Why is my payment still pending when I have paid via bank transfer?

If you’ve made a payment via bank transfer (e.g. ACH or BACS) and noticed that your bank shows the funds as deducted while your payment still appears as pending in the Platform after several days, this is completely normal.

Why this happens

When paying by Bank Transfer, the process works differently from card payments. While your bank may show the funds as withdrawn, the payment still needs to clear through the banking network before it is fully complete.

Here’s what happens behind the scenes:

1. Payment initiated
   You authorise the bank transfer payment, and your bank marks the funds as withdrawn or pending within your bank account.

2. Funds in transit
   The bank transfer payment is transferred through the banking network. This process typically takes 4–7 business days (in some instances this is shorter and other instances longer).

   • During this time, your payment will show as 'Pending' within the Platform.

   • The funds have left your account but have not yet been confirmed by our payment processor, Stripe.

3. Payment clears
   Once the transfer has successfully cleared, the payment processer (Stripe) will confirm the payment is successful and the status of the item you have purchased will update automatically moving from 'Pending' to a 'Current' status.

4. If the payment fails
   In some cases, such as insufficient funds or an account issue, the payment may fail. If this happens, the amount will be returned to your bank account automatically and the status of the item you have purchased will update automatically in the Platform (this may change to an 'Invalid' or 'Lapsed' status).

What to do next

There’s nothing you need to do while your payment is processing. Once it clears, the status of the item will update automatically (e.g. Membership).

If more than 10 business days have passed and your payment is still pending, please contact Support, who will be happy to assist you. When submitting your request, please provide the following information:

• The date the payment was made

• The amount paid

• The item you purchased