Why has the reimbursement transfer failed?
If a wire transfer for an employee's expense claim fails, it's usually caused by insufficient wallet funds or incorrect bank details. Here's how to identify and fix the issue.
For: Account Owners and Controllers reimbursing expense claims by wire transfer from Spendesk (EUR and GBP wallets).
Before you start
The "Reimburse via Spendesk" payment method must be activated in Settings > Company Settings > Payment methods.
You need the Account Owner or Controller role to view and reschedule failed transfers.
This applies to reimbursements made directly from your Spendesk wallet, in EUR (from a EUR wallet) or GBP (from a GBP wallet) only.
Common causes and fixes
Cause | How to check | How to fix |
Insufficient funds in your wallet | Check your balance on the Dashboard or Wallet overview | Add funds to your wallet, then reschedule the transfer |
Incorrect or missing employee bank details | Ask the employee to check their IBAN in their Spendesk profile | Employee updates it via Avatar > Profile. If it's already saved, only an Admin can edit it, in Settings > Members |
IBAN currency doesn't match the wallet currency | Confirm the employee's IBAN matches your wallet's currency (for example, a European IBAN for a EUR wallet) | The employee must provide a bank account in the correct currency zone |
Employee's bank account is closed or blocked | Contact the employee to confirm their account status | Ask the employee to update their bank details, then reschedule the transfer |
💡 Tip: If your company uses an HR integration (for example, HiBob or Personio), employee bank details sync automatically from the HR tool. Update them there instead of in Spendesk.
Step-by-step: find and fix a failed transfer
Navigate to Expense claims > History.
Locate the transfer with the status Failed.
Click the transfer to view the failure details.
Check the wallet balance and the employee's bank details, based on the causes above.
Correct the issue (add funds or update bank details).
Navigate to Expense claims > Schedule reimbursements. The related expense claims automatically return to this step after a failure.
Select the corrected expense claims again.
Click Confirm to resend the transfer for approval by the Account Owner.
👥 Only Account Owners and Controllers can view failed transfers and reschedule them.
Troubleshooting
Symptom: The transfer status shows "Failed" in Expense claims > History.
Cause: Check the error message displayed. It can be that the wallet didn't have enough funds when the transfer was processed, or the employee's bank details were incorrect, or another reason.
Resolution: Follow the guidelines, add funds to your wallet or correct the employee's bank details if relevant, then resend the expense claim from Expense claims > Schedule reimbursements.
Symptom: The employee never received the reimbursement, but Spendesk shows the transfer as "Paid."
Cause: The transfer was rejected or returned by the bank after Spendesk marked it as paid (a "late return").
Resolution: Contact support@spendesk.com with the employee's name and the transfer amount. Our team will investigate and help you reimburse the employee.
Symptom: You can't enter the employee's bank details, or only see "Sort code" and "Account number" fields.
Cause: Your company's wallet is set up for GBP reimbursements, which use UK-style bank details instead of an IBAN.
Resolution: For non-UK employees, use the CSV export from Expense claims > Schedule reimbursements and make the transfer manually from your bank.
When to contact support
Contact support@spendesk.com if:
The transfer status doesn't update after you've corrected the funds or bank details.
An employee reports never receiving a reimbursement marked as "Paid."
You need funds recalled after a payment sent by mistake.
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