Bank transfer sits next to card at checkout, in a number of currencies rather than in all of them. If we hold an account that can receive the currency you are being charged in, the option is there; if we do not, the checkout offers card only. The difference that matters is timing. A card confirms in seconds. A transfer is confirmed by a person after your receipt has been looked at, so it is not something to start on the afternoon you want to send.
When a transfer is the easier route
For a lot of people this is not a fallback. In plenty of countries a transfer is simply how you pay a business, and a card is the odd choice. If that is you, nothing below is a workaround, it is just the normal route.
The other reason is more practical. Cards fail at foreign checkouts more often than people expect, and they fail quietly. A card that works every day at home can be issued for domestic use only, or have international payments switched off until you ring the bank. You get a decline with no explanation and conclude the website is broken. It is usually your issuer making a decision about a foreign merchant.
- Your card is restricted for international or online payments.
- Your bank wants a phone call, a one-time code or an app approval you cannot complete right now.
- You would rather not type a card number into a website you met yesterday. That is a reasonable instinct, not a technical problem.
- Someone else is paying. A parent or a sibling can send the money from their own bank without you handing over a card.
Whether it is available to you
You do not have to work this out in advance. Open the checkout and look. If bank transfer is available for your currency it is one of the payment options, and choosing it shows the receiving account and the exact amount to send. If it is not there, that is the answer, and the card checkout is the route.
The reason it is not offered everywhere sounds like a limitation and is really a protection. You are only ever shown an account that can receive the currency you are being quoted in. There is no catch-all international account, because money sent in one currency into an account held in another arrives as whatever the sending bank’s exchange desk decided that morning. That is neither the price you agreed nor a figure anybody can match to your order.
What happens after you send the money
The flow is short, and no part of it runs on its own. You do five things, and then a person checks.
- Choose bank transfer at checkout and read off the account details and the amount.
- Make the transfer from your bank, in the currency shown.
- Photograph or screenshot the confirmation. A JPEG or PNG under 5MB, so a phone photo of the screen is fine.
- Add the transaction reference if your bank gave you one. It is optional, and it is the thing that makes your payment easy to match.
- Submit the receipt.
Your order then sits as awaiting verification, and your dashboard says so rather than leaving you guessing. The checkout tells you it will be reviewed within 24 hours and that you get an email once it is approved. Verify your email address before you start, because the decision comes back there and the submission asks for a verified address anyway.
Only one receipt can be under review at a time, which is deliberate. Uploading the same one twice because nothing appeared to happen is the common instinct, and it is what slows the queue down. If something is wrong, the amount short or the image unreadable, the receipt comes back rejected with the reason written on your dashboard, and you submit a new one from there.
When someone else is paying
A parent, an elder sibling, a relative who has decided this is their contribution. The money can leave any bank account. What matters is that the invitation belongs to the account that submits the receipt, so build it in your own and keep your sign-in to yourself.
Send them the account details and the amount, ask for a photo of their confirmation slip, and upload it yourself. Put their name or the transaction reference in the reference field so the payment is easy to recognise. The approval email arrives at the address on your account, not theirs, so tell them when it lands.
How far ahead to pay
A week is the margin we would suggest, and it is a suggestion rather than anything anyone has timed: treat paying as its own task and put it a week ahead of the evening you intend to send. Two waits sit inside a transfer. The money has to move, which runs on banking hours and can cross a weekend, a public holiday or a border. Then the receipt has to be reviewed. Neither is long on its own. Together, on the night you have told your family the invitation is going out, they are the whole problem.
Nothing stops you getting ahead of it. The invitation can be finished and previewed on a free account, so the sensible order is to do the design work first, start the transfer while you are still re-reading the wording, and send once the approval email has landed. Transfer the amount exactly as shown rather than rounding it, and keep the reference. Both turn the check at the other end into a glance.
When to use the card instead
Often. If your card works and you have no objection to using it, the card is the simpler route, and this guide is not trying to talk you out of it. It confirms straight away and your plan applies immediately.
Use the card if the invitation needs to go out today or tomorrow, because a transfer will not reliably clear and be reviewed inside that window. Use it if your currency has no receiving account, since in that case there is nothing to choose. Use it if you are travelling and cannot get to your banking app. And if a card will not work for you and no transfer option appears either, say so on the contact page rather than spending an evening trying combinations. The plans are on the pricing page, priced in your own currency.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a bank transfer take to confirm?
Longer than a card, and in two parts. First your bank moves the money, which is quicker inside one country than across a border. Then the receipt is reviewed. The checkout says that review happens within 24 hours and that you get an email once it is approved. None of it is instant, so do not leave it to the day you want to send.
Can I pay by bank transfer in any currency?
No. It is offered in a number of currencies, not all of them, and only where we hold an account that can receive the currency you are being charged in. If the option does not appear at checkout, that is the answer for now, and card is the way to pay.
What if my receipt is rejected?
The reason is shown on your dashboard and you can submit a new receipt from there. Usually it is something small, an unreadable image or an amount that does not match. If the money did leave your account and the receipt was still turned down, ask on the contact page with the transaction reference to hand.
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