A guide to PayTo error and status codes

PayTo is a game-changing payments option, but like any other, there are occasional speed humps. In this guide we share how you can leverage PayTo error and status codes to understand payment glitches and boost customer experience.  

What is PayTo?

PayTo is a digital and mandated way for merchants to initiate real-time payments from customer bank accounts. It’s part of the New Payments Platform (NPP) initiative to accelerate, secure and increase visibility of payments in Australia. As an early adopter of PayTo, GoCardless has innovated to ensure your business gets the most out of this modern payment approach. 

Along the way, we’ve learnt how and why error and status codes surface and some best-practices for avoiding errors and improving CX when things do go wrong. 

In this guide, we’ll share why businesses and their customers love PayTo, our tips for smooth transactions, and comprehensive lists of Status and Error codes. 

What are the benefits of PayTo?

PayTo enables your customers to easily link their bank accounts to a variety of apps, account-on-file arrangements, loan repayments, membership fees, digital wallets and payment options like buy-now-pay-later services. 

Businesses who use PayTo can reduce risk and have more flexibility in how agreements are set up. The benefits include:

• Real-time customer account validation

• Real-time funds verification and confirmation of payment, at time of payment

• Platform infrastructure that’s supported by APIs to ensure a seamless process

• Secure storage of reconciliation data - payment reference and mandate (agreement) details - all in one place

• Instant notifications when a customer cancels, pauses or changes their agreement

• Facilitation of third parties to conduct payments on a businesses’ behalf, such as corporate payroll and accounts payable

• Address failed payments due to insufficient funds by leveraging GoCardless intelligent retry product, Success+, or opt for a PayTo transaction to immediately recover the outstanding amount (when the payee knows they have sufficient funds in the account)

• PayTo offers real-time payment confirmation, like credit cards but for lower costs, better payment transparency and higher security

Many of your customers prefer PayTo over direct debit or credit cards. They appreciate: 

• A smoother payment experience 

• The ability to set and forget and view and control payments, all in one central place

• A choice between a PayID or traditional account and BSB number

• Being able to easily pause, cancel, or authorise new payment agreements within their banking app.

Why PayTo status and error codes matter

In an ideal world, every PayTo agreement and payment works immediately, with no glitches. However, with all platforms, especially when processing customer-supplied data, there are hiccups along the way.

PayTo provides comprehensive status codes so that you know what’s happening with each payment in real time plus specific error codes when things don’t go to plan. 

These specific error codes are fantastic tools to streamline your processes, ensure payments are received as quickly as possible, and tailor your communications, optimising your customer experience (CX).

We’ve put together the below guide using commonly used codes and meanings. These can vary between platforms and institutions, so be sure to reference specific documentation for your situation.

How PayTo error codes work

How PayTo errors and status codes originate

PayTo error and status codes can arise as a result of actions of a bank, payer, payee or payment platform. Status codes are sometimes also called ‘Response codes’. We’ll refer to them as status codes in this guide for simplicity. 

It can be helpful to categorise codes according to the stage of the agreement/payment. In addition to the below stages, errors can also arise due to lack of compliance.

Note, different platforms and institutions may use different flows, codes and categories - refer to specific documentation for your situation. 

What’s the difference between error codes and status codes?

Error codes tell you why something has happened. They:

• provide detailed diagnostic information explaining why a payment or mandate (agreement) failed 

• generally come from a bank, the NPP or the payment platform (GoCardless) 

• are used by developers to troubleshoot issues and finance, platform or product teams to decide on action to take or automate - for example retrying or notifying customers.

Status codes tell you what is happening. They:

• reflect a transaction’s current state

• generally come from a platform or bank

• provide a high-level and often instantaneous summary of what is happening. For example: accepted, pending, rejected or blocked.

How do error codes and status codes work together?

Together, the codes give you both information about what’s happening now (a status code) and if necessary, a reason something has gone wrong (an error code).

For example, you could have a status code of RJCT - rejected, and an error code of AC05 - ClosedDebtorAccountNumber. So you can understand that the payment request was rejected because the debtor account is closed. 

Types of PayTo errors

PayTo errors generally fall into four categories:

• Setup errors

• Authorisation errors

• Payment initiation errors

• Platform or system errors

In addition to the error codes, there are a handful of status codes.

Setup errors

Setup errors usually occur due to problems with account details, mandate (PayTo agreement) data or formatting. Often the account number, BSB or PayID is invalid, closed or missing information.

Potential actions to avoid or respond to setup errors

• Embed in your process: checking bank details automatically before sending requests; checking for duplicates; and ensuring systems record clear error messages.

• Provide communications to customers in plain English - explain what went wrong, what you need from them and any relevant links to support or instructions.

• Have payers double-check their bank account number and BSB, confirm that the account is open and active and update details if required.

Common related codes

AC02, AC03, AC05, AC06, AC07, AC13, AC14, AC15, BE05, BE06, BE08, BE22, CH20, CH21, CURR, DT02, DT04, FF04, FF08, M001, M308, M905, M906, M907, M908, M909, M910, M913, M914, M915, M916, M917, M918, M920, M921, RC05, TD03. See our full list of codes below.

Authorisation errors

When a customer or bank declines a mandate (PayTo agreement) or it has expired or a transaction isn’t allowed for some other reason, a compliance error will be displayed.

Potential actions to avoid or respond to authorisation errors

• Consider which codes should be responded to with automatic retries and which require other actions.

• Enable customers to re‑authorise PayTo payments and agreements or choose another payment method easily.

Common PayTo codes

AG01, AG03, AG07, AGNT, BLCK, CUST, MD01, MD02, MD20, PATC. See our full list of codes below.

Payment initiation errors

As the name suggests, payment initiation errors reflect an issue with processing a payment. Common issues include insufficient funds, exceeding limits and duplicate requests.

Potential actions

• Build in safe retries whilst preventing duplicate payment attempts.

• Test and optimise messaging to customers in line with your brand voice to see which result in customers taking the desired action - for example adding funds to the relevant account so that the payment is successful when retried.

Common PayTo codes

AM01, AM02, AM03, AM04, AM06, AM09, AM12, AM19, AM21, SL13, SL14. See our full list of codes below.

Platform or system errors

Technical errors like timeouts and outages are captured in platform or system errors.

Potential actions to respond quickly to platform or system errors

• Monitor for repeated failures and alert your team if there’s an outage.

• Communicate with customers with a message like: ‘Payments have been temporarily delayed due to a technical issue. We will process payments shortly’.

• Ensure your customer service team is across the issue and any key talking points so that they can respond to customer queries.

Common PayTo codes

AB01, AB02, AB03, AB04, AB08, E991, E992, E999, ED05, ED06, FF10, FF11, FRAD, G005, G006, M901, M902, M903, M904, M911, M912, M919, M922, MS02, NARR, PA04, RJCT, RR04, SL01, SL11, SL12, TM01. See our full list of codes below. [Anchor to list]

Status codes

As we’ve covered, status codes (sometimes called response codes) aren’t error codes - they reflect what’s happening with a payment now. Mapping status codes to customer communications and providing updates can improve CX. 

Potential actions

• Your Developer team can use status codes to trigger workflows.

• Your Product team can consider including a message related to a status code (for example pending, processed, etc) to keep customers informed in a platform or app or via text or email.

• Your Customer team could have access to status information and meanings so they can assist customers.

Common PayTo codes

ACSC, BLCK, PDNG. See our full list of codes below.

Best practices for handling PayTo errors

In addition to the above tips for each type of code, here are three more key areas to keep in mind when managing codes, or using them to enhance CX.

Logging and monitoring

• Automate a log of every error code with as much detail as possible, including timestamps.

• Set thresholds so you can be quickly alerted if a lot of errors come through in a certain period.

• Share dashboards with other teams and brainstorm how you can avoid errors within your control going forward. 

Clear customer messaging

• Have a copywriter or UX writer help to create and map customer-facing messages for regularly occurring errors, and specific scenarios (for example if a platform or bank you depend on is out of service).

• Provide clear next steps when you need a customer to take an action. Include all the links and instructions they need in your initial request.

Escalation paths

• Have a plan for when you will escalate issues - for example system outages or repeated compliance issues.

Have clear roles and responsibilities for who will communicate with customer teams, management, platforms and banks in the event of large-scale outages or multiple error codes.

List of PayTo status codes

These PayTo status codes tell you what’s happening with a mandate (PayTo agreement) or payment in real time.

List of PayTo error codes

These PayTo error codes help you understand what specifically has gone wrong with a payment or mandate.