Your colleague is about to pay a Guangzhou supplier for a batch of bicycle lights when your company gets an email, supposedly from that supplier, with a new bank account. The sender wants payment before Tuesday's collection and includes a new phone number "for confirmation." You have the supplier's older contact details in the purchase file. That's the contact to use while your colleague stops the prepared transfer; calling the number in the change request would let the sender confirm their own instruction.
This article is general information, not legal, tax, accounting or investment advice. Checking an instruction does not guarantee a safe payment or that a provider will accept the payment.
Stop the transfer your colleague has prepared
The first conversation belongs inside your company. Your colleague needs to know which instruction changed and that the payment is on hold. Get confirmation that the prepared transfer has stopped. Your buyer also needs the update, so Tuesday's collection doesn't depend on a payment someone assumes has gone out.
Save the new message beside the approved instruction and invoice. Note the sender and the time the request arrived. Your accountant may need to find out which details your company held when an earlier payment went out, so the old recipient record should remain in the history.
A new account number is one field to check. The beneficiary name matters too. A replacement recipient can be another company, even if the sender repeats the invoice number and product description in the email. Those familiar details don't establish authority to change the payment.
Use the contact you had before the message
Call the supplier on a number from your existing purchase records, or use a channel you used with them before the change. Read back the proposed beneficiary and account details. Your contact needs to confirm that their company expects that recipient to receive this invoice payment, including who authorised the change.
If several colleagues received matching messages, you know only that the sender reached several people. You still need confirmation from the supplier through the known channel. A familiar logo and signature can accompany a false instruction.
After the call, get written confirmation with the contact's name and the channel you used. Your approver needs to see which details you checked and any field the contact couldn't confirm. "Spoke to supplier" would be a weak approval note for changing the account that receives the company's money.
If you can't reach the known contact, the payment stays on hold. Tell your buyer which confirmation is missing and discuss the collection deadline with the supplier through the known channel once you reach them. You still need to verify who controls the new account, even if the sender wants an urgent payment.
A bank-account change can change the recipient
Compare the proposed account holder with the supplier on the invoice and contract. If another entity will receive payment, the supplier needs to explain the relationship and provide supporting instructions for review. Your approver needs that explanation before approving the new beneficiary.
The supplier can issue an updated invoice or a separate payment instruction where needed. Don't alter their purchase document yourself. In your payment folder, record who issued the change, what changed and which instruction your business approved.
If your provider reviewed a payment to the earlier recipient, that review covered those details. Give the provider the new account holder and the supplier's explanation, then check which documents or payment terms they need to review again. Your colleague shouldn't prepare a transfer to the replacement account using approval for a different recipient.
A wallet change needs more than an address
For a wallet payment, the supplier should confirm the token and network with the address. You need their explanation of how they'll apply the transfer to the invoice. You need the supplier to confirm the network for this instruction rather than relying on the one you used for a different supplier.
Your colleague can compare the proposed transfer with the same written instruction you checked. If your colleagues use separate copies from different chat threads, someone could prepare the old address or a different network. A second person can help catch a copying error by checking the address, but you still need to verify the recipient's identity.
If you fund a provider's bank payout with USDT, the provider's funding destination is separate from the supplier's receiving details. A supplier switching their request to a wallet payment may be proposing a different arrangement. You need an answer about whether that arrangement fits before sending anything.
You might discuss a test transfer with the parties. Even if the recipient acknowledges the test, you still need to identify who receives the invoice payment and why the supplier changed the instruction. Your approver would still need those answers after a successful test.
The quote needs to match the changed instruction
You may need the provider to review a quote you accepted for the earlier recipient. Find out from the provider whether they need a fresh quote or document approval for the change. Don't promise the supplier the earlier payment timing until you've checked the revised arrangement.
Your approver should see the old and new instructions with the supplier's explanation and the confirmation from your known contact. Once the business approves the change, put the current instruction in the working folder and mark the earlier version as history. The person sending funds needs one agreed version to use.
After the transfer, attach the payment evidence to that instruction and get the supplier's acknowledgement against the invoice. Your accountant should be able to trace the recipient your colleague paid to the change your business approved, without reconstructing Tuesday's emails.
You can read the invoice payment enquiry page and A2vanta overview for context before a provider discussion. If you have an enquiry open, message the A2vanta bot about the recipient change before funding. Describe the change and check which information the reviewer needs, using the instruction your company has checked.