For: Anyone using Prommt with Pay by Bank enabled who sees a Processing status on a payment request.
What Processing means
The Processing status only appears on payment requests where the customer has attempted to pay using Pay by Bank (open banking). It does not appear on card payments.
Pay by Bank payments are normally instant — once the customer completes the payment flow in their banking app, the status in Prommt updates to Paid and the funds arrive in your bank account shortly afterwards.
A Processing status means the payment has been initiated but Prommt has not yet received final confirmation that it has completed. The payment may still complete on its own — Processing does not mean the payment has failed.
The three common causes
1. The customer did not complete the payment journey
This is the most common reason. The customer may have opened their banking app, authenticated, and even seen a progress screen — but if they did not reach the Prommt confirmation page (the "thank you" screen after payment), the payment was not fully completed.
What to do: Contact the customer and ask whether they saw a confirmation message from Prommt at the end of the payment process. If they did not, they need to return to the payment link and complete it again.
2. The customer used a business or corporate bank account with multiple authorisers
Some business and corporate bank accounts require more than one account holder or administrator to approve outgoing payments above a certain value. In this case, the customer may have completed their part of the authentication — and may have even received a confirmation notification from Prommt — but the payment is waiting for approval from the other authorised signatories on the account before it is fully processed.
What to do: Ask the customer whether they paid from a business or corporate bank account. If they did, ask them to check with the other account holders or administrators and confirm that all required approvals have been given. Once all approvals are in place, the payment status should update to Paid automatically.
3. The customer's bank is performing additional security checks
Banks may place a payment in a holding state while they run additional checks — particularly if the customer has made several high-value transactions in a short period, or if the payment triggers an internal fraud screening process. The payment has been submitted but the bank has not yet released it.
What to do: Ask the customer to contact their bank directly and ask why the payment is being held. The bank is the only party that can provide a reason and release the payment. Prommt has no visibility into the bank's internal processes and cannot intervene.
What to do while a payment is in Processing
Work through these steps while you wait. Most Processing payments resolve on their own within a few hours.
Check whether the customer completed the journey — ask if they saw the Prommt confirmation page. If not, resend the payment request so they can try again.
Ask if they used a business or corporate account — if they did, ask them to contact the other account administrators to approve the payment.
Ask the customer to contact their bank — if neither of the above applies, the bank may be holding the payment. The customer should call their bank and ask about the status of the outgoing payment.
Check your own bank account — in rare cases, the payment may have completed successfully but the Prommt status has not yet updated to Paid. Check your bank account to confirm whether the funds have arrived. If they have, the payment has gone through and no further action is needed — contact Prommt Support to get the status updated on the record.
Contact Prommt Support if the payment has been Processing for more than 48 hours — use the chat button in your Prommt dashboard. Include the payment reference and the date and time the Processing status first appeared. Some cases require escalation to Prommt's open banking network providers, which can take additional time to resolve.
Troubleshooting
The payment has been Processing for a few hours and the customer says they completed the journey. Ask the customer to confirm they saw the Prommt confirmation page at the end. If they did, ask whether they used a business account — the co-authorisation scenario is the most likely explanation. If the account is personal and they confirmed completion, ask them to contact their bank. If the issue persists beyond 48 hours, contact Prommt Support.
The customer says the funds have left their account but the status is still Processing. Check your own bank account to confirm whether you have received the payment. If funds have arrived, contact Prommt Support with the payment reference and confirmation that the funds are in your account — we can update the status on the record. Do not resend the payment request until this is confirmed.
The customer wants to cancel the payment while it is Processing. A payment in Processing has already been initiated with the customer's bank. The customer cannot cancel it through Prommt — they need to contact their bank directly to request a recall if the payment has not yet fully cleared.
The Processing status disappeared but the payment is showing as Failed rather than Paid. The bank declined the payment after the security or authorisation check. The customer should contact their bank to understand why and whether they can retry. You can resend the payment request once the customer is ready to attempt again.