A payment investigation case template records everything about a payment that went wrong: what was sent, the timeline of every status change, enquiries to other banks, recall requests, what the customer was told, the finding and the outcome. An AI agent can build the timeline and draft enquiries; a person concludes the case and sends anything that moves money.
What kinds of case does it cover?
Payment investigations start in several ways, and the template handles all of them with one structure:
- Not received. The payer says it left; the payee says it never arrived.
- Failed or returned. The payment bounced, sometimes days later.
- Misdirected. Sent to the wrong account, by the customer or by an error.
- Duplicate. Sent twice.
- Recall. The payer wants it back, for error or fraud.
Fraud cases follow a different, stricter process. If a case turns out to involve fraud, it moves to the fraud team, and the agent's role narrows; whether an AI agent can run a fraud investigation explains how far it goes.
When should the template be opened?
As soon as a customer reports a payment problem or an exception appears in a reconciliation. The first thing the agent does is build the timeline, because most "missing" payments are found within it: held for a check, sent on a later cycle, or returned with a reason code nobody read. The tracing method is covered in whether an AI agent can trace a missing or failed payment.
How do you complete each field?
- Payment details come from the ledger and gateway, stamped signed. The customer's account of events is declared and recorded separately.
- Timeline lists every status change with time and source. The agent pulls it through its connection to the gateway; how to connect an AI agent to your payment gateway covers the read access it needs.
- Enquiries record each message to another bank: sent by, time, reference, reply.
- Recall is a request to the receiving bank to return funds. The agent may draft it; a person sends it. What a payment recall is explains why the outcome depends on the receiver.
- Customer updates are logged with what was promised.
- Finding states what happened in one or two sentences, with the evidence that shows it.
The payment investigation case template
| No. | Field | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Case reference, opened, opened by | Customer report or reconciliation exception |
| 2 | Case type | Not received, failed, misdirected, duplicate, recall |
| 3 | Payment details | Amount, date, payer, payee, account, reference, payment scheme |
| 4 | Customer's account | In their words; marked declared |
| 5 | Timeline | Each status change: time, status, source |
| 6 | Checks run | Holds, screening, returns, duplicates |
| 7 | Enquiries to other banks | Sent by, time, reference, reply |
| 8 | Recall | Requested? Drafted by, sent by, time, response |
| 9 | Customer updates | Time, channel, what was said, next update promised |
| 10 | Finding | What happened and the evidence |
| 11 | Outcome | Resolved, funds returned, funds not recoverable, referred to fraud |
| 12 | Root cause, if internal | Process or system at fault |
| 13 | Closed by and date | Named person |
A filled sample: rent payment not received
A hypothetical customer says a payment of 2,000 to their landlord has not arrived.
| No. | Entry |
|---|---|
| 2 | Not received |
| 4 | "I paid my rent on Monday and my landlord says nothing has come in." (declared) |
| 5 | Mon 09:02 submitted; Mon 09:02 held for screening; Mon 11:40 released by screening; Mon 11:41 sent; Tue 08:15 returned, reason: account name does not match |
| 6 | Screening hold cleared; return found |
| 7 | None needed |
| 9 | Tue 10:00 agent told customer the payment was returned and the funds were back in their account; explained the name mismatch |
| 10 | Payee name entered differed from the account name; receiving bank returned the funds |
| 11 | Resolved; customer resent with corrected name |
| 13 | Payments operations officer |
The agent found the answer in the timeline in minutes. The customer had missed the return because it arrived the next day under a different description. No money had to move, and the officer closed the case after checking the agent's finding.
What should go into the record for later review?
Each case should link to the agent's verdicts during the investigation: what it read, what it drafted, what it was refused. If a case is later examined by internal audit or a regulator, those records show who did what. How to export an AI agent's verdict record for an investigation covers how to pull them. The guide to AI agents in banking sets the wider boundaries.
Questions people ask
Can the agent send enquiries to other banks?
It can draft them at depth 2. Some banks let a certified agent send routine status enquiries at depth 3, because an enquiry asks for information and moves nothing. Recalls should stay with a person.
How quickly should the customer be updated?
Set a standard, such as every working day while a case is open, and record each promise in field 9. The agent can send routine updates within that standard.
What if the timeline shows an internal error?
Record it in field 12, put the customer right, and raise it with the system owner. Repeated internal causes belong in your incident process, not just in case notes.