Configure a statement reference

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This feature is UK only

Currently, this feature is supported by most UK banks.

The statement_reference field inside the beneficiary object controls what your customer sees on their bank statement, in the ‘reference’ field, after a closed-loop payment. This string has a limit of 18 characters, and we recommend following the guidelines on special characters.

If you leave this field empty, a random string generated by TrueLayer displays on your user’s bank statement instead. The content of this string may not be easily understandable to an end user, so we recommend using a statement_reference for a better user experience.

Setting a custom reference enables you to contextualise a payment on your user's bank statements, and more easily identify a specific payment in case of issues. A reference that your users recognise throughout their payment journey is also likely to help limit dropoffs.

This is an example of a beneficiary object including a statement_reference:

"beneficiary": {
      "type": "merchant_account",
      "verification": {
        "type": "automated"
      },
      "statement_reference": "payment-ref",
      "merchant_account_id": "AB8FA060-3F1B-4AE8-9692-4AA3131020D0",
      "account_holder_name": "Ben Eficiary"
    }
  }

Other reference types

The other reference field, which is also found inside the beneficiary object, works for internal references. You can also use metadata within a payment request.

All reference types can be seen in Console, including in reports.