How can you confirm a bank payment was actually sent (without relying on screenshots)?

fostercare101

I’ve had a couple of situations where there’s been a dispute over whether a payment (e.g. rent) was actually sent, and it ends up going back and forth with screenshots or bank statements.

Is there a more reliable way to confirm whether a payment has genuinely been made from someone’s account, without relying on what they share?

Mainly trying to understand how to avoid delays or issues like this and make sure payments are properly tracked.

elsien

Presumably you mean a way to check that someone has sent you money when they say they have?

Not without accessing their bank account directly, which you can’t do for obvious reasons.

roarrory33

In most cases there isn’t a way to independently confirm a payment from the other person’s account unless you have access to the same banking records.

What usually helps is relying on your own bank statement — if the payment has been sent, it should show as received (or pending) on your side. If it’s not there, it generally hasn’t arrived.

For ongoing situations like rent, many people move to standing orders or direct debits, as they create a clearer, consistent record and reduce the need for back-and-forth.

ReasonableBobcat

Had this a few times too. There is landlord software and bank-account-linked accounting/invoicing programs that can sit in the middle and both sides get an email confirmation from the payment processor / app.