> This is the Markdown of a Backed Help Centre page, https://admin.backed.giving/help/administrator/payments/bank-account-verification.md. Every page is listed at https://admin.backed.giving/help/llms.txt.

> This page uses Backed's default terms, such as Funding Round and Application Template. An organisation may rename them, so read each as your organisation's own term if you've renamed it.

Before money goes to a bank account, someone should confirm the account belongs to the recipient.
Backed keeps that confirmation on each account: who verified it, when, and how.

This appears only when Payments is turned on for your organisation. Labels that name `Contract` and
`Applicant` use your organisation's own term if you've renamed it.

## See whether an account is verified

A bank account on a contract's page, and on an applicant's record, shows one of two badges:

- `Unverified`: nobody has verified the account for the number it holds now.
- `Verified`, with "by", the person's name, the date and the method, such as "by Kim Nguyen on 2 Nov
  2026 · Call-back".

The badge never shows the account number.

## Verify an account

1. Open the contract, or the applicant's record, and find its bank account.
2. Select `Verify` beside the `Unverified` badge.
3. Under `How did you verify it?`, choose `Bank letter`, `Call-back` or `Penny test`. A method is
   required.
4. Add a `Note` if it helps, for example who you spoke to. Don't enter the account number.
5. Select `Verify bank account`. The badge changes to `Verified`.

The dialog shows only the account's last digits. On a contract, `Verify` is offered to someone who
can review the contract's bank account changes; on an applicant's record, to someone who can review
registrations. Either way, `Verify` appears only while the Contracts module is on for your
organisation.

If the number changed after you opened the dialog, Backed says "The bank account number changed
after you opened this. Close it, check the new number, then verify it again." `Verify bank account`
stays unavailable in that dialog: close it, check the new number, and open `Verify` again.

## When an account number changes

A verification holds for the number it was made for. When the account number changes, the account
goes back to `Unverified` and needs to be verified again. Each verification, and each reset, is
recorded in the audit log.

## Confirm accounts when you approve a batch

When a payment batch makes a first payment to an account that isn't verified for its current
number, the batch's `Submit` step shows `Bank accounts to confirm`. It lists each recipient, whose
account it is (the contract's or the applicant profile's) and its last digits.

1. Under `How did you verify them?`, choose the method.
2. Add a `Note` if it helps.
3. Tick "I have verified these bank accounts".
4. Select `Approve Payment Batch`.

`Approve Payment Batch` waits until you've chosen a method and ticked the box. When no account needs
confirming, the step doesn't appear. See
[Reviewing and approving a payment batch](review-and-approval.md).

## An account changed after approval

If an account number changes after its batch was approved, the payment is left out of the bank
file with the reason "account changed since approval – verify before paying". Verify the new number,
then make the bank file again. See [Exports and bank files](exports-and-bank-files.md).

## See also

- [Reviewing and approving a payment batch](review-and-approval.md)
- [Exports and bank files](exports-and-bank-files.md)
- [Payments](index.md)