On this page
These terms explain how our bill payment service works. They are service terms under the Bluechain Terms and form part of your agreement with Bluechain Payments Limited. The Bluechain Terms cover your account, Fees, what you cannot pay for, our liability and everything else, and apply alongside these terms. Words with capital letters have the meanings in the Bluechain Terms or in section 8.
This summary does not replace the terms below.
1.1 Bluechain Pay lets you pay your bills and suppliers from one place. You can pay by card or from your bank account, and you can pay one bill or several bills at once. Some suppliers also send their bills to you through Bluechain.
1.2 How each type of payment works:
| How you pay | Who holds the money | How your supplier is paid | When your supplier is paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card | Bluechain receives your card payment. The money is ours until we pay your supplier. | From our own account with Modulr, in the name of Bluechain Payments Limited, with your reference | Within 2 Business Days of your card payment |
| Single bank payment | Nobody but you and your bank. Tink sends your instruction to your bank, and your bank sends the money direct to your supplier. | From your bank account, in your name, with your reference | Usually within minutes |
| Several bills at once (Bulk Payment) | You pay the total into your Bluechain Balance, an e-money account in your name provided by Modulr | From your Bluechain Balance, in your name, with your reference | By the end of the Business Day after your funds arrive |
| Paying a supplier who collects through Bluechain on its own merchant account | The supplier receives your card payment directly. We provide the technology only. | Through the supplier's own card processor | As agreed between you and the supplier |
1.3 Where a supplier sends you a bill through Bluechain but does not use its own merchant account, your card payment is made to Bluechain and the card rows above apply.
1.4 Your Bluechain Balance. Your Bluechain Balance is only used for Bulk Payments. Money you pay into it is held by Modulr as electronic money and safeguarded under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011. It is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and does not earn interest. It is pass-through only: money is paid out to your suppliers as soon as it arrives.
2.1 Getting the details right. You are responsible for making sure every payment has the right amount, supplier name, sort code, account number and reference. Banks pay by sort code and account number. A payment sent to the sort code and account number you gave is treated as correctly made, even if the name you gave was wrong, so please check the details before you approve.
2.2 Reading your invoices. If you upload an invoice, we read it automatically to fill in the payment for you. This is not always accurate, so please check every detail before you approve the payment, and fill in anything we leave blank.
2.3 Bills sent by suppliers. If a supplier sends you a bill through Bluechain, the supplier is responsible for the bank details on it. You are still responsible for checking the amount and other details before you pay.
2.4 How we check suppliers. When a supplier's bank details are added to the Platform, we check the account name against the receiving bank's records using Confirmation of Payee or a similar check. We do this for every bank account added, including when a supplier's details change.
2.5 If the check returns a close match or no match, or cannot be completed, we will ask you to confirm the details. If there is a mistake, we will correct it with you. If not, we will ask you either to check the details with the supplier using contact details you know to be genuine, or to confirm in writing that you want us to pay that account. If you confirm, you take the risk of those details being wrong.
2.6 A successful check shows that the name matches the account. It does not show that the supplier is who you think it is, or that the invoice is genuine. Invoice fraud usually works by changing a supplier's bank details, so please check any change with the supplier directly.
2.7 What you can pay for. You may only pay for genuine goods or services supplied, or to be supplied, to you. Whether and when you pay, including paying in advance, is your decision. Section 6 of the Bluechain Terms explains what you cannot use Bluechain for.
2.8 Funds and limits. You must have enough money or credit available to make the payment. We may set limits on payments and will show them on the Platform. Your bank or card issuer may have its own limits.
2.9 Scheduled payments. You can change or cancel a payment scheduled for a future date on the Platform until the end of the Business Day before that date. After that, it will be processed.
2.10 When we may not make a payment. We may refuse or delay a payment if your bank or card issuer rejects it, if it fails our checks, or if we reasonably need to in order to meet our legal obligations.
2.11 Verifying your card or account. We may verify a card or bank account before you use it, including by making a small payment that we then reverse.
2.12 Records. Details of each payment, including the amount, supplier, reference, Fees and date, are shown on the Platform, and you can download or print them. You can ask us for a copy of these terms at any time, free of charge.
3.1 When you pay by card, you are paying Bluechain for our bill payment service. Bluechain receives your payment as the merchant of record, so the charge appears on your card statement as Bluechain. The amount you pay is the bill plus our Service Fee, which we show you before you approve.
3.2 Card processing. Your card payment to us is processed by a card payment processor we choose. We use more than one and may change them. They have no agreement with you, and changing them does not change these terms or how your supplier is paid.
3.3 When your supplier is paid. Your card payment reaches us within 2 Business Days. We then pay your supplier from our own account with Modulr, in the name of Bluechain Payments Limited with the reference you gave us. For example, if you pay on a Monday, your supplier receives the money on the Wednesday. Bank holidays and our checks can add time, and we will tell you on the Platform if a payment is delayed. The money is ours until we pay your supplier, and your protection is our promise in these terms to pay your supplier correctly.
3.4 If we cannot complete a payment. If we cannot pay your supplier, for example because the supplier's account has closed or its bank returns the payment, we will contact you for updated details. If we still cannot complete the payment within 5 Business Days, we will refund your card payment, including the Service Fee, to your card. We will not do this where the law requires us to hold the money.
3.5 Chargebacks. If you have a problem with a card payment, please come to us first. We will look into it and, if we have got something wrong, put it right.
3.6 You may ask your card issuer to charge back a card payment made to us only where we failed to provide our service: we did not pay your supplier, we paid the wrong amount, we paid an account other than the one whose details you gave us, we charged you twice, or your card was used without your permission.
3.7 A problem with the goods or services you bought is not a reason to charge back a payment made to us. Please resolve it with your supplier: our service is complete once we have paid them. If you do charge back for this reason, you must repay us on demand the amount reversed and our chargeback costs. We may take those amounts from any money we owe you, and we may suspend or close your account. Whether a chargeback succeeds is for your card issuer to decide, and nothing in this section affects your statutory rights.
3.8 Fraud. Card payments are not covered by the bank payment fraud reimbursement scheme described in section 7.6, because the payment to your supplier comes from our account, not yours. If you were tricked into paying a fraudulent invoice by card, tell us straight away. If we have not yet paid the supplier, we will stop the payment. If we have, we will try to recover the money.
4.1 How it works. When you pay from your bank account, you choose your bank on the Platform and are taken to your bank's app or website to approve the payment. Tink provides the payment initiation service under its own terms: it sends the payment instruction to your bank, and your bank makes the payment. We do not provide the payment initiation service. Neither we nor Tink hold your money at any time. A bank payment is a one-off payment for the amount shown when you approve it. It is not a Direct Debit and gives nobody permission to take further payments.
4.2 We will never ask for your online banking password, PIN or security codes. Never give them to us or to anyone claiming to act for us.
4.3 Your consent. You give your consent to Tink on the Platform and in Tink's payment flow, and you then approve the payment with your bank. You can withdraw your consent at any point until you approve the payment with your bank. Your bank usually sends the payment within seconds of your approval. Once it has been sent, it cannot be cancelled or recalled by you, us, Tink or your bank.
4.4 Timing. An instruction given on a Business Day before our cut-off time, which is shown on the Platform, is treated as received that day. Anything later, or on a day that is not a Business Day, is treated as received on the next Business Day. Bank payments normally go through Faster Payments and usually arrive within minutes. Your bank must make the payment by the end of the next Business Day, and may apply its own checks, limits and cut-off times.
4.5 Your bank's name check. Your bank may check the supplier's name against the account before you approve, and show you the result. A close match or no match means you should stop and check the details with the supplier using contact details you know to be genuine. If you continue past that warning, you do so at your own risk, and it may affect a later claim for reimbursement.
4.6 No chargebacks. A bank payment cannot be charged back. If you paid the wrong person, or paid for something you did not receive, your routes are a refund from the supplier, a claim under section 7.4, or a fraud reimbursement claim under section 7.6.
5.1 How it works. If you are a business customer, you can pay two or more bills in a single Bulk Payment. Bulk Payments are not available to consumers. Before you approve, we show you the Payment Schedule, listing each supplier, their account details, the amount, the reference, any Fees and the total. You approve the whole Bulk Payment once, and that single approval covers every payment in it.
5.2 You then pay the total into your Bluechain Balance by bank payment, and section 4 applies to that payment. Once the money arrives, we instruct Modulr to send a separate payment from your Bluechain Balance to each supplier, in your name with the reference you gave. If the Bulk Payment includes more than one bill for the same supplier, we may combine them into one payment and the reference will identify each bill.
5.3 Name checks. When you pay the total into your Bluechain Balance, any name check your bank carries out is on your own Bluechain Balance, so you should expect to see your own name. That check tells you nothing about your suppliers' details. The check on each supplier is the one we carry out when their details are added to the Platform, as described in sections 2.4 to 2.6.
5.4 Checking before you approve. You must check every line of the Payment Schedule and the total before you approve. You cannot approve some payments and not others: remove any you do not want before approving. Only people you have authorised may submit or approve a Bulk Payment for you. You must not use a Bulk Payment to split a payment to get around a limit or check, or to disguise what a payment is for or where it is going.
5.5 Timing. A Bulk Payment is treated as received when the full total arrives in your Bluechain Balance, and our cut-off time applies in the same way as in section 4.4. We will send each payment by the end of the next Business Day. Payments usually arrive within minutes of being sent, but they may not all arrive at the same moment.
5.6 Limits. We may set limits on Bulk Payments, such as the number of payments, the amount of any one payment, the total, or daily totals. We will show them on the Platform, and we may change them for risk, fraud or regulatory reasons.
5.7 Payments we do not make. We may decline or delay any single payment in a Bulk Payment without affecting the rest, for example if it fails our checks, is a payment you are not allowed to make, or the receiving account will not accept it. If we do not make a payment, or it is returned to us, we will tell you on the Platform and return the money, and any Fee for that payment, to the account you paid from within 5 Business Days, unless the law requires us to hold it. If your payment of the total fails or does not arrive in full, none of the payments will be made and you will need to submit the Bulk Payment again.
5.8 Changing your mind. You can add, remove or change payments until you approve the Bulk Payment. After that, your payment of the total cannot be cancelled once your bank has sent it, and once a payment has reached a supplier it cannot be recalled. You can change or cancel a scheduled Bulk Payment until the end of the Business Day before the scheduled date.
6.1 For a card payment, the Service Fee is added to the amount charged to your card.
6.2 For a bank payment, the amount you approve with your bank includes the Service Fee.
6.3 For a Bulk Payment, before you approve we will tell you whether any Fee is charged per payment or per Bulk Payment, the total Fees, and the total amount you will pay.
7.1 Payments we get wrong. If we fail to pay your supplier, pay the wrong amount, pay an account other than the one whose details you gave us, or charge you twice, we will contact you within 5 Business Days of you telling us, and we aim to put it right within 5 Business Days of confirming the error, by making the correct payment or refunding you. Our liability under this promise is limited to the amount of the payment concerned and any Fee you paid for it, and is not limited by the liability cap in section 8 of the Bluechain Terms. For a payment from your Bluechain Balance, this promise covers errors in the instructions we give Modulr. If Modulr carries out a correct instruction wrongly, Modulr is responsible under its terms, and we will pass your claim to Modulr and help you with it. If you are a business and paid by card, you must tell us within 30 days of the payment date. For a payment from your Bluechain Balance, you have 13 months.
7.2 Payments made using details you gave us. If a payment goes to the wrong account because the details you gave us were wrong, we cannot be responsible for the loss. We will make reasonable efforts to recover the money, including asking Modulr or your bank to recall it, but recovery depends on the receiving bank and is not guaranteed. If you confirmed in writing that you wanted us to pay a supplier after we asked you to check their details, the risk of those details being wrong is yours.
7.3 Problems with what you bought. If goods or services do not arrive, are faulty or are not as described, please raise this with your supplier, as it needs to be resolved between you and them. Bluechain is not responsible for the goods or services you buy, and a problem with them is not a reason for a chargeback against us.
7.4 Payments you did not authorise, or that went wrong at the bank. Tell us as soon as you notice a payment you did not authorise, or one that was not made, was late or was wrong. Who refunds you depends on how you paid:
(a) card payments: your card issuer is responsible for refunding an unauthorised payment. Tell them and us straight away. Where we agree you did not authorise the payment, we will refund it to your card;
(b) bank payments: your bank is responsible for refunding an unauthorised payment and for making the payment correctly. Tink is responsible for passing on your instruction correctly; and
(c) payments from your Bluechain Balance: Modulr is responsible for refunding an unauthorised payment. Tell us and we will pass it to Modulr.
7.5 For bank payments and payments from your Bluechain Balance, you must tell your bank or Modulr within 13 months of the payment date, or you may lose your right to a refund. Under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, if you are a consumer, a micro-enterprise or a charity, your liability to them for an unauthorised payment is limited to £35, and to nothing at all after you have told them your details were lost or stolen, unless you acted fraudulently or with gross negligence. If a payment was not made or went wrong, we will help trace it on request.
7.6 Fraud reimbursement. If you were tricked into paying a fraudster by bank payment or from your Bluechain Balance, and you are a consumer, a micro-enterprise or a charity, you may be entitled to reimbursement under the Payment Systems Regulator's reimbursement requirement. For a bank payment, claim through your bank. For a payment from your Bluechain Balance, including within a Bulk Payment, the claim is handled by Modulr and we will pass your report on. Claims are limited to £85,000, may be subject to an excess, should normally be made within 13 months, and depend on you having taken reasonable care, such as not ignoring a name check warning. That standard of care does not apply if you are vulnerable. The requirement does not cover larger businesses (those that are not micro-enterprises or charities), or card payments (see section 3.8). In all cases, tell us and report it to Action Fraud straight away. If a payment has not yet been sent, we will stop it if we can.
"Confirmation of Payee" means the UK service that checks the name on a bank account against the name given for the payment.
"Payment Schedule" means the list of payments in a Bulk Payment shown to you before you approve it. A Bulk Payment is also called a "payment run" or "batch payment" on the Platform.
"your bank" means the bank or building society that holds the account you pay from.