Bank debit problems and what they mean
This article explains every message you can see while setting up bank debit agreements through the bulk upload, what each one means in plain words, and what to do about it. It covers the readiness...
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This article explains every message you can see while setting up bank debit agreements through the bulk upload, what each one means in plain words, and what to do about it. It covers the readiness card, the bank details file you upload, the bank debit review table and its per-row conflicts, the staff declaration, the refusals that appear at commit, and the problems your residents report from the pages they use to sign, change or cancel. It is written for property managers, building staff and board members.
Two things to know before you start reading.
- Names, unit numbers, dates and row numbers inside the quoted messages below are examples. Your screen shows the real ones for your property.
- Several of these problems have exactly one remedy and no way around it. Where that is the case, these three articles say so plainly. Where your fee row still imports even though the bank debit row does not, they say that too, because that is usually the part people most want to know.
The messages are spread across three articles, because one page holding all of them would be hard to read. The table below routes you to the right one, whichever of the three it lives in.
Find your problem fast
| If you are seeing this | Go to |
|---|---|
| A line on the readiness card is flagged instead of ticked | Before you can use bank debits at all |
| The "Upload bank debit details" button is greyed out | Before you can use bank debits at all |
| A message says this property is not eligible for bank debit | Before you can use bank debits at all |
| A message says bank debit is no longer available but the fees still commit | Before you can use bank debits at all |
| Readiness could not be checked, with a Retry button | Before you can use bank debits at all |
| A red banner rejected the whole bank details file | Problems with the whole bank details file |
| Two rows for the same person give different bank accounts | Problems with the whole bank details file |
| A message says the rows are duplicates or already staged | Problems with the whole bank details file |
| A message says the batch changed, refresh and try again | Problems with the whole bank details file |
| You uploaded a file and cannot tell whether it landed | Problems with the whole bank details file |
| A message says a column looks like bank details, so it was not saved | Problems with the whole bank details file |
| A numbered list of rows could not be uploaded | Problems with individual rows in your bank details file |
| A row says an institution, transit or account number is wrong | Problems with individual rows in your bank details file |
| A staged row is tagged "Needs review" instead of "Matched" | Problems with individual rows in your bank details file |
| A row says the bank needs the account holder name in Latin letters | Problems with individual rows in your bank details file |
| A row is marked "Refused" in the Agreement column | A row says it cannot have a bank debit agreement |
| A row shows a tick box asking you to confirm it | A row says it cannot have a bank debit agreement |
| Someone else already pays that unit's account by bank debit | A row says it cannot have a bank debit agreement |
| The payer already signed an agreement and yours cannot replace it | A row says it cannot have a bank debit agreement |
| A row says it needs bank details again | A row needs its bank details uploaded again |
| The Account column says "Not on file" | A row needs its bank details uploaded again |
| A row says the bank details expired | A row needs its bank details uploaded again |
| A signed paper agreement will not attach to a row | Problems attaching a signed paper agreement |
| The declaration window will not save your name | Problems with the staff declaration and the consent choice |
| You are being asked to make the declaration a second time | Problems with the staff declaration and the consent choice |
| The footer says you still need a bank debit consent path | Problems with the staff declaration and the consent choice |
| The toggle for starting debits on the fee start date will not move | Problems with the staff declaration and the consent choice |
| The notice date or the first debit date for signed paper agreements is refused | Problems with the notice date and the first debit date |
| The commit refused one or more bank debit rows | Problems that only appear when you commit |
| The commit says you do not have permission to manage payments | Problems that only appear when you commit |
| The commit result lists rows under "Refused" or "Not processed" after you declared signed paper agreements | Problems that only appear when you commit |
| The commit says the bank file for a date starts building at 7:00 AM Toronto time | Problems that only appear when you commit |
| A resident says their sign link does not work or has expired | Problems your resident reports from the sign page |
| A resident says the agreement belongs to someone else | Problems your resident reports from the sign page |
| A resident says the first payment date changed while they read it | Problems your resident reports from the sign page |
| A resident cannot connect their bank when setting themselves up | Problems residents report when setting up, changing or cancelling on their own |
| A resident cannot change which account their debits come from | Problems residents report when setting up, changing or cancelling on their own |
| A resident cannot cancel their automatic payments | Problems residents report when setting up, changing or cancelling on their own |
| A single debit cannot be skipped or restored | Problems after the agreements are live |
| A debit file will not match a bank line | Problems after the agreements are live |
| A message says a record was not found, or belongs to another property | Problems after the agreements are live |
| The first debit date says "Not scheduled" | Messages that look like a problem but are not |
| A row says it replaces an earlier agreement | Messages that look like a problem but are not |
| A counter says some agreements are still unsigned | Messages that look like a problem but are not |
| The bank debit table is empty | Messages that look like a problem but are not |
Before you can use bank debits at all
Bank debit needs four things to be true before you can collect any bank details: the property is in Canada, a bank account is connected for collections, the agreement wording is published, and you hold the payments permission. The Bank debit readiness card on the Review step checks the first three and shows one line for each. Your fee and lease rows never wait on this card. They upload and commit whatever this card says.
The readiness card with the second line failing, and the link that fixes it.
Bank debit readiness
| ✓ | This property is set up in Canada |
| ✗ | No bank account is connected for collections |
| ✓ | The bank debit agreement wording has been published |
Go to Bank and payments, Collections to connect an account.
"This property is not set up in Canada"
What it means. Bank debit agreements are available only for Canadian properties. This property is not recorded as being in Canada, so no bank debit rows can be collected for it.
Why it happened. The country on the property's record is something other than Canada.
What to do.
- Open the property's own settings and check the country.
- If the country is wrong, correct it, then come back to the Review step and press Retry on the readiness card.
- If the property genuinely is not in Canada, bank debit is not available for it. Upload your fee and lease file on its own; it imports normally.
"No bank account is connected for collections"
What it means. URBI has nowhere to send the money it collects, so it cannot set up any bank debit agreement for this property yet.
Why it happened. The property has no active collection account connected.
What to do. Follow the link shown under the card, "Go to Bank and payments, Collections to connect an account.", connect a collection account, then return and press Retry on the readiness card.
"The bank debit agreement wording has not been published for this property yet"
What it means. Every bank debit agreement is built from a published piece of agreement wording belonging to the property. Nothing has been published here, so there is no agreement for anyone to sign or for staff to declare.
Why it happened. The property has no current published bank debit agreement wording.
What to do. Publish the bank debit agreement wording for this property, then press Retry on the readiness card. If you do not know where the wording is published, ask a property administrator.
"You do not have the payments permission for this property."
What it means. Readiness cannot be checked for you, and you cannot collect bank details, because your account does not hold the payments permission at this property.
Why it happened. Your permissions for this property do not include managing payments.
What to do. Ask a property administrator to give you the payments permission for this property. Until then you can still upload, review and commit the fee and lease rows. See What you need before you start for the full permission list.
"Could not check bank debit readiness for this property"
What it means. The check itself did not finish, so URBI cannot tell you whether the property is ready. This is not a statement that something is wrong with the property.
Why it happened. The readiness check failed or timed out. You see this on the Review step and on the Bank debit agreements card on the imports landing screen.
What to do. Press Retry next to the message. If it keeps failing, contact your URBI administrator.
"Set up bank debit collections first in Bank and payments"
What it means. The Upload bank debit details button on the Bank debit agreements card is locked, because the property is not ready to take bank debits.
Why it happened. The readiness check came back saying this property is not eligible.
What to do. Go to Bank and payments and finish the set-up, then come back to the card. The individual readiness lines above tell you which part is missing.
"Ask a property administrator"
What it means. The Upload bank debit details button is locked for you specifically, not for the property.
Why it happened. The readiness check refused your request because you do not hold the payments permission.
What to do. Ask a property administrator for the payments permission at this property.
"This property is not eligible for bank debit enrollment"
What it means. You tried to upload a bank details file, and the eligibility check at that moment said the property cannot enrol anyone.
Why it happened. One of the three readiness conditions was not met when the file was posted: the country, the connected collection account, or the published agreement wording.
What to do.
- Look at the readiness card and find the flagged line.
- Fix that item.
- Press Retry on the readiness card, then upload the bank details file again.
"Could not check bank debit readiness"
What it means. The eligibility check could not be completed while your file was being uploaded, so nothing was staged.
Why it happened. The check failed at that moment.
What to do. Try the upload again. If it keeps failing, contact your URBI administrator.
"Bank debit setup is no longer available for this property; fee rows will still commit."
What it means. You already have bank debit rows staged, but the property has since stopped being ready for bank debit. Those bank debit rows cannot be set up. Your fee rows are unaffected and still commit.
Why it happened. Something changed after you staged the rows: the collection account was disconnected, the agreement wording was withdrawn, or the property's country changed.
What to do.
- Fix the readiness item that is now failing, if you want the bank debits in this batch.
- Or carry on and commit the batch. The fee and lease rows import as normal, and you can add the bank debits in a later batch.
Problems with the whole bank details file
These messages appear as a red banner above the bank details upload block, and they mean nothing from the file was kept. Fix the file and upload it again. For the columns your file must carry, see Preparing your bank details spreadsheet.
URBI never stores your bank details file. It reads the file once when you upload it, and only the staged rows stay on the batch. Staged bank details are kept for 30 days.
"A CSV file up to 5 MB is required"
What it means. The file you chose is not a CSV file, is bigger than 5 MB, or no file arrived at all.
Why it happened. Spreadsheet programs save in their own format by default, which is not CSV.
What to do.
- Open your spreadsheet.
- Use Save As, or Export, and choose CSV.
- Check the saved file is under 5 MB.
- Upload the CSV version.
"A multipart form is required"
What it means. The upload did not reach URBI in a form it could read, so nothing was processed.
Why it happened. The request body was not sent as a file upload. This is usually a browser or connection hiccup rather than anything about your file.
What to do. Press Upload Bank Details File and pick the file again. If it happens twice, reload the import and try once more.
"The file may contain at most N rows"
What it means. Your file has more rows than a single bank details upload accepts. The message names the exact limit in place of N.
Why it happened. The bank details file exceeded the row ceiling for one upload.
What to do.
- Split the file into smaller files, each under the limit shown in the message.
- Upload them one after another onto the same batch.
"This import batch can no longer be changed"
What it means. This batch has moved past the point where bank details can be added. It is committing, or already committed.
Why it happened. The batch left its editable state before your upload arrived.
What to do. Start a new batch for any further bank details. The rows already committed are not affected.
"No PAD rows could be staged"
What it means. Every single row in the file failed its checks, so nothing at all was kept.
Why it happened. This usually means a whole column is wrong, for example a transit column that holds four digits throughout, or a header row that does not use the required column names.
What to do.
- Open the file and compare its header row against the required columns shown on screen.
- Download the sample file with Download Sample File and compare the two side by side.
- Correct the file and upload it again.
"One payer has one agreement, so the same payer cannot give two different bank accounts in one file. Rows 4 and 9 disagree."
What it means. One person can hold only one bank debit agreement, drawing from one bank account. Your file gives that person two different accounts, so URBI cannot tell which is correct and keeps neither.
Why it happened. Two rows in the file carry the same payer but different institution, transit or account numbers. The message names the exact rows.
What to do.
- Open the file and go to the rows the message names.
- Decide which bank account is the correct one for that person.
- Put that same account on every row for them.
- Upload the file again.
A variant of this message. If the disagreement is with rows you uploaded earlier on this same batch rather than inside the new file, the wording is "One payer has one agreement, so staged rows for that payer must use one bank account. Rows 4 and 9 disagree with rows already staged on this batch." In that case either press Discard file to clear the staged rows and start again, or correct the new file so it agrees with what is already staged.
"The file contains duplicate PAD rows. Remove the named duplicate rows and upload it again."
What it means. The same person and unit appear more than once in the file, so URBI cannot tell which copy you meant.
Why it happened. Two or more rows in the file describe the same person for the same unit.
What to do. Delete the duplicate rows from the file, keeping one row per person and unit, then upload it again.
"PAD rows from this file are already staged. Remove the existing rows or upload a file without duplicates."
What it means. The rows in this file are already sitting on the batch from an earlier upload. Nothing new was added.
Why it happened. The same file, or an overlapping one, was uploaded twice.
What to do. Either press Discard file to clear everything staged and upload the full file once, or edit the file down to only the rows that are genuinely new and upload that.
"A PAD row for this payer and Unit 304 already exists in another import batch."
What it means. A different, unfinished import batch is already holding bank details for this same person and unit. Two batches cannot hold the same person's bank debit row at once.
Why it happened. Someone, possibly you on another day, started a batch with this person in it and never finished or discarded it.
What to do.
- Find the other batch on the imports screen.
- Commit it, or discard it.
- Come back and upload this file again.
A variant of this message. You may see "A PAD row for this payer and Unit 304 conflicts with an existing import batch." instead. It means the same thing and has the same remedy.
"The payer has a signed agreement and it cannot be replaced by bulk upload."
What it means. This person has already personally signed a bank debit agreement. A bulk upload is not allowed to overwrite something they signed themselves. There is no override for this here.
Why it happened. A signed agreement already exists for that payer.
What to do. The one remedy is to cancel the existing agreement from that person's own payment settings first, and then upload this row again. Do not treat this as a system fault; it is protecting a document the person signed.
"Could not confirm the earlier agreement, so it cannot be replaced by bulk upload."
What it means. URBI found that an earlier agreement exists but could not read enough about it to decide whether replacing it is allowed, so it changed nothing.
Why it happened. The check on the earlier agreement did not resolve.
What to do. Try the upload again. If it fails a second time, contact your URBI administrator.
"Bank debit agreement history could not be checked"
What it means. The look-up of the payer's previous agreements did not finish, so the upload stopped rather than risk replacing something it could not see.
Why it happened. The history check failed or timed out.
What to do. Try the upload again.
"Could not read current bank debit agreements"
What it means. URBI could not read the live agreements for this property, so it could not tell which of your rows would clash with one.
Why it happened. The read of live agreement data failed.
What to do. Try the upload again. If it keeps failing, contact your URBI administrator.
"Could not check existing PAD rows"
What it means. An internal step of the upload failed, and nothing was staged.
Why it happened. A read or a write inside the upload did not complete.
What to do. Try the upload again. Three near-identical messages belong to this same family and have the same remedy: "Could not resolve PAD rows", "PAD rows could not be prepared for staging" and "PAD rows could not be saved". If any of them repeats, contact your URBI administrator.
"The upload result is not confirmed yet. Refresh the import before uploading again."
What it means. Your file was accepted and is still being worked through, but the screen could not wait long enough to tell you the outcome. The rows may well have landed.
Why it happened. The staging work took longer than the screen's waiting time, usually on a large file.
What to do.
- Do not upload the file again yet. Uploading again now is what creates duplicates.
- Reload the import.
- Look at the staged bank details list and the counter that reads "N bank debit rows staged".
- Only upload again if the rows are genuinely absent.
"This batch changed. Refresh and try again."
What it means. Something about this batch changed while you were working, so your upload was stopped rather than applied to a batch that no longer looks the way your screen does.
Why it happened. The batch was altered under your request, often because a colleague is working on the same batch, or because a declaration was recorded.
What to do. Reload the import, check what is staged now, and upload again if you still need to. A second wording, "The batch changed. Refresh and upload again.", means the same thing.
"The bank details file could not be uploaded"
What it means. The upload failed and URBI has no more specific reason to give you.
Why it happened. The response carried no detailed error.
What to do. Try the upload again. If it repeats, contact your URBI administrator and tell them which property and which batch.
"The bank details file was NOT discarded. Try again."
What it means. You pressed Discard file, and the staged bank details were not removed. They are still on the batch.
Why it happened. The delete did not complete.
What to do. Press Discard file again. Check the footer counter afterwards; when the discard works you see "The bank details file was discarded and nothing was kept."
"Could not load bank debit rows"
What it means. The list of staged bank details, or the bank debit review table, could not be loaded. This says nothing about whether the rows exist; only that the screen could not fetch them.
Why it happened. The read of the bank debit summary failed.
What to do. Press Retry where the list should be. The same applies to "Could not load the bank debit review", which is the same failure on the review table.
"The "account_number" column looks like bank details, so it was not saved. Rename it, or remove it and choose the file again."
What it means. URBI keeps a saved copy of your fee file so you can carry on with an unfinished upload, and that copy never holds bank details. A column whose name looks like bank details, such as an account number column or one with bank words in its name, is left out of the copy. The message names the column.
Why it happened. The fee file has a column that looks like bank details, and the wizard needed that column.
What to do.
- Rename the column in your fee file so it does not look like bank details.
- Or remove the column from the fee file.
- Choose the file again. Bank details belong in the separate bank details file, not in the fee file.
Problems with individual rows in your bank details file
These appear as a red block titled with the number of rows affected, listing each one as "Row 7: ..." and naming what is wrong with it. The rest of the file is staged normally. Fix only the named rows and upload them again.
"This row could not be uploaded"
What it means. One row in your file failed its checks and was not kept. The rows under this heading are listed individually with their row numbers.
Why it happened. Each listed row carries its own reason, explained in the entries below.
What to do. Read the reason beside each row number, correct those rows in your file, and upload a file containing the corrected rows. When more than one row fails, the title reads "These rows could not be uploaded".
"Institution number must be 3 digits"
What it means. The institution number identifies the bank, and it is always exactly three digits. The value on this row is not.
Why it happened. The most common cause is a spreadsheet dropping a leading zero, turning 003 into 3. It can also be a bank name typed where the number belongs.
What to do.
- Format that column as text in your spreadsheet before typing the numbers.
- Re-enter the institution number with all three digits, including any leading zeros.
- Save as CSV and upload the corrected rows.
"Transit number must be 5 digits"
What it means. The transit number identifies the branch, and it is always exactly five digits. The value on this row is not.
Why it happened. Usually a dropped leading zero, or a transit number copied with a space or a dash in it.
What to do. Format the column as text, re-enter the five digits with no spaces or dashes, save as CSV, and upload the corrected rows.
"Account number format is invalid"
What it means. The account number must be between 7 and 12 digits. The value on this row is shorter, longer, or contains something that is not a digit.
Why it happened. Spaces, dashes, a cheque number included by mistake, or a number so long the spreadsheet turned it into scientific notation.
What to do.
- Check the account number against a void cheque or the resident's own written details.
- Enter digits only, with no spaces or dashes.
- Format the column as text so nothing is rounded or shortened.
- Save as CSV and upload the corrected rows.
"The bank needs the account holder name in Latin letters. Type it as it appears on the bank account, for example Wang Xiaoming."
What it means. The account holder name on this row cannot be used, because the bank needs it in Latin letters.
Why it happened. The account holder name cell holds no Latin letters, for example because the name is written only in another alphabet.
What to do.
- Type the account holder name in Latin letters, as it appears on the bank account. For example, Wang Xiaoming.
- Save as CSV and upload the corrected rows.
"Bank details could not be staged"
What it means. This row passed its number checks, but could not be saved onto the batch.
Why it happened. The save for that one row failed.
What to do. Upload that row again on its own. If it fails a second time, contact your URBI administrator.
"Row 7: this row could not be staged"
What it means. A row that is showing in your staged list is marked as failed, with no further detail available.
Why it happened. The row was recorded as failed and carries no reason.
What to do. Upload that row's bank details again. If it fails again, contact your URBI administrator.
"Needs review"
What it means. This staged bank details row was accepted, but URBI could not tie it to a specific unit. Rows that did tie to a unit are tagged "Matched". A row left at "Needs review" cannot enrol anybody.
Why it happened. The unit label or the payer name on that row did not match a unit at this property. The optional occupant email column is the strongest tie-breaker, and it was either absent or did not match. The payer name is optional. When you leave it blank, URBI uses the unit's current payer, and if the unit has no payer or more than one, you are asked to choose one on the Payer step.
What to do.
- Check the unit label on that row against the unit labels in the property.
- If you filled in a payer name, check its spelling against the person's record.
- Add the occupant email column to that row if you have the person's email.
- Press Discard file, correct the file, and upload it again.
A row needs its bank details uploaded again
The Agreement column reads "Needs bank details" when the bank details behind a row are no longer available to use. One reason is time: uploaded bank details are kept for 30 days. The row cannot enrol anybody until you supply them again. The fee row for that unit is not affected.
A row in the "Needs bank details" state, with the button that clears it for a fresh upload.
| Sarah Chen · Unit 304 | Not on file | Needs bank details |
This row's bank details were already used and could not be kept. Upload them again for this row.
Re-upload bank details
"This row's bank details were already used and could not be kept. Upload them again for this row."
What it means. The bank details you staged for this person were consumed or cleared away, so there is nothing left for the row to enrol with. No money and no agreement are affected; the row is waiting for details.
Why it happened. The staged bank details behind the row are no longer available. They were already used, or they were kept for the full 30 days and then removed.
What to do.
- Press Re-upload bank details on that row. The button reads "Removing..." while it clears the old placeholder.
- Prepare a small file containing only that person's row.
- Upload it with Upload Bank Details File.
- Check that the row's Agreement column no longer reads "Needs bank details".
"The bank details expired. Uploaded bank details are kept for 30 days."
What it means. The bank details you uploaded for this row were removed because they sat on the batch for more than 30 days. The row cannot enrol anybody until you upload them again.
Why it happened. Uploaded bank details are kept for 30 days and then removed. Your bank details file itself is never stored: URBI reads it once when you upload it.
What to do.
- Prepare a small file containing only that person's row.
- Upload it with Upload Bank Details File.
- Check that the row's Agreement column no longer reads "Needs bank details".
"This row's bank details could not be removed for re-upload"
What it means. You pressed Re-upload bank details and the old placeholder was not cleared, so you cannot yet supply fresh details for that row.
Why it happened. The removal of that single row failed.
What to do. Press Re-upload bank details again. If it fails twice, reload the import and try once more.
"Not on file"
What it means. The Account column has nothing to show for this row, because no bank details are attached to it.
Why it happened. The row has no masked account on record, which normally goes together with the "Needs bank details" state.
What to do. Follow the steps above to upload that row's bank details again.