Troubleshooting: Common Contractor Payment Issues

If you encounter an issue with a contractor payment, please refer to the troubleshooting steps below. This section covers common problems outside of the standard contractor payment process (the "happy path").

1. Contractor Payment is Delayed or Missing

This is the most common issue, where the payment status may show as 'Paid' but the funds have not appeared in your contractor's account.

• Payment Stuck in Transit (Intermediary Bank Delay)
  • Reason: The transfer is often held up at an intermediary bank level, sometimes due to a compliance check. The payment is not rejected but remains in a delayed status. Delays have also been attributed to system bugs in payments to certain countries and issues with account naming in the system.
  • Action: Your bank may be able to locate the funds if you provide them with the Proof of Payment (POP) or the ISO/MX format document that we can share with you. For payments sent from RemoFirst, the finance team can also initiate a payment trace (e.g., via MT103 swift message) with the payment provider.
• Failed Payment/Need for Reprocessing
  • If the issue persists, the payment may need to be reprocessed. In some cases, like payments in EGP to Egypt, we have switched payment routes to use Wise for greater reliability.
  • Action: If a refund is requested, you will need to provide the following details to our team: Bank Account Name (e.g., Oblify BV), Bank Account Number, ACH routing code, Bank Name, and Account Type (Checking or Saving). The refund process involves requesting the funds back from the payment provider, and we will return them to you once received.

2. Incorrect Payment Amount or Overpayment on a Contractor Invoice

This occurs when the amount sent does not match the invoice total, often leading to a mismatch in the system.

• Cause: The most common reason for payment mismatch is submitting an amount and a Payment Request ID (PRID) that corresponds to a previous invoice, instead of the current one.
• Action: If you overpay (e.g., by $528.51 USD), the invoice will be marked as paid, and your contractor's payments will be processed. To receive a refund for the overpaid amount, you must provide your payment details in PDF format to our team. Refunds are typically processed within 1–2 business days.

3. Missing or Incorrect Payment Request ID (PRID) for Contractor Payments

The PRID is crucial for our system to automatically reconcile your payment.

• Cause: If the PRID is missing or the wrong one is quoted in the payment remarks, the system cannot automatically allocate the payment.
• Action: Always quote the correct PRID or the Bank Account Number in the remarks section of your transfer. This ensures the payment is reconciled quickly.