Clio Payments: Set Up and Settings for UK

Clio Payments is Clio’s built-in payments solution available to customers in the UK (excluding customers in Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) and Ireland. With Clio Payments, you can manage debit and credit card payments and Pay by Bank transfers directly in Clio Manage, save client payment methods, and create payment plans. Once set up, your clients can also pay their bills using Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Sign up for Clio Payments

All customers in the UK (excluding customers in Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) and Ireland can sign up for Clio Payments. Once the signup process is complete, you will receive an email notification that you can begin using Clio Payments.

1. Go to Online payments.
2. Click Activate today.
3. Under Business type, select your business type and business structure if appropriate, and then click Next.
4. Complete your business details and then click Next. See the bullet points below for additional information on two required fields. 
   
   • Required: Statement descriptor: When your client makes a card payment for their bill, the amount your firm charged will appear on their credit card or bank statement. This line item is your firm's statement descriptor. By setting an easily identifiable statement descriptor, you can help your clients recognize your firm name and reduce the likelihood of chargebacks and disputes. Learn more about statement descriptors here, and see the screenshot below to get a better idea of what it is.
     
     You can always edit the statement descriptor after signing up for Clio Payments, but, at this stage of the signup process, your statement descriptor should meet the following requirements to avoid delays in your application approval:
     • Reflects your Doing Business As (DBA) name if you have one, otherwise reflects your legal business name.
     • Contains Latin characters only.
     • Contains between 5 and 22 characters, inclusive.
     • Contains at least one letter (if you are using a prefix and a suffix, both require at least one letter).
     • Contains more than a single common term or common website URL. A website URL is only acceptable if it provides a clear and accurate description of a transaction on a client's credit card or bank statement.
     • Does not contain any of the following special characters:

       < > \ ' " *

     
   • Required: Business website/Business description: If you have a business website or social media profile for your firm, enter the website URL or full social media URL in this field. If you do not have a business website or social media profile, click I don't have a business website to enter business description details instead.
     
     Business website/social media Business description

     Your business website or social media profile is required to have the below list of information. Having this information on your website or social media profile is not required when signing up; however, you will need to add this information to your website or social media profile as soon as possible after signing up, and at the latest before accepting any payments, to avoid possible business disruptions.

     • Your business name should be the same as the information you provided to Clio.
     • Descriptions of your services should be the same as the information you provided to Clio.
     • Include customer service contact details. This can be a phone number, email address, mailing address, contact form, or an online messaging service contact.

     • Include a refund and dispute policy.

     • Include a cancelation policy, if applicable.

     • Include transaction currency.

     • Include security capabilities and a policy for transmission of payment card details.

     • Include a consumer data privacy policy.

     If you do not have a business website or social media profile, click I don't have a business website to enter a business description instead. In this text field, include a short description of the types of legal services your firm offers and how and when you charge clients. 

5. Add your personal information to verify that you own the business and then click Next. Depending on the business type that you selected at the start of the signup process, you may need to also add personal information for beneficial owners on the next screen.
6. For firms that need to add beneficial owners: Your business type will indicate whether you need to add beneficial owners. If you do not see the business owners screen, skip to step seven on payout accounts. Beneficial owners are individuals who own 25% or more of your firm and/or who exercise significant control over it (those who are responsible for managing and directing the business), including executive officers or senior managers, such as CEO, CFO, COO, managing member, general partner, president, vice president, or treasurer. 
   • Click Add person to add additional users. In this window, you can add personal information for each new user. Click Add person to finish adding the user 
7. Add at least one payout account. Earnings that you receive through Clio will be sent to these accounts. Contact your financial institution for your bank account and sort code numbers (if required). Once you are done adding payout accounts, select the primary operating account that you want to use with online payments, and then click Next.
   • You are required to add at least one operating account and have the option to add trust accounts.
   • Click Add payout account to add additional accounts.
8. Review the information you entered, check the boxes to agree to the terms and conditions, and then click Submit.
9. Optional: Go back to the Online payments page to view the status of your application. If there are any issues with your business details, you will be prompted to enter more details.
10. Once your application is approved and you receive an email that your account is ready, you will need to connect at least one Clio Manage operating account to online payments. You may also need to provide additional verification for your payments profile.
    • To connect a Clio Manage bank account to online payments, go to the main Accounts tab. Learn more about how to connect operating accounts to online payments here.
    • To provide additional verification for your payments profile, go to Settings > Online payments, and then click Go to Payment Settings. Learn more about updating your payments profile here.

Add payout accounts and set primary operating account

Payout accounts are your real-life bank accounts, where payouts are deposited. After signing up for Clio Payments, you can add new payout accounts. When you add a new payout account, the name will automatically update to your financial institution and will not be available for use in Clio Manage until it is fully verified. When you have at least two verified payout accounts, you can choose which one should be the primary operating account.

Add payout accounts:

1. Go to Settings > Online payments.
2. Click Go to Payment Settings.
3. Click Banking.
4. In the Payout accounts card, click Add payout account to add a new account.

Set primary operating account:

1. Go to Settings > Online payments.
2. Click Go to Payment Settings.
3. Click Banking.
4. In the Primary operating account card, select the account you want to use as the primary operating account.

Update payments profile

After signing up for Clio Payments, you may be prompted to provide additional verification details. You can provide these details and address any errors in your payment settings. 

1. Go to Settings > Online payments.
2. Click Go to Payment Settings.
3. Click Payments profile.
4. Make any necessary changes to address the errors. 

Edit statement descriptor

When you review your credit card or bank statement, the individual line items are each merchant's statement descriptor. Statement descriptors serve as explanations of the transactions on your statement. For example, if you recently paid for a Netflix subscription, you might see something like "netflix.com" and the amount charged on your statement. Netflix's statement descriptor is easily identifiable and you know immediately that this charge on your card is from Netflix. 

Similarly, when your client makes a card payment for their bill, the amount your firm charged will appear on your client's credit card or bank statement. Without an easily identifiable statement descriptor, your client might not understand where the charge came from. Setting a custom statement descriptor will help your clients recognize your firm name and reduce the likelihood of chargebacks and disputes. You can customise your statement descriptor while signing up for Clio Payments and edit it after signing up. Any firm user with access to payments can edit it.   

1. Go to Settings > Online payments.
2. Click Go to Payment Settings.
3. Click Payments profile or Manage payments profile.
4. Under the Business details card, click Edit business details.
5. Enter the new statement descriptor in the statement descriptor field. See the screenshot below to get an idea of what a statement descriptor looks like on a credit card or bank statement. Your statement descriptor has the following requirements:
   • Reflects your Doing Business As (DBA) name if you have one, otherwise reflects your legal business name.
   • Contains Latin characters only.
   • Contains between 5 and 22 characters, inclusive.
   • Contains at least one letter (if you are using a prefix and a suffix, both require at least one letter).
   • Contains more than a single common term or common website URL. A website URL is only acceptable if it provides a clear and accurate description of a transaction on a client's credit card or bank statement.
   • Does not contain any of the following special characters:

     < > \ ' " *

   
6. Click Save.

Accepted credit and debit cards

With Clio Payments, your clients can pay their bills by credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Pay by Bank payment. The types of debit and credit cards that your clients can use to pay their bills depend on where the clients are located. The table below shows what cards your clients can use if they are located in the UK or Ireland, or if they are located internationally. 

Complete identity confirmation for payout accounts

For your protection, when connecting a payout account to Clio Payments, you may be prompted to provide additional identity confirmation. Once you have completed the identity verification form, your submission will be sent to Clio for processing and review. Upon successful confirmation of your identity, you will be notified via email that your submission has been accepted, and you will be able to connect additional payout accounts to Clio Payments.

Disconnect Clio Payments

If you no longer want to use Clio Payments, contact Clio's support team and state that you want to disconnect Clio Payments from your account. Your account's primary subscriber or an administrator will be required to authorise the disconnection via email before Clio Payments can be disabled from your account.