Watch this short video if you’ve received an instant payment request from one of our client businesses or charities and you would like to know more.

Perhaps you’re wondering: “what is an instant payment?”

Let me explain. Open banking lets you pay directly from your bank account, removing the need to share debit or credit card details. It’s simple, fast. And of course, it’s secure. And, Wonderful is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority for your protection.

Instant payments are secure. Processed by Wonderful, an FCA-authorised Payment Institution, we ensure the highest standards of compliance.

They’re also fast. Transactions are completed and settle instantly.

And instant payments are convenient. There’s no data to enter. Simply approve the payment in a couple of taps directly via your online or mobile bank app.

Tap the link or scan the QR code to choose your bank. Log in using your mobile banking app or online banking. Review the payment details and authorise with a single tap.

That’s it. Your transaction is complete.

Is open banking safe? Absolutely. As an FCA-authorised Payment Institution, Wonderful meets strict regulatory standards. No sensitive data is shared, and you stay in control of your account at all times.

For your security, double-check that the name of the business or charity shown on our screen matches the name of the business or charity shown in your online bank or mobile banking app. They should always be an exact match.

Batch payouts allow you to make payments from a single account that you control to multiple payees without having to authorise each individual payment. These bulk payment runs are suitable for tasks such as paying supplier invoices, or running staff payroll. Batch payouts are exclusively available to enterprise customers on our Asima Open Banking PIS plans.

Bank restrictions

We support the Open Banking specification for processing file payments. Your bank may place additional requirements on initiating file payments. These may include limits on the number of payments in each batch, the total combined value of the payments, or restrictions on recipients being existing named beneficiaries.

We have compiled a list of banks that we are aware of that may place restrictions on file payments. Not all banks support file payments, so if you bank is not listed you should first check with your account manager that Open Banking file payments are supported. If you need any additional help please raise a support ticket.

Barclays

• Batches must have a minimum of 5 payees, and a maximum of 50.
• The minimum value of each payment is £0.05.
• The maximum total value of the batch must not exceed £50,000.

HSBC

• Each batch is limited to a maximum of 25 payees.

Lloyds

• Each batch is limited to a maximum of 25 payees.
• The maximum total value of the batch must not exceed £100,000.
• The daily limit for bulk payments is £250,000.

NatWest / RBS / Ulster Bank

• Each batch is limited to a maximum of 50 payments (Business accounts).
• Bankline customers are limited to a maximum of 3,000 payments per batch.

Santander

• Each batch is limited to a maximum of 3,500 payments.
• The maximum total value of the batch must not exceed £100,000 (Business accounts).
• The maximum total value of the batch must not exceed £250,000 (Corporate accounts).
• All creditors must be trusted beneficiaries on the account.

Revolut

• Each batch is limited to a maximum of 1,000 payments.
• The maximum total value of the batch must not exceed £1,000,000.
• All creditors must be trusted beneficiaries on the account.

Virgin Money

• Each batch is limited to a maximum of 750 payments
• The maximum total value of the batch must not exceed the account limit.

However, one of the restrictions of Open Banking, means that you will need to cancel your standing order directly with your bank. Please complete ALL the steps below to cancel your service.

Here are the steps required to cancel.

1. Log in to the merchant dashboard and tap the down arrow to the right of your name in the top right hand corner.
2. Select "My account."
3. In the bottom right hand corner of the screen, you'll see a button which says "Cancel subscription." Click this and then click "OK" to confirm.

Now, cancel your standing order with your bank.

This is something we are unable to do on your behalf, though we continue to lobby to be able to handle this part of the process for our customers too. Until that happens, you'll need to cancel your standing order directly with each bank, but to help with this, here are the links to support articles from the banks:

1. AIB
2. Barclays
3. BoS
4. Coutts
5. First Direct
6. Halifax
7. HSBC
8. Lloyds
9. Mettle
10. Monzo
11. Revolut
12. RBS
13. Santander
14. Starling
15. Tesco
16. Tide
17. TSB
18. Ulster
19. Virgin
20. Zempler

Integrating your Wonderful One app with Xero takes a couple of minutes and it will allow you to automatically generate and send invoices from Xero to your clients when you generate an order in your One app. It will even mark the invoice as ‘Paid’ when  your client completes the payment via the QR code or payment link you generate for them.

Integration is a two-step process, first you must give your One app permission to create invoices and payments within your Xero installation. Secondly you must tell the One app how you would like the invoices created.

Integration management

Login to your One app and select ‘Integrations’ from the menu. You will be presented with a page (shown below)  all the integrations you have available, and which ones have been used. You can see in the screenshot below, the wooCommerce token has not been generated and the Xero integration is connected. The right-hand button has a green background for generated/connected integrations, and a white background for unused ones.

When you click on an integration button it will display the settings for that integration. For example, in the next screenshot we can see the WooCommerce settings. A read-only field where the token will be displayed, the ‘copy to clipboard’ icon, the ‘generate’ icon, and the ‘delete’ icon.

Whenever an integration is to be activated by generating a token or establishing a connection with software like Xero, you will be presented with a confirmation message which warns you, you will be charged when you proceed.

Pre-requisites:

1. You will need to have the login details for your Xero account.
2. If you have not already set it up, you will need to add the bank account to your Xero. This must be the same account as the one you used to connect your One app to.  Go to Accounting > Bank Accounts and click the ‘Add Bank Account’ button.

Connect to Xero

When you want to connect Xero for the first time you must login to the integrations page and click ‘Connect’

You will then be redirected to Xero’s website to login and authorise the connection between One & your copy of Xero. When complete, you will be redirected back to the integrations page, this time with a ‘Connected’ green button against Xero.

There are a number of settings now available, which must be completed before the Xero integration will work.

The Xero settings will display your company name and your username that you logged into Xero with. In example above the company is ‘Moustachioed Flea’ via Jason Rudland’s login. Also displayed is the Xero username (email address).

Note: Xero allows for multiple companies to be contained within one login. However, for this release of the Xero Integration we are limited to the first company on the Xero account.

Reconnect Button

A Xero connection can be disabled or deleted by actions outside of One. For example you can delete the connection from within Xero. In this case you can click the reconnect button and re-establish the authorisation.

Disconnect Button

This will disconnect One form Xero. Essentially we delete all our authorisations and settings. The connection inside Xero is still active, and you can delete it from Xero, but once you click the delete button in the One app, there is no way for the app to access Xero until you re-authorise it.

Create a Xero Invoice From Orders

When checked, this setting will trigger the Xero invoice to be created when a payment with an associated order is made from the One app. It will also cause other detailed settings to appear. The invoice will not be created if these settings are not in place.

If one of the bank accounts in Xero has the same account number and sort code as the account you used to connect to your One app, it will be displayed here. In the above example, you can see ‘Connected to: Wise Current Account’. If we have not been able to match the bank account you will see an error message in red saying you need to enter the correct bank account in Xero.

Select a Revenue Account

This drop down list will display all the revenue accounts in your Xero. Usually you will simply select ‘Sales’

Select Tax Rate

This drop down will display all the tax rates in Xero. Typically you will select either ‘20%‘ if you are VAT registered, and ‘No Vat’ if you are not. By selecting a non-zero tax rate the invoices will be calculated to assume the line amount on the order is inclusive of VAT, and it will work out the net amounts.

When these settings are complete, whenever you create a payment from an order in the One app a Xero Invoice will be generated. As a different process when your client completes a payment, this will be added to Xero and allocated to the invoice in Xero, marking it as paid.

Sync With Xero Clients

This will run a job overnight to download all your Xero contacts and add them to the app customer list. If you create a new contact in Xero, the next day it should appear in the app.

Included in our Pro plan, access to our Payments API allows you to accept instant bank payments from your online checkout. Wonderful can sit alongside other payment methods (such as debit and credit cards, BNPL services or Paypal), but you'll need experience of working with APIs to complete the installation. Documentation is provided.

1. The first step is to check your business bank is supported  This is required to receive payments. Customer transactions are settled in real time, so the money is in your business account the moment your customer approves the payment.
2. Once you've confirmed we have integrated your bank, it's time to get you on board. To do this, sign up with Wonderful and set up your account.
3. From your One dashboard, select "Integrations" then "API" from the navigation menu on the left.

Installation of the API and a current subscription to our Pro plan is all that is required, which includes 5,000 monthly transactions for just £49.99 (plus VAT). There are no percentage charges and any transactions outside the inclusive bundle are charged at just 1p / transaction.

One API documentation

Our One API is based on restful JSON endpoints, and you can find the documentation at https://api.wonderful.one/

The API will allow you to do all the things you can do from the dashboard or the mobile app, including creating QR codes, quick payment links, and invoices.

If you have a specific requirement for using our API that you would like to discuss further, please email your requirements to hello@wonderful.co.uk and we can set up a complimentary call with one of API developers or product managers.

Open Banking payments and accounts API for Enterprise

Are you looking for something more powerful? We also offer Open Banking APIs for Payments Initiation Services and Account Information Services. For more information about our enterprise plans visit Asima - Open banking rails for high-growth companies

To generate an instant bank payment QR code in the One by Wonderful app: first unlock the app using your secure link or biometric login and then choose one of the following three options:

1. Quick payment - to generate a code for a single, one-off payment;
2. My library - to use a previously generated QR code (or create a QR code that can be used more than once);
3. Build an order - to add other details for a specific order, such as product descriptions, line items and quantities.

Complete the required details (e.g. for a Quick payment, simply add the amount) and tap "QR code". Your customer then simply scans the QR code, selects their bank and authorises a pre-populated payment to your business.

If your customer isn't present, or you'd like to send a payment link to a customer to pay later, tap "Share".

If you tap, QR code, you'll see the QR code displayed on the next screen ready for your customer to scan. (Of course, "Your Business Name" will display, well, your business name!)

If you tap share, you'll see standard sharing options (email, SMS, WhatsApp, etc.). Select the method you wish to use to share and continue...

Sharing will create a payment link for your customer to tap and pay at their convenience. (Again, "Your business name" in the image below will display your business name.)

Once you've created your fundraising account at wonderful.org you'll be able to create fundraising pages for any charity listed on the platform.

If the charity you'd like to raise money for isn't registered with Wonderful, you'll be able to trigger a personal message when creating your page to help prompt them on board. Please note that it can take a few weeks for a charity to be approved so it is best to check whether your charity is listed well ahead of your fundraising event.

1. Navigate to https://wonderful.org/register and complete the fundraiser registration on the left-hand side.

2. Verify your email address by clicking the link sent to you. Clicking this will take you to your very own fundraising account.

3. On the page you arrive at after clicking the verification email, click ‘create a fundraising page’.

4. Search for the charity you wish to fundraise for. Then click ‘next’.

5. If you’re taking part in an organised event with other fundraisers, such as a marathon, there may be an event page on Wonderful for your event, which you can connect to here. If you are hosting such an event you may also request an event page so that participating fundraisers can connect to it.

6. This is where your fundraiser comes to life! The body of your fundraiser can now be completed.

Title – This will overlook your fundraising page. What specifically are you fundraising for?

Subtitle – This is supplementary to the title, and could be anything additional, such as a date or motivational message.

Category – This enables you to choose the kind of fundraiser you are undertaking.

My story – This is your opportunity to really sell your motivation and objectives with your fundraiser. The more detail that you put in here, the more donors will feel encouraged to contribute to your cause.

Countdown – This is completely optional but gives you the choice to put a timer on your fundraiser. Please be assured that donations can still be made after the timer ends.

Fundraising goal – This gives you a target to work towards and can be anything that you desire. The target does not have to be met for the money to go to the charity. Any amount donated will always be received by the charity.

Fundraising page banner – This can be a great visual aid to your fundraiser and gives visitors an even greater understanding of your fundraiser and chosen charity.

Click ‘preview’ or ‘publish’ when completed.

7. Your page is now published! If you click ‘my wonderful’ from within your fundraising account, you will see your fundraising page listed under the ‘my fundraising pages’ tab. You can make any amendments to your page here. When you click ‘view’ this will open the unique webpage for your fundraising page, which you can share as you please.

8. Clicking the green ‘dashboard’ button also takes you a page where you can post updates for your supporters. Scrolling down on the dashboard page will take you to a box, where you can do this.

Please Note: Wonderful is subject to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulation and therefore no text containing alternative payment information may be present anywhere on your fundraising page.

The Wonderful Organisation provides Account to Account (A2A) donation services only, and displaying alternative payment methods does not comply with our AML Policy or Terms and Conditions and may be misleading to donors.

Any donations may only be completed directly by using the ‘donate’ button.

If you're still unsure or need clarification on any of the above, you can contact the Wonderful support team by clicking the chat widget in the bottom right of the screen or by emailing hello@wonderful.org.

Maximising your fundraising success

Don’t forget to follow our top tips for fundraising success. By following these tips, you’ll help to maximise the amount of money you raise and really boost awareness for your chosen charity!

Top tips for fundraising success

Wonderful charges just 1p per transaction for instant bank payments, with zero percentage fees. This is highly competitive when compared with the costs associated with debit and credit card transactions, or other payment providers such as PayPal as illustrated in the video below:

The majority of payment services have both a pence per transaction (PPT) cost AND a percentage of transaction value (PTV) element. With a single 1p per transaction fee, Wonderful's model is not only transparent and predictable, but will save most merchants more than 90% on payment processing fees. This is based upon published data on UK average basket values and SME revenue / order volumes.

You'll need to subscribe to one of our monthly plans:

Small Business Plan: £9.99 per month / 1,000 transactions.
Professional Plan: £49.99 per month / 5,000 transactions.

Any transactions outside the included amounts are also charged at just 1p per transactions.

To see how much you can save, why not try our interactive cost saving calculator right away?

To get started, take a look at the UK banks supported by Wonderful.

Wonderful is in the process of building a number of Open Banking eCommerce platform / accountancy software payments integrations.

Our WooCommerce plugin is now available for download and installation and Xero will follow shortly.

We understand that larger enterprise businesses, local and national government, and other public service providers and agencies will have very different payment processing integration needs from those of small businesses. Our public API for Open Banking payment and account information services will be released shortly and our dedicated technical and integration team will be very happy to answer any questions you may have.

The option for your users or customers to select Wonderful at checkout is not an exclusive one. And even though our instant bank payment service will likely be simpler, faster and more secure than traditional payment options, it can operate alongside any existing solutions that you currently provide. You don't have to make a "this or that" decision; it is "this AND that".

If you require a bespoke Open Banking payment solution or integration with a proprietary / enterprise eCommerce service, please don't hesitate to contact our integration team.

With Wonderful.org there are no subscriptions fees or set up charges for charities, no transaction fees added to donations and no contributions requested from fundraisers or donors to support the platform.

How can Wonderful.org be truly free?

Every aspect of the Wonderful.org platform is funded by Wonderful Payments. That means staff don't take a salary, and all transaction fees and other running costs are covered by Wonderful Payments.

Furthermore, donations made via the Wonderful fundraising platform don't rely on credit and debit card payments, which can be costly and inefficient. Instead, as an FCA Authorised Payment Institution, Wonderful uses Open Banking instant bank payments to allowing donors to securely transfer money directly to the charity's bank account - and the whole process is authorised by the donor's existing online bank account or mobile banking app. This new, simple and secure payment method makes transactions much more efficient and cost-effective for Wonderful and allows the platform to scale.

Get started

Charities wishing to utilise either of the services above can register via the Wonderful  charity registration process.

Fundraisers can get started with their next fundraising campaign by creating a free account at Wonderful.org.

At Wonderful, we pride ourselves on our commitment to ensuring charity fundraising is fee-free.

We do not take a percentage of funds raised, ask for tips, or do anything that prevents 100% of donations going to the causes that charity supporters are so passionate about. We are inspired by that passion.

Part of maintaining this ethos means being a card-free platform. Although card payments may be familiar to donors, they generate significant fees, which severely restricted our reach and impact.

Instead, Wonderful spent a full year gaining permission from the Financial Conduct Authority to become an Authorised Payment Institute. This allows us to harness the speed, simplicity and security of instant bank payments, powered by Open Banking.

This new and easy way to pay involves a direct bank transfer between the donor and the charity's bank account. We simply ask donors to select their bank and then hand them over to their online bank account/mobile banking app to authorise a pre-populated transaction. The amount and name of the recipient are confirmed from within the donor's online bank account/mobile banking app once the donor. We do not require any bank account numbers, sort codes, card numbers, expiry dates, CVVs or other financial data. Donors simply select their bank, login in the normal way (using face ID, fingerprint or username / password) to authorise a payment which is awaiting their approval.

By using this new and exciting payment method, we can provide a truly fee-free fundraising platform to the UK charity sector at scale, and that’s what makes us wonderful.

If you do not currently use online banking or a mobile banking app, your bank can help you get set up with this. We support most major UK banks, and our list of banks will only continue to grow.

Unlike many other platforms, Wonderful passes donations to the charity in near real-time, so funds can be put to good use more quickly.

Our A2A payments are also safer for your donors’ financial data, as there’s no need for us to ask for card details or other sensitive payment data. We leave that to the banks.

Overall, this means that your donation is cost-effective, faster, and safer.

You won’t see card payments as an option here at Wonderful.

We believe that instant bank payments are the future, and they’re a huge part of what makes us wonderful.

Making a donation to a charity on a Wonderful.org fundraising page is quick and easy, with the payment being transferred directly from the donor's to the charity's bank account.

With Wonderful, the payment process uses Open Banking technology. Open Banking is a new and universally recognised system for sharing financial data and authorising payments in the UK. There's no need for donors to dig out their credit card or type in account numbers and sort codes. Instead, the payment is simply authorised in the donor's existing online bank account or mobile banking app, with all major UK banks supported.

More on making donations

Supported payment types
How secure are Wonderful donations?

Yes, we support fixed recurring donation payments now for UK charities. We will be rolling out recurring payments for businesses as soon as open banking commercial Variable Recurring Payments (cVRPs) are introduced in the UK.

Please join our mailing list if you would like us to let you know the moment cVRPs are introduced.

Wonderful is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to operate as an Authorised Payment Institution.

When you make a donation with Wonderful you start on Wonderful's screens (selecting an amount, applying Gift Aid, selecting your bank) and then you are automatically connected to your bank to securely complete your payment.

If you're experiencing an issue whilst you are on Wonderful's screens, such as when filling in our donation form, please do not hesitate to contact us right away using the live chat messenger at the bottom of this screen.

However, if you are experiencing an issue at the bank stage (after being handed over to your online/mobile banking service) we advise you to contact your bank directly, at least in the first instance. Once you have received a response from your bank, please contact us.

Money is passed directly from a donor’s account to a charity’s account, meaning Wonderful does not have access to the funds.

If you require a refund, please contact the charity you made the payment to. If they approve a refund, it will be carried out by them directly using their existing bank transfer refund process.