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Merging duplicate payee records automatically

Emily P.
  • Updated

This article will walk through how to automatically merge duplicate payee records in Relay.

Please note: this method requires both payees to have an identical email address. If your records do not have an email address, please see Merging duplicate payee records manually.

When can you merge duplicate payee records automatically?

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 a contact record representing that same payee is also synced from Xero or QuickBooks Online.

For more information on importing contacts from your Xero or QuickBooks Bill Pay integration, please see the below articles:

If your duplicate payee records contain an identical email address, you can merge them into one automatically.

To find out whether your payees already have an email address, please follow steps 1-3 in the Merging payees through the payee menu section below.

There are two ways to merge duplicate payee records automatically, and both methods are currently only supported via desktop at this time:

Merging payees through the payee menu

  1. Sign in to your Relay account on your desktop.
  2. Navigate to the Payments tab, then select Payees from the drop-down menu.
  3. Locate the duplicate payee records in your list of payees using the search bar. Ensure both payees have identical email addresses.
  4. Click on the payee. On the right-hand side, you will see whether any account details are being stored in the record. Choose the record that does not have any account details stored, then click Edit payee.
  5. In the pop-up modal, you should see an option to Link this payee with another payee. Click the check box.
  6. Select the payee that you want to link with this payee from the Linked Payee dropdown.
  7. Before clicking Save, please ensure that you are linking the correct payees, as linked payees cannot be unlinked.
  8. Click Save.

Merging payees while paying a bill

To merge duplicate payee records while paying a bill, initiate your bill payment. If Relay detects a duplicate email address, you will be prompted to link the two payees. Here's how you can do this:

  1. Sign in to your Relay account on your desktop.
  2. Navigate to the Payments tab.
  3. Click New Payment at the top-right corner of your screen. 
  4. Under Recipient, click See all payees.
  5. If a payee record with a duplicate email is detected, a Link Payee button will appear. Click Link Payee to merge with another payee.
  6. Select the linked payee from the drop-down menu.
  7. If the linked payee record already has correct payment information saved, check off the Use linked payee’s payment information box.
  8. Click Save.

Default payee

After you integrate bill payments from your accounting software, the bill recipient will always default to the payee record that was created after syncing. This new payee record will not have any payment information you may have previously saved in a different payee record when manually creating the payee on Relay.

If you want to transfer saved payment information (e.g., ACH or wire details) for a payee, please ensure that the Use linked payee’s payment information checkbox is selected when merging your payees.

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