Supporting Vendors with Shopify Bill Pay

Understanding how to support your vendors when using Shopify Bill Pay is crucial. Since Shopify Bill Pay doesn't provide direct assistance to vendors, this page is designed to help you navigate common vendor queries and issues.

Payment timining concerns

When your vendor inquires about delayed payments, it’s helpful to understand the processing times and what might cause delays.

Understanding payment delays

The time for a payment to reach a vendor's account depends on the delivery method, but there can be additional considerations:

• Processing schedule: Payments are processed only once per day before 11:30 am ET. Payments initiated after this time will start processing the following business day. For example, if you make a payment at 1:30 PM ET on Monday, then it isn't processed until Tuesday morning, making the earliest delivery by Wednesday.
• Federal holidays: Federal holidays can impact when payments are processed and received.
• Initial payments: The first time that you pay a vendor might experience additional delays while the payment is reviewed.
• High-value transactions: Larger payments might require more time to process.

For a full list of payment delivery times, refer to the vendor delivery methods.

Issues with payment links

Occasionally, a vendor might report issues with the link to choose their preferred payment delivery method:

• Link validity: The link sent to vendors to choose their payment method is valid for only seven days. If the vendor doesn't use the link within this timeframe, then the payment is automatically canceled, and the associated bill reverts to the Unpaid status in your Shopify Bill Pay account.
• Resending the link: To resend a delivery method selection link to your vendor, you must go through the bill payment setup again. Follow these steps:
  1. From your Shopify admin, click Finances > Bill Pay.
  2. Select Ask vendor to choose (US vendors only) during the payment setup to generate a new link.

Vendor communication and support channels

It's important for you to be the first point of contact for any vendor questions related to payments. Vendors should not contact Shopify or Melio directly. Here’s how you can manage communication:

• Direct communication: Encourage your vendors to reach you directly with any questions or issues regarding their payments.
• Shopify Support: If you encounter issues or questions that you can't resolve, then you're encouraged to contact Shopify support for assistance.