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Bank feed FAQs

This article answers the most common questions about bank feeds.

Which bank feeds does FreeAgent support?

FreeAgent supports bank feeds with the majority of UK banks. To find out more, check out our article on which banks are supported.

Please note that a Mettle bank feed can only be enabled via the desktop version of FreeAgent and not via the FreeAgent mobile app as there is a requirement to scan a QR code during the bank feed process. Alternatively, you can connect FreeAgent to Mettle using the Mettle app.

If your bank or account type isn’t supported, you'll need to upload bank statements or enter transactions manually to include your bank transactions in FreeAgent.

Will enabling bank feeds alter my existing transactions?

If you have previously uploaded bank transactions into FreeAgent using electronic bank statements, or have previously had a bank feed enabled, when you enable or re-enable an Open Banking feed it will look to start from the day after your last uploaded transaction. For example if the last transaction that was uploaded was dated the 10th August, the bank feed would look to start importing from the 11th August.

If you have previously been entering bank transactions manually, before you enable the bank feed please double check the start date that is selected. You may wish the bank feed to start after the last transaction you added manually so if this needs changed, please select the ‘Choose another date’ option and manually select the start date you would like.

Lin your bank account page with a button to 'Link Account'.

Why do I see duplicate transactions when I upload a statement into an account that has a bank feed?

Depending on the bank, a transaction may look quite different on your statement (which you upload) and on the bank's website. If you upload a statement that includes transactions that occurred after you enabled your bank feed, you may see the same transaction twice.

You can resolve this by either deleting the duplicate transactions or undoing your last upload.

How do bank feeds work once enabled?

Once a bank feed has been enabled via Open Banking, this establishes a secure connection between the bank and the FreeAgent account. The bank feeds will automatically run an import once every 24 hours - so it is not a ‘live’ view of your bank transactions.

We schedule the import to be run in this way to ensure that we are pulling through a full day's worth of transactions rather than partial bits of a day, as this helps ensure that all transactions are included. In addition to this, the feeds are only able to import transactional data that has been made available by the bank directly so, for example, if the bank does not share transaction details at a time of an import, nothing will be brought across to FreeAgent.  In other words, your bank feed will only be able to pull through transactions which are deemed as fully cleared by the bank and available to the feed at the time of the import.  

Even though a transaction may no longer look to be pending in your real life online banking, it's not until the point it is fully cleared behind the scenes that it is available for your bank feed to import.

You may also notice a short delay in transactions that take place over the weekend as the bank's normally closed over this period. When they reopen on the Monday, they'll have a backlog of transactions to clear from the weekend so these should be imported into FreeAgent the following day (Tuesday) when the next scheduled import is run.  

Transactions will also be slightly delayed when there has been a bank holiday. This means that when the bank re-opens, they will have had a backlog of transactions (from the previous days) to clear and make available for the feed to import into FreeAgent.

Why has my bank feed stopped working?

Open Banking bank feeds

If your bank feed was set up through Open Banking and your 90-day consent has expired, your bank feed will stop working. To make sure that your Open Banking bank feed is kept active, you’ll need to update your bank feed every 90 days, as part of the Open Banking standard.

Mettle bank feeds

In partnership with FreeAgent, Mettle has developed an API bank feed integration to allow Mettle bank transactions to be automatically imported into a FreeAgent bank account. If you find that the bank feed isn’t importing your transactions, even after updating the 90-day consent, we would recommend contacting Mettle directly.

Challenger bank feed integrations

If you have connected an integration with a challenger bank such as Capital on Tap, Monzo, Revolut or Starling, and find that transactions have stopped importing into your FreeAgent account, please contact your bank’s support team directly to investigate this further.

Why does the bank feed panel say there's a problem?

You’ll see this message if there is a technical problem getting transactions from your bank. It means that we know that there is a problem and will be working to resolve it.

Don't worry, none of your transactions will be lost. Once the bank feed is working again, all of your delayed transactions will be imported.

If your bank feed is not working and you need to get your transactions into FreeAgent, you can upload a statement.

If you upload a statement that contains transactions that your bank feed already imported, you may see duplicate transactions. It's always a good idea to carefully inspect your FreeAgent bank account after uploading a statement and delete any duplicates.

Once your bank feed is working again, it will not import transactions for any days that are covered by your statement upload.

Can I disable my bank feed?

Yes, you can follow these steps to disable a bank feed and repeat the process for each bank feed you want disabled.

Please note that disabling a bank feed won’t remove or affect any transactions within the bank account that have previously been imported by the bank feed.

Can I fully disconnect my bank feed?

Yes - you can follow these steps to disconnect a bank feed to fully disconnect and remove any bank feed connections set up on your FreeAgent account.

Please note that disconnecting a bank feed won’t remove or affect any transactions within the bank account that have previously been imported by the bank feed.

What if I have concerns about security?

FreeAgent does not store your bank login details and you are completely in control of what data your FreeAgent account can access from your bank. Open Banking has security at its heart, as it aims to put the customer in firm control of their finances. If you’d like to read more on this topic, check out the official Open Banking organisation.

What if I can't connect my bank feed?

If you encounter any problems connecting with your bank and enabling a bank feed connection, please try the following troubleshooting steps:

  1. First, please check that you’re able to access your online banking account directly without any issues via your bank’s website, rather than any dedicated mobile banking apps. You can only enable a bank feed when you are able to log in to your online banking.
     
  2. Next, log in to your FreeAgent account via a private browser window and try to enable the bank feed once more.

    Please see below for more details on how to use a private browser window depending on which browser you’re using:

    Chrome
    Safari
    Firefox
    Edge
     
  3. If you can enable the bank feed via a private browser window, clear the cache and cookies from your regular browser and this should resolve any issues moving forwards.

    Please see below for more details on how to clear cache and cookies depending on which browser you’re using:

    Chrome
    Safari
    Firefox
    Edge
     
  4. If this doesn't help, check to see if you're using the most current version of your chosen internet browser or to try using a different internet browser than your regular one.

    FreeAgent works best with the following browsers:

    Recent versions of Firefox
    Recent versions of Safari
    Recent versions of Chrome

    Please note that support for Internet Explorer (IE11) is no longer available. Find out more about recommended system requirements for using FreeAgent.
     
  5. If you're still encountering problems enabling the bank feed, please try to enable the bank feed using the FreeAgent mobile app.

Can I change the bank feed start date after I’ve enabled it?

Once consent has been successfully provided to the bank during the bank feed setup process, there is a prompt to choose a transaction start date.

Once this date has been selected and your bank feed has completed the first import, it’s not possible to then backdate the feed and recover further historical transactions.

For example, if you initially enable a bank feed with a FreeAgent start date of the 1st July 2024, it won’t be possible to then change this to a different date once the first import has been run.

If you do change your FreeAgent start date and need to backdate further transactions, these will need to be entered manually or uploaded using electronic bank statements.

Why can’t I see the bank account I wish to connect with FreeAgent?

Once you select the green ‘Connect your bank account’ button, you’re navigated away from FreeAgent and over to a specific portal that your bank will have built in order to set up the Open Banking connections.

If you've entered all of your login details during this connection process, and you’re not being presented with the bank account you intend to grant FreeAgent access to, then it is worth noting it’s your bank who presents the accounts for selection to you rather than FreeAgent.

If the account in question is an account type that a bank feed connection is available for, you’ll need to contact your bank directly and ask them to explain why the specific account isn't showing as a selectable option.

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