Your bill payments questions answered
Learn more about online bill payments* , how it works and where to get started with answers to our FAQs.
*Online bill payments, is currently in beta and is only available to select organisations. Access to more organisations is coming soon.
Overview
Who is Airwallex?
Xero has partnered with Airwallex, a leading Australian financial platform, licensed by ASIC and trusted by over 200,000 businesses worldwide. Airwallex is responsible for processing payments when you use online bill payments in Xero.
How do online bill payments work?
It's simple! Powered by Airwallex, you can securely pay bills online, directly from Xero. Follow these steps to get started:
- Verify your business details with Airwallex.
- Select the bills in Xero you want to pay.
- Select Make online payments, and Xero handles the rest.
Learn more about online bill payments here.
Note: This feature is for AUD payments within Australia only. Foreign currency bills are not currently supported.
I already have an Airwallex account. Will my data be available in Xero?
If you're already an Airwallex customer, your historical supplier and payment data will not be transferred if you set up online bill payments within Xero.
Note: Even if you have an existing Airwallex account, you'll need to re-verify your business details during the setup process in Xero. You won't be able to access your standalone Airwallex account from within Xero.
I already have an Airwallex subscription. Should I cancel it and use Xero’s bill payments?
Xero has partnered with Airwallex to deliver an embedded online bill payments experience for Xero customers. While both solutions enable you to pay bills online, they have different capabilities and associated costs. Ultimately, the best solution depends on your specific business needs.
Note: You don’t need to have an Airwallex subscription in order to use Xero bill payments. It’s free to set up and there’s no recurring subscription fees (other than what you pay for Xero) or fees for additional users. You’ll be charged payment fees based on your usage if you choose to make online payments in Xero.
Pricing & Fees
Is there a cost to access online bill payments?
Online bill payments is free to use during the beta, with no limits on the number of payments you can make. You will be notified before the beta concludes.
Once the beta concludes, a set number of domestic (AUD) bill payments are included in the Xero Grow, Comprehensive and Ultimate pricing plan limits per month. If you go over this number, you’ll pay $0.35 for any additional payments. Unused included payments do not roll over to the next month. The Xero Ignite plan doesn’t include a set number of bill payments, instead you’ll pay $0.35 per payment.
- Xero Ignite: No payments included; $0.35 fee per payment
- Xero Grow: Includes 5 free domestic bill payments per month
- Xero Comprehensive: Includes 10 free domestic payments per month
- Xero Ultimate: Includes 15 free domestic bill payments per month
Set up
How do I set up online bill payments?
Getting started is simple, free and is a one-time set up:
- Login to Xero, navigate to Bills and select Set up bill payments
- Submit your business details for verification by Airwallex
- Connect a bank account via PayTo or Direct Debit authorisation
- You're ready to start making online payments!
Do I need to set up an Airwallex account to access online bill payments?
No, everything is set up directly within Xero. As part of the bill payments setup, you'll verify your business details with Airwallex, but you won't need a separate Airwallex account or subscription to get started.
Note: If you already have an Airwallex account, your existing data won't be transferred. You'll need to re-verify your business details during setup in Xero.
What information do I need to provide Airwallex?
Airwallex requires some basic information to verify your business details such as name, ABN, address, industry, monthly revenue, online presence or business description. You will also need to provide the details of all beneficial owners and controllers for identity verification.
For the majority of applications that will be all that is required, in some cases Airwallex may request additional supporting questions and documentation to be able to verify your business.
Why does Airwallex need this information?
Airwallex is a licensed financial platform in Australia. It is legally required to perform due diligence on all users to remain in line with its legal obligations and sponsoring financial institutions.
In Australia, to comply with legal obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act), there is a requirement to identify and verify beneficial owners and controllers at onboarding and before providing regulated services.
How long does the business verification process take?
The majority of businesses will be reviewed and approved within a few minutes.
Certain business types may require a manual review. The manual review should be completed within 2 calendar days - excluding the time that Airwallex is waiting for responses to requests for information.
What if my business verification fails?
Xero will send an email notification to advise you if you have not been successful. You may continue to use the existing manual batch payments file download feature currently available in Xero.
Can I connect more than one bank account and/or card?
Yes, you can add multiple bank accounts in Xero as a funding source for your payments. Card payments are not yet available.
How do I disconnect Airwallex as a payment option in Xero?
To disconnect this feature from your Xero organization at any time, raise a case with Xero support.
Using online bill payments
How do I use online bill payments?
To use online bill payments follow these simple steps:
- Go to the bills awaiting payment screen, select the bills to pay and Make payment
- Select Make online payments
- Select the account to pay from, choose how your supplier will receive the funds (delivery method)
- Confirm and pay to process the payment
Who is responsible for processing my payments?
When you use online bill payments in Xero, your payments are processed by Airwallex. As part of the set up process, you’ll need to agree to Airwallex’s Connected Account Agreement as well as Xero’s terms of use and payments terms.
What payment methods are available when I use online bill payments?
You can fund bill payments using a bank account.
However, you have several options for how your supplier receives their funds (the delivery method):
- Bank Transfer: Airwallex transfers funds directly to your supplier's bank account (you’ll need their bank details).
- PayID: Airwallex transfers funds directly to your supplier's PayID (you’ll need their PayID details).
- BPay: Airwallex sends a BPay payment to your suppliers. Any business that has registered as a biller through their financial institution can accept this payment type.
Are there limits on the amount I can pay?
Yes, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- Per-Bill Limit: There is a limit of $250K
- PayTo Bank Limits: All banks also set their own limit mandate on how much money you can pay out each day. We recommend you check directly with your bank or financial institution to understand your specific daily limit.
How much can I pay in a single batch of bills?
The total amount you can pay in a single batch (or multiple batches on one day) will be limited by the payment limits set by your bank.
Can I group bills to a single supplier?
Grouping bills by supplier into a single transaction is not yet available.
Note: Group by payee is planned to launch later in 2026.
Can I schedule bills to be paid later?
Scheduling bill payments for a future date is not yet available.
Note: Schedule payments is planned to launch later in 2026.
Is there an approval workflow?
Yes, you can set up approval processes. Allow employees or your advisor to help prepare bills for payment, then they can request someone to pay and you will be notified by email to review and authorise the payments from your bank account.
Do I need to have my suppliers in Xero?
Yes, we recommend you add suppliers (and their bank account details) as Contacts in Xero before you go to pay them.
How do I add suppliers in Xero?
New suppliers are automatically added when you enter their first bill in Xero. You can find detailed instructions on adding or editing contacts in Xero Central. To add bank account details or an email address, you'll need to click into the supplier's contact record.
Will I be able to send remittance advice?
Yes, you can still send remittance advice from a paid bill or from a bank account in Xero.
What will my suppliers see on their bank statement when I pay them?
Your suppliers will see your business name (the name of your account) and reference to Airwallex on their bank statement. This ensures they know exactly who the payment came from.
How do I see the status of my payments?
Check the Manage bill payments screen in Xero for a clear overview and status of all your payments made using online bill payments. If a payment fails, you'll get an email notification with a link to view the status details and how to resolve the issue.
There will also be a post office notification when a payment has failed.
When will my supplier get paid?
Processing times depend on how the payment is funded and how the supplier is paid:
- NPP enabled accounts are near real time payment
- BECS enabled accounts can take anywhere between 1-3 days before payment is processed
These processing times also need to take into consideration how the payment is funded as well.
Funding a bank account to pay a bill
PayTo - payments are made instantly (real-time)
Direct Debit - payments can take 1-3 business days
Why do I need to connect a bank account?
Connecting a bank account can be done at onboarding or during the payment flow. You will need to have a connected bank account to fund the bill payment. Funding a bank account can be done so via a PayTo agreement or via direct debit.
What is PayTo?
- PayTo is a digital authorisation framework. It is a way for you to authorize a business to take payments directly from your bank account, but with significantly more control and visibility.
- It is a digital payment mandate that sits within your banking app, operating on Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP).
- This PayTo agreement is agreement terms made with the financial institution to set up and initiate payments
- There are PayTo limits that need to be considered, these limits are set by the financial institution. Largely the big 4 banks have limits of $25K per transaction, whilst smaller financial institutions have lower limits, please check with your banks what the PayTo limits are.
How can I pay a bill payment?
Paying by bank transfer
There are two types of payment rails that a bank transfer can follow, which will impact payment processing times:
- PayTo enrolled accounts - payments made in real-time
- Non PayTo accounts - payments can take 2-3 business days
Paying from BPay
- Payments can generally take 1 business day to process. This is when the payment is made before the financial institutions cut-off time (typically this is 6pm EST). Payments made after this time, on weekends and on public holidays are usually processed the next business day.
Paying from PayID
- Payments are made in real time
How quickly will I see the statement line in Xero?
Once the payment has been confirmed, it will be immediately available in Xero under Accounting > Account Transactions. The actual bank statement line to match and reconcile the bill payment will depend on the timing of the feed from your selected bank account.
Why did one or more of my payments fail?
If there’s an issue, Xero will display an error message on the payment status page immediately. We will also send you an email notification with further details.
Can I pay foreign currency bills?
At this stage, you can only make payments for bills within AU, using AUD.
Note: international bill payments is planned to launch later in 2026.
Can I make other payments like payroll and expenses from Xero?
No, you can only use online bill payments to pay supplier bills.
Can I still use payment files?
Yes. Manual batch bill payments is an additional alternative option. If you prefer, you can continue to pay bills via this method.
Security and Access
Is my money and data secure?
We are committed to keeping your information safe.
We provide multiple layers of protection for the personal and financial information you trust to Xero.
- You can find details about the measures we take on our security page and Airwallex’s security page
- Our privacy notice explains how we handle and process your personal data (like your name and email address).
When you use online bill payments, two sets of terms apply:
Xero's Terms: Your use of this feature is governed by Xero’s terms of use, including our payments terms.
Airwallex's Terms (for payments): As Airwallex is responsible for processing the payments, Airwallex’s Connected Account Agreement and Privacy Policy govern how they handle your financial and transaction data to complete the payment.
We encourage you to review all applicable terms to fully understand how your data is protected throughout the entire payment process.