I received a payment notification I was not expecting

Receiving a payment notification when you did not consciously initiate a payment can be alarming. Most of the time there is a straightforward explanation — here is how to work through it.

Common legitimate reasons

Scheduled direct debit collection

If your notification matches your regular repayment amount (or a revised amount after a recent change), this is simply your scheduled monthly collection. Check your repayment schedule in Payments → Repayment schedule to confirm.

Arrears catch-up

If a previous payment was missed or returned, a catch-up collection may appear at an unexpected time or amount. See your account ledger in the portal for the history.

Early repayment you authorised

If anyone with portal access to your account submitted an early repayment request, this generates a payment notification. Check with other directors or finance team members who have access.

Automatic re-try after a returned payment

If your bank initially returned a direct debit attempt (due to a temporary funds shortage), and the re-try was successful on a different day, you may receive a notification at an unexpected time.

If the notification does not match any of the above

1. Sign in to the portal and check Payments → Transaction history for a matching entry.
2. If no matching transaction appears, the notification may be a delayed system message — wait a few minutes and refresh.
3. If a transaction appears that you genuinely did not authorise, contact us immediately using the General Support Enquiry form or by calling your account manager.

See also: My direct debit was not collected, A payment shows as failed in my portal, My direct debit amount has changed unexpectedly.