PayTo Help

PayTo is a payment method (or ‘digital payment solution’) offered by banks, financial institutions, and major payment service providers like GoEscrow.

GoEscrow works, via PayTo, with your bank to move funds from your personal bank account into your escrow bank account where it is safely held till you authorise payment onward to your suppler.

Escrow transaction funding payments through PayTo can only be made after a PayTo Agreement has been authorised by you in your mobile banking app or online banking system.  Once a PayTo Agreement is authorised, GoEscrow can only debit your bank account for specific transactions when you agree to fund them.  This happens in accordance with the GoEscrow PayTo Service Agreement.  (Copy Here)  You can see your PayTo Agreements in your banks mobile banking app or online banking system. You can pause, cancel and make certain changes to PayTo Agreements there too.

INTERESTING FACT:  The BECS Direct Debit system, that many Australians are aware of, will close in the near future with PayTo being its direct replacement.  This is because PayTo puts control back in the bank account owners hands, a problem often cited with Direct Debit mandates.

FIRST TRANSACTION:  If you have never used PayTo with GoEscrow before on your first “FundNow” process you will be prompted to create a PayTo Agreement.

To set up the PayTo Agreement you inform us of your personal bank account PayID or BSB/Account number and we send a request to your bank for you to authorise.  You must log into your banks Internet systems and accept the new PayTo Agreement within 10 minutes.  You only need to do this once.

With a PayTo Agreement in place you are authorising GoEscrow to debit funds from your bank account into escrow.  You may think of PayTo as a modern replacement for the Australian BECS Direct Debit system with more visibility and control.

The PayTo Agreement has a maximum value you set.  This is an effective cap over which the particular PayTo Agreement can not be used.  GoEscrow allows PayTo as a ‘FundNow’ option for most parties up to AUD$10,000.00 and this is the default you will see for the PayTo Agreement set up step.  You may override it and set any value you desire.  This does not mean $10,000 is held in escrow, is debited from your account or that you must have this balance available in your bank at any time.  It is simply the maximum you authorise for the PayTo Agreement to be used.

ALL SUBSEQUENT TRANSACTIONS:  After the initial PayTo Agreement is set up, authorised and your first transaction is funded you only need to select “FundNow” in the GoEscrow App and select “PayTo”.  The escrow transaction amount will be debited from your personal bank account into your escrow transaction bank account instantly from then on. 

IMPORTANT: You should never authorise a PayTo Agreement with GoEscrow or anyone else which you didn’t initiate.

A PayID is a unique identifier linked to your bank account that is easy to remember.  It can be your mobile number, email address, ABN or Organisation name as determined by your bank’s rules. 

Creating a PayID is easy and you do it with your bank, usually in their mobile app or web site.  Contact your bank or financial institution for more information on PayIDs and how to create one.

You can use your PayID to create a PayTo Agreement with GoEscrow.  We accept all four forms of PayID for PayTo setup.

If you don’t have PayID you can still set up a PayTo with GoEscrow by using your bank account details (name, BSB and account number).  So while a PayID isn’t essential for PayTo setup it is easier.

A PayTo Agreement is a payment agreement between you and a major organisation that allows funds to be moved from your bank account to another with strict rules, control and visibility.  It is a dramatically improved version, from the account holders perspective, of the older BECS Direct Debit payment mandate system.

At GoEscrow we use PayTo Agreements to debit funds from your selected bank account and move them into your escrow bank account established for each transaction.  GoEscrow sets up an ‘Ad-hoc’ PayTo Agreements, which means that we can rely on your PayTo Agreement for a future “FundNow” request in the GoEscrow App.

If you have created a PayTo Agreement with GoEscrow, you will find the PayTo Agreement details in your banks mobile banking app or online banking account.  Additionally when you process a “FundNow” instruction in the GoEscrow Apps you will see the details of your active PayTo Agreement presented with the option to then fund with a one click PayTo action.

PayTo is currently available with the majority of Australian banks, financial institutions and credit unions.  Please check with your financial institution whether they support PayTo or not.

If your institution does not currently support PayTo it likely will soon.

To set up a PayTo Agreement with GoEscrow you will need to provide:

• either your PayID (associated with a mobile number, email, ABN or ORG name) or bank account details (BSB, account number and account name); and
• a maximum transaction limit per PayTo Agreement.  You may set this as you desire up to the default value of $10,000

NOTES:

• Some financial institutions ignore the requested transaction limit and impose their own lower limit.  If GoEscrow systems detect this we will inform you.
• For information on how we handle your private data please see the GoEscrow Privacy Policy by clicking here.

All PayTo Agreement contains important details including these:

• name of merchant – in our case this will be GoEscrow Pty Ltd
• maximum amount per PayTo transaction – our default is $10,000
• PayTo Agreement description
• when payments will be made, including start and end dates (if applicable)
• payment frequency (PayTo Agreements with GoEscrow should appear as “ad-hoc” or similar, which means we only charge your bank account when you “FundNow” via PayTo for your specific escrow transaction.

IMPORTANT:  You should carefully review the terms of any PayTo Agreement to confirm the details match your expectations. You should never authorise a PayTo Agreement that you did not initiate.

FROM YOUR BANK?  Yes, you can check your mobile banking app, online banking account, SMS or email address where you receive notifications from your bank in accordance with your settings with them. Check to see if you have enabled notifications from your bank or financial service provider.  Most financial institutions SMS and App notify you for a PayTo Agreement set up request.  Some will also email you but as you only have 10 min to action a request this is may be bypassed.

FROM GOESCROW?  Yes, we update you by App Notification, email and SMS for all the varied escrow process functions.

To authorise a PayTo Agreement you need to:

• log-in to your mobile banking app or online banking account
• find the page or section where your bank displays your PayTo Agreements – a PayTo Agreement that needs your approval will be marked as ‘Pending authorisation’ or similar
• after you click on the PayTo Agreement, the payment terms will be displayed for you to review
• if the terms and details are correct, click ‘Approve’ or similar to authorise the PayTo Agreement and this will then be marked as ‘Active’ or similar – your bank may ask you to enter your banking password or an OTP (one-time password) before authorising the PayTo Agreement.

If you don’t want to proceed with the PayTo Agreement, you can select ‘Decline’ or similar in your mobile banking app or online banking account. If you decline the authorisation, the PayTo Agreement will not be added to your GoEscrow profile.

Still having trouble finding an authorisation or your PayTo Agreements? Try searching ‘PayTo’ in the search bar of your mobile banking app or online banking account or contacting your banks custoemr service team.  If you don’t have time while the countdown approached 10 minutes don’t worry you can repeat the PayTo Agreement set up process at any time when you are best prepared.

If you attempt to PayTo an amount greater than your active PayTo Agreement maximum the GoEscrow App will prompt you to create a new agreement.  Be sure to select an suitable higher maximum, authorise it in your banking app and the old agreement will be cancelled.

If you just wish to edit the maximum in your banking app you can’t do this.  Specifically you can’t amend the maximum amount of a PayTo Agreement once you authorise the PayTo Agreement.  However, you can cancel an existing PayTo Agreement in your banking app then create a new PayTo Agreement via the GoEscrow App later at the higher maximum up to $10,000

You can cancel a PayTo Agreement via your mobile banking app or online banking account.

To cancel through your mobile banking app or online banking account:
• log-in to your mobile banking app or online banking account
• find the page or section where your bank displays your PayTo Agreements
• click on the PayTo Agreement that you wish to cancel
• click ‘Cancel’ and the Agreement should be marked as ‘Cancelled’.

You may also ‘pause’ an agreement and re-activate later for added peace of mind.

Make sure your PayTo Agreement is in an ‘Active’ status by checking your mobile banking app or online banking account. You won’t be able to use PayTo if you have cancelled or paused a PayTo Agreement.

Check that the Escrow Transaction Total is within the maximum transaction limit that you set for your PayTo Agreement and that you have sufficient cleared funds in your bank account.

If you believe all is well and your FundNow by PayTo is failing please contact GoEscrow Customer Service.

PayTo is an instant banking payment method.  When using PayTo, GoEscrow will debit your account when you click on the ‘FundNow’ by PayTo option.  This is a one click action and it is instant.

Funds will clear into your transactions escrow bank account within a minute, the transaction status will change to “IN ESCROW” and the payee/seller will be notified that it is safe for them to supply their goods/services to you.

The onward movement of the funds from escrow – we call this ‘settlement’ – will then happen as instructed by the parties in the transaction.

Yes, you can manage an existing PayTo Agreement that has been authorised through your mobile banking app or online banking account.

To pause an Agreement:

• log-in to your mobile banking app or online banking account
• find the page or section where your bank displays your PayTo Agreements
• click on the PayTo Agreement that you wish to pause
• click ‘Pause’ or similar and the Agreement should be marked as ‘Paused’ or similar

To resume an Agreement:

• follow the same steps as above
• click ‘Resume’ on the paused Agreement
• the Agreement will return to ‘Active’ status

Once resumed, GoEscrow will then be able to debit your bank account when you select “FundNow” by PayTo.  If the GoEscrow App detects a cancelled or paused agreement it will prompt you to create a new one and delete the old one.  Reactivating a paused agreement is certainly easier though.

If you have a question about any escrow transaction you can reach out to the GoEscrow Customer Service Team by clicking here.  Be sure to let us know your GoEscrow ID and the Transaction ID in the message box.

You may also contact your bank or financial institution for any PayTo reporting means they support.