# Negative Payments

> Using Aritma credit note functionality


The Aritma Banking Api allows for negative payments or credit notes. These payments can be sent alone or together with positive payments.

## [](#matching-criteria)Matching Criteria

For a negative payment to match a positive payment, **all** of the following must be true:

| Criterion | Rule |
|  --- | --- |
| Debtor account number | Must be identical |
| Creditor account number | Must be identical |
| Creditor name | Must be identical |
| Debtor Account currency | Must match if using Swedish Postgiro numbers (multicurrency support) |
| Remittance information type | If `SCOR` is used, all matching payments must use `SCOR`. Other types match each other unless one uses `SCOR` |
| Destination bank | Must be the same bank |


## [](#bundling-rules)Bundling Rules

When negative and positive payments are matched and bundled together, the **combined sum must exceed 0** for the payments to go through.

* If the bundled sum is **greater than 0** — the payments are sent
* If the bundled sum is **0 or less** — the payments will not go through


## [](#unmatched-payments)Unmatched Negative Payments

When you send a negative payment that does not match any positive payment in the same signing basket or payment approval, the system stores it for **up to 30 days**.

During this period:

* The negative payment waits for a matching positive payment to arrive
* Once a match is found, the payments are bundled automatically
* After 30 days without a match, the negative payment expires and gets rejected
* This is also the case for a positive payment that matches a negative, but is smaller in amount. For instance a negative payment of -1000 and a regular payment
of 500 that have the same matching key will both be waiting in the system for a payment that matches that is 501 or greater for the total sum to be above 0.


## [](#example)Example Scenarios

### ✅ Successful Match

**Positive payment:**

* Debtor account: `12345678901`
* Creditor account: `98765432109`
* Creditor name: `Acme AB`
* Amount: `2000 SEK`
* Remittance: `Invoice 123`


**Negative payment — matches:**

* Debtor account: `12345678901`
* Creditor account: `98765432109`
* Creditor name: `Acme AB`
* Amount: `-1000 SEK`
* Remittance: `Correction`


These payments match because all criteria align — same accounts, same creditor name, same destination bank.

### ❌ No Match — Currency Mismatch (Swedish Postgiro)

**Positive payment:**

* Debtor account: `12345-6` (Swedish Postgiro)
* Currency: `SEK`


**Negative payment — does NOT match:**

* Debtor account: `12345-6`
* Currency: `NOK`


Swedish Postgiro accounts support multiple currencies, so the currency must match exactly.

### ❌ No Match — SCOR Type Mismatch

**Positive payment:**

* Remittance type: `SCOR`
* Reference: `RF18539007547034`


**Negative payment — does NOT match:**

* Remittance type: Free text
* Reference: `Correction for invoice`


When a payment uses `SCOR`, the matching payment must also use `SCOR` — other remittance types will not match.