--- title: "Payment methods and wallet" description: "How the prepaid wallet works, adding and managing cards, topping up, auto top-up, low-balance alerts, and your billing details." canonical: "https://bird.com/docs/knowledge-base/billing/payment-methods-wallet" --- # Payment methods and wallet Bird records plan renewals, overage, and usage charges against your organization's **wallet**. A saved **card** can fund manual top-ups, automatic top-ups, and renewal shortfalls. Open **Billing and payments** > [**Overview**](https://bird.com/dashboard/o/billing/overview) to view the available balance, next charge, automatic top-up, low-balance alert, payment methods, and billing address. Organization Owners and Billing admins manage these settings. ## The wallet The **available balance** is the amount the organization can spend. Usage charges change this balance as they settle, and a message with a delivery-time fee settles twice: once when Bird processes it, once when it is delivered. **Next charge** shows the date and amount of the upcoming renewal and warns when the available balance is insufficient. Two states are worth recognizing: - **Running low.** A dismissible banner appears when you're under your alert threshold, and your billing contacts get an email. Top up before the renewal date and nothing else happens. - **Exhausted prepaid balance.** Pay-as-you-go charges pause when the wallet cannot cover them. A negative prepaid balance blocks sending until you add enough funds. A fee charged on delivery behaves differently: when the balance falls short, the fee is skipped rather than the message held, so a message already on its way still arrives. During a renewal dunning period, included email allowance remains available unless the wallet is already negative. ## Topping up At **Billing and payments** > **Overview**, select **Add funds** to open the top-up flow. Enter at least 15 units in the wallet currency and pay by card. Before the first payment, provide a billing address and VAT status. Add a VAT number when applicable. A completed top-up shows the new balance immediately, appears as a credit on the [**Spend**](https://bird.com/dashboard/o/billing/transactions) page, and gets its own payment receipt (separate from your monthly invoice, which only covers charges). ## Paying by bank transfer A pro forma invoice lets you add funds to the wallet by bank transfer instead of by card: 1. At **Billing and payments** > [**Overview**](https://bird.com/dashboard/o/billing/overview), select **Add funds**. 2. Enter the amount and select **Get a pro forma invoice**. 3. When the dialog shows **Pro forma ready**, select **Download PDF**. 4. Send the transfer from your bank to the account on the PDF, with the payment reference as the transfer reference. ![The Top-up wallet dialog with 500 EUR entered, showing the current balance, top-up amount, projected balance, and the Get a pro forma invoice button](/images/docs/dashboard-billing-proforma-topup.png) The PDF has Bird's bank details for the wallet currency, the amount, and a document number such as `PRO-2600001`. The **payment reference** is a separate short code, such as `R9NGKC`, shown in the dialog and on the PDF. Bird matches your transfer to the pro forma by the payment reference, so a transfer without it takes longer to trace. ![The Pro forma ready dialog with the payment reference, the date to start the transfer by, the bank details expiry date, and the Download PDF button](/images/docs/dashboard-billing-proforma-ready.png) The dialog and the PDF also show two dates. Start the transfer within 7 days. The bank details expire after 14 days, so for a later payment, create a new pro forma. Two things to plan around: - **A bank transfer is not immediate.** Bird credits the wallet after the transfer arrives and is matched. Start the process before you need the balance. - **A pro forma requests payment.** It carries no VAT breakdown and doesn't replace your monthly tax invoice. Once the transfer is credited you get a payment receipt for it, the same as any other top-up. The amount uses the wallet currency and the same 15-unit minimum as a card top-up. Past documents remain available at **Billing and payments** > [**Pro formas**](https://bird.com/dashboard/o/billing/pro-formas). Each row shows the payment status, the transfer reference, and when the bank details expire, and has a button to download the PDF again. A pro forma shows **Awaiting transfer** until Bird receives and matches your payment, then **Paid**. ![The Pro formas list with one pro forma awaiting transfer, showing its number, issue date, transfer reference, bank details expiry date, and amount](/images/docs/dashboard-billing-proformas.png) ## Auto top-up For continuous usage, configure **Auto top-up** from the wallet sidebar. Set a balance threshold and refill amount. When the balance falls below the threshold, Bird attempts to charge the default card. Automatic top-ups appear on the Spend page. A **Low balance alert** sends an email to billing contacts when the balance crosses its threshold. You can enable both features; the alert can warn you if an automatic top-up fails. ## Payment methods The **Payment method** row lists saved cards. The **default** card backs automatic top-up and covers renewal shortfalls. See [Plan changes & renewals](/docs/knowledge-base/billing/plan-changes-and-renewals) for the payment sequence. - **Adding a card** verifies it without charging it. Some banks show a temporary authorization that reverses automatically. - **Make default** switches which card future charges use; past transactions are unaffected. - **A card that declined its last charge** is flagged in the list. Replace it promptly: a stale default card plus an empty wallet is the one combination that leads to the failed-renewal path. - You can't remove the default card while other cards exist; make another card the default first. ## Billing details The billing address and VAT number appear on invoices. At **Billing and payments** > **Overview**, use **Billing address** to update them or set a separate invoice address. **Billing and payments** > [**Settings**](https://bird.com/dashboard/o/billing/settings) stores the billing contact and lists the organization's subscriptions and scheduled changes. ![The billing Settings page: the billing contact email and the subscriptions table with product, status, quantity, and current period](/images/docs/dashboard-billing-settings.png) Use a monitored team alias for the billing contact so payment and balance notifications do not depend on one person. ## Next steps - [Plan changes & renewals](/docs/knowledge-base/billing/plan-changes-and-renewals): how renewals draw on the wallet and card, and the failed-payment timeline. - [Usage, spend & invoices](/docs/knowledge-base/billing/usage-and-invoices): the ledger and the monthly bill. - How top-ups and the wallet ledger work behind these pages is in [Billing & usage](/docs/guides/billing-and-usage). ## Related resources - [Bird pricing](/pricing) (product) [Get an implementation brief](/learn/workspace?topic=billing)