Using virtual vs. real account numbers on your invoices

When sending an invoice through Mercury, you can choose between using a secure virtual account number (recommended) or your real account number in the payment instructions.

Virtual account numbers (recommended)

By default, invoices sent through Mercury display virtual account numbers. These are secure, system-generated account numbers that are different from your actual account numbers through Mercury. Payments made to the virtual account are automatically and immediately routed to the destination account you choose when creating the invoice.

Each customer you invoice will be assigned a unique virtual account number. This means:

• All invoices sent to the same customer will show the same virtual account number. If a customer saves your payment details, they can reuse the same virtual number for future payments.
• Different customers receive different virtual account numbers.

Benefits of virtual account numbers:

1. Enhanced security: Your real account numbers stay private, reducing the risk of unauthorized withdrawal attempts.
2. Public-friendly: Safe to display on your invoice payment page, even if it’s publicly accessible.
3. Simplified reconciliation: Helps Mercury automatically match incoming payments to the correct invoice.

Real account numbers

Some customers - particularly larger businesses - may require your real bank account details on invoices. This usually happens when your customer requires payment instructions to exactly match a bank letter or vendor portal registration, and these invoices are usually processed through their internal AP (Accounts Payable) system.

To meet these requirements, you have the option to display your real account number on the invoice.

Things to note when using real account numbers:

• Real account numbers are only included in the PDF version of the invoice's payment instructions. They will not appear on the invoice payment webpage on mercury.com for security reasons.
• Automatic payment matching is not supported. You’ll need to manually mark these invoices as paid in Mercury once the payment is received.