External Accounts & Contacts
Save the reusable building blocks (your own external bank accounts and your third-party payees) used across every money-movement flow.
Looking to open an account for your customer? That's a Passport Account, created under Accounts → Open an Account. This section is instead for linking a customer's existing bank accounts held outside PCE and saving third-party payees.
Before you move money, save the reusable building blocks that payments reference. There are two, and the difference is whose bank account it is:
- External Accounts: bank accounts the customer owns but holds outside PCE. Link them to move a customer's own money in and out of their Passport Account (for example, Transfer funds, Pull via Wire).
- Contacts: saved payees — the payout details of a third party (a vendor, employee, or another business) you save once and reference when you Pay or Collect.
Save these once and reuse them, so every payout or collection references a stored record instead of re-entering bank details each time.
External Accounts vs. Contacts
| Entity | Whose account | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| External Accounts (Domestic and International) | The customer's own bank account | Transfer funds, Pull via Wire, and other flows moving the customer's own money |
| Contacts (Payees) | A third party you pay or collect from | Pay via ACH/Wire/Check/BOOK/International, and Collect via ACH |
Use External Accounts for the customer's own money and Contacts for third parties. Don't use an External Account to pay or collect from someone else.
In this section
Link and verify the customer's US bank accounts for domestic fund movement.
Store the customer's overseas bank accounts for cross-border transfers.
Save third-party payees once and reuse them across payout and collection rails.
Create and update customer mailing addresses for checks and correspondence.
See also
- Transfer funds: move a customer's own money between accounts using a linked External Account
- Pay via ACH: pay a third party saved as a Contact
- Collect via ACH: collect from a payer saved as a Contact
- Recurring transactions: reference these saved accounts and Contacts in a schedule
- Tax Forms: Contacts can appear as recipients on 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC forms
Updated 15 days ago