> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://apidocs.arionbanki.is/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://apidocs.arionbanki.is/b2b-2013-schema/b2b-services/b2b-foreign-payments/interaction-with-online-bank.md). # Interaction with online bank Arion Bank Corporate Banking - - provides access to foreign trade via the online bank and through its online service. By using the online service Foreign Payments you can save both money and effort as your customers will transfer funds to foreign recipients without the assistance of an employee of the Bank. This saves money on every transaction and allows you a better overview over all foreign payments. * It is quicker to pay via the online bank than to send a transfer request to a branch. * When the service is opened, all information on foreign suppliers and recipients is transferred to the online bank. It is not necessary to start registering all recipients again. * The system stores all information on suppliers and it is easy to look them up. * All actions are in real time so that the accounts can be updated on the same day. * Bulk payments can be sent directly from the book-keeping system. * The foreign currency system suits both large and small companies as it is both straightforward and convenient to use. ## Creditor numbers All recipients of foreign payments must be entered in the online bank under Foreign transactions >Creditor numbers. New creditor numbers are checked and confirmed by Corporate Banking in order to minimize the risk of error as considerable interbank costs are payable by the sender if incorrect creditor numbers are used when carrying out foreign payments.
Figure 1 – Overview of creditor numbers
Figure 2 – Entering creditor numbers
The purpose of creditor numbers is to keep track of all recipients of foreign payments. The payer records the following information there: * Name, address and country of the recipient. * Currency to be used in transaction with recipient. Ensure that you check the currency of the invoice as in the past foreign recipients have sent invoices in both euros and Danish kroner for example. * Choose between wire transfer (foreign payment) and cheques which are sent by the Bank under “Type of payment.” * The payer can choose to send the recipient notification of payment by e-mail. You can register two e-mail addresses and choose the language of the notification. Notification of payment, in the selected language, is sent automatically as soon as payment is made. Notifying payments immediately obviously saves both time and effort. * A trading system number, which is the number of the customer, supplier or creditor in the book-keeping system. * The account number shall be recorded according to the standard International Bank Account Number, IBAN. In the online bank you can perform a check on the IBAN number under *Check IBAN number.* * Finally information on the recipient bank needs to be recorded, either by searching by country and city or by the SWIFT address of the bank in question. SWIFT is an abbreviation of Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications.
Figure 3 – Bank information
When creditor numbers are stored Corporate Banking is notified and then it goes over the entry. Once approval has been given the foreign payments can start to be entered by sending a query to the online service. Once a payment, individual or batch, is sent in a payment batch/folder is created in Foreign Transactions in the online bank under the item *List of payments*. The payment must be confirmed there and a SWIFT message will be sent to the recipient bank. The creditor number only needs to be entered once and all changes in the online bank are sent to Corporate Banking as if it were a new entry. ## List of payments When the user has sent a payment from the book-keeping system into the online bank, all users at the company with access to Foreign Transactions can log into the online bank and make the payment. A payment batch/folder is created with the name assigned to it and the payment or payments appear under it. Under Foreign Payments choose *List of Payments* to examine the payment batch which was sent in. The user can view the payments in the payment batches by clicking on the “view” button. The transactions in the batch are published in the list above. Select pay the batch/folder, choose account number and account code.
Figure 4 – Payment batch