How to pay your construction fee

The bank transfer details are in your Beams account, on the payment screen for your construction fee. Make sure to use the reference shown there so that your payment is displayed on your dashboard automatically.

Why bank transfer, not card

Card networks charge a percentage on every transaction. On a construction fee running into tens of thousands, that's hundreds or thousands of pounds, and it would end up on your bill. Bank transfer costs nothing, so the full amount goes to your project. Most UK banks also cap card payments well below the size of a typical construction fee, so a card would usually fail anyway.

The money isn't going to your builder. It lands in your Beams Account, ring-fenced for your project, and you release it milestone by milestone as work is signed off. For how the milestone releases work, see How construction payments work.

Paying in stages

You don't have to send it all at once. Plenty of customers split the payment, either because their bank limits single transfers or because the money is arriving from more than one place. Send as many transfers as you like, use the same reference each time, and your dashboard shows the running total. Nothing needs setting up and you don't need to tell us first.

The only rule is that the full amount needs to be in your Beams Account by the funding deadline, two weeks before your target break-ground date.

If your bank blocks or limits the payment

Large transfers to a new payee trigger checks at every UK bank. That's the system working as it should. The following can help the transfer go smoothly:

1. Do a £1 test transfer first. Once that clears, larger amounts usually go through without a fight.
2. Check your daily transfer limit in your banking app. Many banks let you raise it temporarily in-app; some need a phone call.
3. Pay by phone or in branch for the full amount. Slower, but limits are usually higher or removable.
4. Split it across several transfers over a few days.
5. Expect a fraud call. Your bank may ring to ask who you're paying and why. Answer honestly: you're funding a holding account with a renovation platform for building work at your home. The call is protecting you, so let them run through it properly.

Checking you're paying the right account

• The account details are in your Beams account. Use those. Don't use details from an email.
• We will never email you to say our bank details have changed. If you get a message like that, from any address, don't act on it. Check against your Beams account and tell us about the message.
• If anything feels off, stop and get in touch. We'd far rather answer the question than watch money go somewhere else.

What happens next

Faster Payments usually show in your dashboard within a couple of hours, though they can take up to one working day. If you can't see your payment after a working day, let us know and we'll track it down. From there the money sits in your Beams Account until you approve the first milestone.