Why is my payment held?

A payment is held when the vendor can't receive it yet. Either they haven't accepted your invitation to Cleo Pay, or they don't have a bank account we can pay. The money leaves your bank and waits in Cleo Pay. Nothing reaches the vendor until they finish, and then Cleo Pay releases the payment on its own.

The two kinds of hold

If a vendor accepts your invitation but hasn't added a bank yet, the payment stays held until they add one.

On the Pay page the bill shows Payment Held. Hover over it to see which kind of hold it is. Inside the bill, each held payment shows as Held.

Before you pay a held payment

When you pay a vendor who can't receive money yet, Cleo Pay warns you first. The window is called Initiate Held Payment and says, for example, "[Vendor] hasn't accepted your invitation yet. You can still proceed. We'll hold the payment and release it automatically once they accept." Click Continue to go ahead.

A held payment is paid from your linked bank. The Cleo Pay balance isn't offered as a source for it. The money moves from your bank into your Cleo Pay balance and is kept there for the vendor.

Getting the payment released

The quickest fix is a nudge to the vendor.

• If they haven't accepted your invitation, resend it. Go to Contacts, open the Invitations tab and click Resend next to the vendor.
• If they need a bank account, we email them and keep sending reminders. They add their bank by entering their routing and account numbers in Cleo Pay.
• If we can't reach anyone at the vendor, we email you instead, with a subject like "[Vendor] can't receive your [amount] payment yet". Ask them to add a bank in Cleo Pay, or update the bank details you have on file for them.

Once the vendor is set up, the payment is released on its own. Cleo Pay also checks held payments every hour, so a release doesn't get missed. The usual arrival time starts from the release. See How long do Cleo Pay payments take?

If the vendor never accepts

An invitation expires after 30 days. Resending it starts the 30 days over.

If it expires while a payment is held for that vendor, Cleo Pay cancels the bill and gives the money back. The bill shows "Invoice Cancelled" with "This invoice was automatically cancelled. The connection invitation to [vendor email] has expired." If the pull from your bank hadn't settled yet, it's stopped and no money leaves your bank. If it had settled, the money is in your Cleo Pay balance. See Cleo Pay balance explained.

How to cancel a held payment

You can cancel a held payment yourself. A payment held for an invitation can only be cancelled while the invitation is still open.

1. Open the bill from the Pay page.
2. Click Cancel Held Payments.
3. Add a reason if you want to. It's optional.
4. Click Yes, cancel payments.

Cleo Pay then tells you where the money went:

• "Payment cancelled. The bank debit was stopped before it settled, so no money left your bank account."
• "Payment cancelled. The money is in your Cleo Pay balance."
• "Payment cancelled. We could not confirm the bank debit was stopped: if it settles, the money will be in your Cleo Pay balance."

If nothing else on the bill has been paid, it goes back to Awaiting Payment and you can pay it again later.

Still held?

If the vendor says they've accepted and added a bank, but the payment still shows Held, email support@cleo-pay.com with the invoice number, the vendor's name and the amount.