring Payments tab in the Payments Out page. Below, are a few things you can do to try to speed up the process:
- Contact your eligible vendor and remind them to process the payment.
- Confirm that they have the correct remittance email address.
Note: we also call and email your eligible vendor to remind them to process outstanding payments. Learn more about Resolving Vendor Direct payments.
What do I do if my vendor needs help processing their payment?
Please contact our Customer Support team and we’ll help you with this.
What if my vendor doesn't process the full amount of their Vendor Direct payment?
If your vendor processes their Vendor Direct virtual card for less than the full amount issued, they can still process the rest at any time within 20 days of the card issue date. If there is an amount left un-processed after 20 days, we'll automatically refund the remaining balance to the payer.
Any refunded amounts will show on the payment details page under Amount refunded, just above the amount cleared.
When will my vendors receive my payments?
Your vendors will receive payments on the Arrives by date listed on the payment confirmation page. Here’s where you can go to see that date:
- Select Payments Out in the navigation menu
- Select the confirmation # on the payment you're checking
Where's my payment?
We send payments to the remittance email address listed on the payment confirmation page. To find the remittance email address:
- Select Payments Out in the navigation menu
- Select the confirmation # on the payment you're checking
If you don’t see a remittance email address, this means your eligible vendor has elected to receive their payments via phone, fax, or online portal. If you have more questions about these payment methods, please contact our Customer Support team.
What should I do if the remittance email is incorrect?
Please contact our Customer Support team so they can update your account with the correct email address.
Why do I have to enter an address or account number to make a payment for some vendors?
We do everything we can to make sure your payment transactions between you and your vendor are handled in a quick and easy process via Vendor Direct. If their address and/or account number isn't already on their profile, we’ll prompt you to enter it when you schedule a payment. This helps them to apply your payments correctly.
My vendor can't find their payment email. What should I do?
If your eligible vendor can’t find their payment email, ask them to search their inbox and SPAM folders for the email address notificationonly@hq.bill.com
If they’re still unable to find the payment email, please contact Customer Support.
What email address do the payment emails come from?
Vendor Direct payment emails come from notificationonly@hq.bill.com.
We also send upcoming payment notification emails to eligible vendors from the same email address. For your protection, the email contains only the first 6 digits of the virtual card number.
Can I cancel a Vendor Direct virtual card payment?
Yes, as long as it hasn’t been authorized through the supplier’s merchant card processing system. You can also cancel or void the payment by going to the specific Vendor Direct payment under Payments Out.
How can I get confirmation that my vendor has processed my payment?
- If your vendor provides a payment confirmation number when they process the payment, you'll be able to view the payment confirmation number for that transaction on the payment details page under Vendor Direct card details
- You can also view the date and the amount your vendor swiped for as well as the merchant name and the last 4-digit of the card on the payment details page under Vendor Direct card details
How can I get detailed information on how a vendor processes my payment?
- On the payment details page under Vendor Direct card details, you'll be able to view the following detailed information depending on availability:
- Card issued to vendor
- Payment valid until
- Amount refunded
- Merchant
- Authorized/ Cleared date
- Authorized/ Cleared amount
- On the payment details page under transaction details you can also view the full audit trail of activity on the card
