We protect both payer and payee in any transaction by verifying the identity of both sides. Funds are held securely in escrow – the Shieldpay vault – and are only released when both sides agree they’re happy. We’re here to make getting paid more secure, more transparent and more efficient than ever before.

How does it work with Xero?

Shieldpay for Xero is a dedicated app that connects your Xero account with a Shieldpay account. Once you have linked your accounts you can use Shieldpay for Xero to set up fast, secure invoice payments.

• Our ‘Pay with Shieldpay’ button will appear on your invoices.
• You’ll be able to instantly accept and verify payments by card, bank app and bank transfer.
• Your customers simply click the button and pay.
• You’ll both be able to see the payment is held securely in escrow – the Shieldpay vault.
• And when you’re both happy with the transaction, the payment is released with real-time payouts powered by Bank Transfer or Visa Direct – a fast, convenient and secure way to withdraw money to the cards you already carry.

So, what drove us to build Shieldpay? There are two key reasons why getting paid becomes the hardest part of doing business; late payments and fraudulent transactions. And these are the two reasons we built Shieldpay for Xero.

Late payment costs the UK £2bn every year

The average small business in the UK is owed nearly £25,000 in late invoices. Tallied up across the year, late payments end up costing small businesses £2bn annually.

At Shieldpay we don’t just protect against late payment – with our Escrow payment solution, we make sure you know you’re getting paid even before the job is done. Payment is held up front in the Shieldpay vault and when the job is complete the funds are released at just the click of a button from both payer and payee, with fast pay-outs powered by Visa direct to any Visa account.

For the payee funds are accessible as soon as the job is complete so they can better manage their cashflow. But this isn’t at the expense of the payer – they can fund the Shieldpay vault using bank transfer, pay by bank app, debit card or credit card – so they are open to pick the funding method that best suits their cashflow position. It’s a win-win.

The UK will lose £1bn to fraudsters this year.

With online fraud as much as £11bn annually and payment fraud increasing by 53% year on year, payment fraud is clearly a costly issue – and it’s continuing to grow. At Shieldpay we’ve tasked ourselves with a mission to eliminate all payment fraud so that everyone, everywhere can transact with each other with total confidence. UK consumers and businesses alone with lose £1bn this year to fraudsters when making payments from their bank accounts – a cost that can be entirely avoided with the right secure payment tools in place.

By verifying the identity of both sides of any transaction with bank grade security checks – KYC/KYB and PEPs and sanctions – both buyer and seller can be confident in who they’re dealing with – that they are who they say they are, and that they a genuine person, or legitimate business.

With the funds held in Escrow until both sides are happy to release, both buyer and seller can enjoy total peace of mind in knowing they are protected by an independent third party – Shieldpay. And if anything doesn’t go to plan, we’re on hand to handle any disputes.

So, whether you’re a tradesperson, contractor, manufacturer or exporter with Shieldpay for Xero you can invoice for any size job over any period of time and have total confidence that you’ll receive payment on time, every time – with fast pay-outs when you’re done.

And in addition to Escrow, we can do the standard payment piece, too. Fast, direct payments for when you’re dealing with a trusted partner

While we’re pretty unique as the only Escrow solution in the Xero app store, we realise that you – or your clients – won’t need the protection of Escrow for every transaction. So, we’ve launched a new payment product – Shieldpay Direct. We still verify both parties in the transaction with our bank grade security checks, but the payment isn’t held in escrow – it’s just passed straight through, like you’d be used to with other payment providers you might have used. Except we’re faster. And more secure. What’s not to love?

The payee will receive funds within 3 or 4 days of payment, rather than 8 to 10. So, once you’ve dealt with a new partner and you’re confident that they’re a legitimate business and they’re able to pay – if you want to pay Direct, you have that option, too.

To celebrate our launch of Shieldpay Direct in the Xero App Store we have an exclusive offer for XU readers. Free Transactions for 3 months on Xero until midnight 31st April 2019!