When sending or receiving money from your credit union account in online banking, you may be asked to specify a 'Payment Reference'.
If you don't know what this is, don't worry. One way to think of a 'Payment Reference' is like a subject line on an email. It lets the person you are sending money to know what the payment is for.
When the money arrives in their account, it will show up in their bank statement. The payment reference helps them identify who the payment was from and your reasons for sending them the money.
- If the payment is to a friend, family member or to another account that belongs to you, you can usually set the payment reference to be anything you want. Usually, you will want the payment reference to be something the person receiving it will readily recognise, such as 'restaurant bill', 'birthday gift' or some other simple label that describes the reason for making the payment.
- If the payment is to a company or to pay a bill, usually they will tell you a specific payment reference to use. Often this is something like your name, customer account number or a unique number or phrase. This allows them to see which customer the money came from quickly. You must get this right, as it will help the company know you sent the money, and not someone else.