XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, QuickBooks Online
Country Restriction: All supported countries
Risk Type: Fraud Risk
Business Function: Contacts
Overview
This XBert watches for a contact whose bank account has been changed so that it now matches the account already saved against a different supplier. A shared account can be innocent, but it can also be a keying error or a deliberate attempt to redirect payments. It is worth checking before you next pay either supplier.
What it does
It compares the bank account details saved on your contacts and looks for one whose account has recently been changed from what it was before. When that new account matches the account held against a different, separate contact, XBert raises this alert so the pair can be reviewed.
How it works
The alert is deliberately narrow, so you only see matches worth a look:
It only triggers when a contact's bank account has actually been changed from the value previously recorded, not simply because two contacts have always shared an account.
It compares account numbers after ignoring spaces and dashes, so formatting never causes a false match.
It fires only when the changed account now matches a different, active contact that genuinely appears to be a separate business.
It ignores blank account fields and placeholder values that hold no real account digits.
It is smart about names. If the two contacts are really the same business under slightly different names (for example "Acme Group" and "Acme Group Pty Ltd", or "Acme" and "Acme Australia"), it treats them as one and stays quiet.
It ignores shared default accounts. If the same account number is carried by many contacts at once, that points to a placeholder rather than a redirected payment, so no alert is raised.
The alert does not record who made the change. In Xero you can open the contact's history to see who updated the bank details.
Example/Use Case
Priya, who looks after the contact list, updates the bank account on ACME Services and accidentally enters the account number that belongs to a different supplier, City Limousines. A few days later Mark pays ACME's $18,500 invoice. Because the account now points at City Limousines, the money lands in the wrong supplier's account and ACME never receives it. The payment then has to be recovered and reissued. XBert flags that ACME's newly changed account matches City Limousines before the next payment goes out, so the mistake can be caught and corrected first.
Accounting software
This XBert runs for organisations connected through Xero and QuickBooks Online. These are the platforms that keep a record of a contact's previous bank account, which the alert needs for the comparison.
Which countries it supports
All supported countries.
Processes
This alert falls under the Contacts business area and supports fraud detection and tidy contact data. To resolve it:
Open the flagged contact and review the bank account that was changed.
Confirm the correct account number directly with the supplier using a trusted, known contact method, not the details on a recent invoice or email.
In Xero, check the contact's history to see who changed the bank details and when.
If the shared account is legitimate (for example two related businesses paid through the one account), no change is needed.
If the account is wrong, correct it in your accounting software and let the relevant people know if a payment may already have gone to the wrong party.
Once the details are confirmed or corrected, mark the XBert as resolved.