How is this different from just publishing my IBAN?

A published IBAN receives payments you then have to match by hand, using whatever the payer typed in the description. A per-order vIBAN arrives already identified, so reconciliation is automatic rather than a monthly exercise in interpretation.

How long does a transfer take to arrive?

SEPA transfers typically arrive the same or next business day, and instant transfers arrive in seconds where the payer's bank supports them. The order stays open and shows as awaiting payment until the funds land.

What if the customer sends the wrong amount?

The payment attaches to the order regardless, and the difference is visible on it — an underpayment leaves the balance outstanding rather than silently marking the order paid, and an overpayment can be refunded against the same reference.

Can I use this for invoices rather than checkout?

Yes. A payment link carrying a transfer option behaves like an invoice a customer can pay from their bank, and the same vIBAN mechanism is available at scale through Protocore vIBAN.

/// Method · Bank

Bank transfers that reconcile themselves.

Transfers are the method business customers ask for and finance teams dread, because matching an incoming payment to an invoice is manual by default. Giving each order its own vIBAN reference removes the matching step entirely: the payment arrives already identified, and the order flips to paid without anyone opening a bank statement.

See Protocore Gateway All payment methods

1:1

vIBAN per order

Auto

Matched on arrival

SEPA

Across the euro area

Statements to read

/// How it runs

Invoice to reconciled, four steps.

[ 01 ]
ISSUE
The order is created and given its own vIBAN reference on the checkout.
[ 02 ]
TRANSFER
The customer pays from their bank, as they would any invoice.
[ 03 ]
MATCH
The incoming payment identifies its order by the reference it arrived on.
[ 04 ]
CONFIRM
The order flips to paid, the receipt is sent, and your webhook fires.

/// 01

What the customer sees

Bank details they can pay from their own banking app or send to their finance department — the same experience as paying any invoice, which is exactly why business buyers ask for it. There is no account to create and no card to hand over, and for larger amounts that is often the deciding factor.

[ 01 ]Standard bank details, payable from any SEPA account
[ 02 ]No account to create, no card details to share
[ 03 ]The method business buyers and finance departments expect

/// 02

What you receive

The transferred amount, already attached to its order. Because the reference is unique to that order rather than shared across your business, nobody has to interpret a payment description or chase a customer who forgot to include the invoice number. The order, the receipt, and the bank entry carry the same reference.

[ 01 ]Payments arrive pre-matched to their order
[ 02 ]No manual reconciliation and no chasing missing references
[ 03 ]The same order reference on the checkout, receipt, and statement

/// 03

What it takes to switch on

A toggle on the methods screen. The vIBAN issuing behind it is handled for you — you don't open an account per customer, and you don't manage a pool of references. The same mechanism underpins Protocore vIBAN if you need it beyond checkout.

/// FAQ

SEPA bank transfer — questions merchants ask.

A published IBAN receives payments you then have to match by hand, using whatever the payer typed in the description. A per-order vIBAN arrives already identified, so reconciliation is automatic rather than a monthly exercise in interpretation.
SEPA transfers typically arrive the same or next business day, and instant transfers arrive in seconds where the payer's bank supports them. The order stays open and shows as awaiting payment until the funds land.
The payment attaches to the order regardless, and the difference is visible on it — an underpayment leaves the balance outstanding rather than silently marking the order paid, and an overpayment can be refunded against the same reference.
Yes. A payment link carrying a transfer option behaves like an invoice a customer can pay from their bank, and the same vIBAN mechanism is available at scale through Protocore vIBAN.