This is the most common cause, and it happens when a client enters routing and account numbers by hand rather than connecting through Plaid.

Fix: draft a new disbursement and, when you follow up with your client, suggest they use the Plaid option if their bank supports it. That path has no typing and therefore no typos. If your client wants help entering their details, they can call Confido directly at (866) 569-9725.

Enhanced Security is on by default, so the recipient's name is fuzzy-matched in real time against the name on the bank account or debit card. Substantially similar passes; a genuine mismatch is blocked before any money moves.

Nicknames usually pass ("Matt" against "Matthew"). Generational suffixes are caught deliberately ("Jr." against "Sr."), so a relative cannot capture a payout. A spouse's or family member's account in a different name will be declined.

Fix: call your client and confirm which account or card they are actually using. If there is a legitimate reason the account is in a different name, for example a guardian holding a minor's funds, contact [email protected] before you redraft. We can have Confido turn Enhanced Security off for that one disbursement so it goes through when you resend, rather than declining again.

If you are in demo or sandbox mode, each example disbursement is capped at $1,000. Any amount above that fails with a partner error.

Fix: use an amount of $1,000 or less when testing. If you are seeing this on a real, live disbursement, contact [email protected] with the disbursement so we can check it against Confido's processing limits.

There is also a firm-level processing limit set when your firm is underwritten. It is sized for your normal volume, so day-to-day work will not hit it, but an unusually large batch can. If you are about to distribute on a mass tort or anything well outside your normal pattern, tell us in advance and we will have Confido raise your limit before you start.

If your accounts have Positive Pay or a similar ACH debit filter and Confido's banking IDs were never added to the allow list, transactions get stopped at your bank rather than in Hona.

Fix: confirm with your bank's treasury or business banking contact that Confido's banking IDs are whitelisted. This is a step only your firm can complete. See the Positive Pay section of "Getting Started: Enrolling Your Firm in Disbursements".

Review usually takes 4 to 6 business days. Longer than that almost always means underwriting needs something from you. The two usual culprits:

Confido's underwriting team normally reaches out directly, so check the inbox of whoever submitted the application, including spam. If you have heard nothing, email [email protected] and we will chase it.

That option only appears once your firm's enrollment is fully approved. If your firm is approved and you still cannot see it, check your Hona role: a Team User can only draft on cases they are a member of. See "Disbursements Permissions: Disbursement Admin and Approvers".

Approving requires the Approver permission specifically. Being a firm Admin does not grant it, and neither does being a Disbursement Admin. Ask one of your Disbursement Admins to add you, from the Manage Connection page.

Firms sometimes assume they cannot pay clients electronically from trust. Confido has ethics opinions from multiple states and a state-by-state guide to electronic disbursements that they can share with your firm, and their platform is built specifically for law firm trust accounting.

That said, ethics and trust accounting rules are your firm's call in your jurisdiction. Neither Hona nor Confido is your ethics counsel. Ask [email protected] for the state-by-state guide if it would help your evaluation.

Four things:

It also shifts responsibility for the account details to your client. If a client mistypes their own account number, that is a failed payment rather than your firm having wired money to the wrong place.

Yes. Disbursements works standalone. Draft from the Disbursements tab, pick a recipient, and type in a case ID if you want one. It is better with the rest of Hona because the case and client are linked automatically and the payout appears on the case timeline, but it is not required.

A fair concern. Two things help:

Keep the free ACH option in your explanation for clients who are hesitant about the fee, and use your existing process as the fallback for the handful of clients this genuinely will not suit.

Not yet. Today your team gets one notification, Disbursement Needs Approval, when something is drafted. Every later status change notifies your client only. Check the Disbursements page or the case timeline to see where a payout is. Firm-side status notifications are on our roadmap.

Yes. Add them as a recipient the same way you would a client. They get the same payment link, the same identity verification, and the same choice between instant and free direct deposit.

The one real limitation: there is no saved payment information yet, so the recipient re-enters their banking or card details on every single payment. A provider you pay occasionally will not mind. A provider you pay across dozens of cases probably will, and some will ask for a check instead. Factor that in before you move a high-volume provider over.

Confido is building stored payment details so a provider can enter their information once and then be paid in one click. It is in testing now, and we will update this article when it reaches Hona.

Not through the disbursement flow. Hona Disbursements offers instant to debit card and free direct deposit. Check payments are on hold and are not built into your client's payment page, so there is no "send me a check" option for them to select.

The workaround is simple: a client who would rather have a check can just reply to the text. You then handle it through your existing check process outside of Hona, and cancel the disbursement or let the link expire.

If checks are common for your client base, you can add a line to your Payment link ready template inviting clients to text back if they would prefer a check. That is optional and entirely your firm's call. See "Disbursement Statuses and Notifications" for how to edit your templates.

No. There is no trust balance check and no per-case balance check. The amount you enter is the amount that goes out. Your approval step and your own trust accounting are the controls. Do your reconciliation exactly as you do today, and treat the disbursement as the replacement for printing the check, not for the accounting that precedes it.

For anything in the Hona interface, permissions, statuses, notifications, or automations, start with [email protected].

For a payment problem your client is having, send them straight to Confido at (866) 569-9725. Confido runs the payments and can help with the link, the verification code, or funds that have not arrived. It is faster than routing it through us.

Your Disbursement Admin also has a Confido account with live chat and a support line, which is the quickest route for questions about bank accounts, underwriting, statements, and payment error codes.

Two things reduce this risk: your client has to verify the phone number or email on the disbursement with a one-time code, and Enhanced Security blocks a payment where the account holder name does not substantially match your client's name.

On the paperwork side, Confido's ethics attorney has drafted suggested language for settlement agreements covering digital delivery: that commercially reasonable security measures are used, and that the client accepts the risk if their own personal information is compromised. Ask [email protected] and we will get you that language. Run it past your own counsel before you adopt it.

No. International payments are not supported. Your client needs a US bank account or a US debit card. Confido has looked at overseas payments but the additional regulatory requirements mean it is not built yet.

Not today. Each payout is its own disbursement with its own link, so a client receiving regular payments (long-term disability or workers' compensation, for example) needs a new disbursement each time.

Confido is building stored payment details so a recipient can be paid repeatedly without generating a new link. It is in testing now. We will update this article when it is available in Hona.