A few avoidable missteps can lead to delayed settlements, failed transactions, or frustrated customers. This guide covers the terminology you need to know and five common payment collection mistakes, along with how to fix them.

The Basics: Source Account vs. Destination Account

When resolving a transaction issue, our support team will typically ask about the source or destination account. Here's what those terms mean:

1. Source Account: This is where the payment comes from. When collecting payments, this is your customer's bank account. When making a payout/disbursement, the source account is your Monnify wallet.
2. Destination Account: This is where the payment goes to. When collecting payments, this is your Monnify wallet.

5 Common Collection Mistakes and How to Fix Them

1. Assuming a Payment Failed

A customer gets debited, but your app or website does not update. Many merchants immediately conclude the payment failed. In most cases, it didn't. The payment was successful, but your server missed the webhook notification.

The fix: Check your Monnify dashboard first. You can view the transaction status directly and manually resend the webhook notification to your server, which will instantly update your customer's order.

2. Contacting Support Without the Full Details

When a customer reports a pending transaction to you, it's tempting to escalate to Monnify Support immediately, with vague details like, "My customer paid ₦5,000 but didn't get value." This creates avoidable back-and-forth to provide relevant details, and delays resolution for your customer.

Before reaching out to support, gather relevant information from your customer, such as the transaction reference, source account details, amount, and the exact date and time of the payment. The more complete your ticket, the faster we can resolve it.

3. Delayed Settlement to Your Bank Account

If a successful payment is sitting in your Monnify dashboard but hasn't reached your commercial bank account yet, the likely cause is network downtime at your settlement bank.

The Fix:

1. For faster, more reliable settlements, consider switching your settlement account to a Moniepoint Business Account. Since Monnify is powered by Moniepoint, settlements to Moniepoint accounts are typically instant and make your reconciliation easier.
2. Confirm that your settlement destination is your bank account, not your Monnify wallet. To learn more about this, see Where Does My Money Go? (Settlement Destinations)

4. Slow Action on Flagged Transactions

If our Fraud Team flags a suspicious or erroneous payment to your account, dragging out the investigation creates unnecessary delays and ties up your time.

The Fix: The fastest path to resolution is responding to the fraud team’s email to avoid automatic reversal of the flagged payment. This closes the case cleanly, protects your account, and eliminates drawn-out back-and-forth with the fraud team.

5. Forgetting to Update Your Customer

When a payment issue occurs, merchants often work hard behind the scenes with Monnify Support to fix it. However, once our support agent confirms the payment is successful, merchants often forget to tell the customer.

The Fix: The moment a transaction issue is resolved, reach out to your customer immediately. Proactive communication is one of the ways to turn a customer’s frustrating experience into a reason for them to trust you more.