This article will walk through how to manually merge duplicate payee records in Relay.
Please note: duplicate payee records can also be merged automatically if both payees have identical email addresses. For more information on this, please see Merging duplicate payee records automatically.
When manual payee record merging is required
It is possible to create duplicate payee records in Relay when syncing bill payments with your accounting software, such as Xero or QuickBooks Online. This occurs if you first manually create a payee record in Relay, and then later
If the duplicate payee records do not contain an identical email address, you will need to merge them by manually copying the payee data.
For more information on importing contacts from your Xero or QuickBooks Bill Pay integration, please see the below articles:
Old payee records
If you have previously created payee records in Relay by manually adding them to your account, they may contain important payment information, such as ACH or wire details. For this article, we will call these the old payee records. The information that is stored in the old payee records will need to be transferred into the new payee records when merging.
New payee records
When you import a payee record into Relay from your accounting software to sync bill payments, Relay creates a new payee record. This is the record that will always be automatically selected when paying bills through Relay.
However, it is important to note that these records will be missing the payment information that was stored in the old payee record. As a result, we will have to copy the payment information from the old payee record into this new payee record to ensure payments can be sent seamlessly.
How to manually merge duplicate payee records
Please note: this process can only be completed on Relay via desktop at this time, as this feature is not currently supported on the Relay mobile app.
- Sign in to your Relay account on your desktop.
- Navigate to the Payments tab, then select Payees from the drop-down menu.
- Type your payee's name in the search bar to check if a duplicate record exists.
- Next, you will want to check which payee record has payment information saved. Once you click on the payee, you will be able to view any linked payment information (e.g., ACH details) on the right-hand side.
- Click on the eye icon beside the account and routing number information to reveal the payment details. Copy the account numbers and account type in a separate note, as you will need these later!
- Choose the new payee record from your search list that is missing payment details, then click Edit.
- In the pop-up window, scroll to the bottom and check for a message that says "This payee is synced from Xero". If you see this message, you have selected the new payee record that was synced from your accounting software.
- Once you've confirmed that you have the new payee record selected, fill out the payment details you saved from your old payee record.
- Click Save.
- Go back to the old payee record, click Edit, then scroll down to the bottom in the pop-up modal.
- If you've selected the old payee record, you will not see the "This payee is synced from Xero" message, and you will be able to delete the payee.
- If you are certain that you've correctly transferred the payee's information to the new payee record that was synced from Xero, click Delete to remove the old record.
Can I delete payee records that were synced from my accounting software?
No, you cannot delete payee records that were synced from your accounting software. You can only un-sync them.