Copy-and-paste payment reminder message templates
These are starting points, not magic scripts. Use the version that matches what has actually happened and change the details so the customer can recognise the payment immediately.
1. Before the payment is due
Hi [Name], just a quick heads-up that the £[amount] payment for [service/work] is due on [date]. You can pay here: [payment link]. Thanks.
Use this when an upcoming payment matters — for example a deposit, booking deadline or balance due before an event. It should sound like a reminder of the agreement, not like the customer is already late.
2. Due today
Hi [Name], just a reminder that the £[amount] payment for [service/work] is due today. You can pay here: [payment link]. If you've already arranged it, no action needed. Thanks.
3. First overdue reminder
Hi [Name], the £[amount] payment for [service/work] was due on [date] and is still showing as outstanding. You can pay here: [payment link]. If there's a problem with the payment, please let me know.
This is usually enough for a first overdue message. You do not need to apologise for asking for an agreed payment, but you also do not need to assume the customer is deliberately avoiding you.
4. Following up after the first reminder
Hi [Name], I'm following up on the £[amount] payment for [service/work], which was due on [date]. I haven't received it yet. Could you please arrange payment or let me know when I should expect it? [payment link]
Notice the change: the message now asks for either payment or a useful answer. If the customer cannot pay immediately, knowing what is happening is more useful than sending another vague “just checking” message.
5. Firmer overdue reminder
Hi [Name], I'm following up again about the £[amount] payment for [service/work], due on [date]. Please arrange payment by [new date], or reply today if there's an issue I need to know about. You can pay here: [payment link].
6. Deposit reminder
Hi [Name], just a reminder that the £[deposit amount] deposit for [service/booking] is due on [date]. You can pay it here: [payment link]. If anything has changed with the booking, please let me know.
7. Remaining balance reminder
Hi [Name], the deposit for [service/booking] has been received. The remaining £[balance amount] balance is due on [date]. You can pay the balance here: [payment link]. Thanks.
8. Payment reminder email
Subject: Payment reminder — £[amount] for [service/work]
Hi [Name], I'm following up about the £[amount] payment for [service/work], which was due on [date] and is still outstanding. You can make the payment here: [payment link]. If you've already paid, or there's a problem I need to know about, please reply and let me know. Thanks, [Your name]
Email gives you a little more room for context, an invoice reference or an attachment if you use invoices. WhatsApp and text usually benefit from being shorter. The important information is the same either way.
What should you change before sending a template?
Make the reminder specific
- Replace the customer's name and every placeholder.
- Say what the payment is for in words the customer will recognise.
- Use the amount that is actually due now — especially for deposits and balances.
- Include the real due date or say clearly that the payment is overdue.
- Give one obvious way to pay, such as the current payment link.
- Give the customer a way to tell you if there is a genuine problem.
- Remove any deadline, “final” wording or escalation that is not actually true.
The UK Office of the Small Business Commissioner gives similar practical guidance for unpaid business invoices: check the payment terms and details, keep the reminder polite and professional, and include useful information such as the amount, due date and payment instructions.
When should you use each payment reminder?
Do not choose a template because a generic article says “Day 3” or “Day 7”. Start with the payment terms you actually agreed. The wording should change because the situation changed, not because a timer reached an arbitrary number.
Choose by payment stage
Match the message to what is happening
Before the due date
Best for: A useful heads-up before an important payment deadline
Keep it light. The customer is not late yet, so simply restate what will be due and when.
On the due date
Best for: A straightforward reminder of the agreed date
State the amount, what it is for and how to pay. There is no need to manufacture urgency.
First overdue follow-up
Best for: A payment that has passed its agreed due date
Say plainly that it is outstanding and give the customer an easy way to pay or tell you about a problem.
Later overdue
Best for: A payment still unresolved after earlier follow-up
Ask for a concrete next step. If several reminders are ignored, the issue needs judgement rather than endless variations of the same message.
For a deeper look at scheduling, exceptions and when automation should stop, see the guide to automatic payment reminders.
How do you make a reminder firmer without making it rude?
Increase specificity, not aggression
A firmer reminder does not need more emotion. It becomes firmer by being more specific: the payment is overdue, this is not the first follow-up, and you now need either payment or a clear answer about when it will be made.
Compare “Just wondering if you might have had a chance to look at this?” with “The £180 balance due on Friday is still outstanding. Could you arrange payment or let me know when I should expect it?” The second message is more direct without becoming hostile.
If your main problem is finding the right tone rather than choosing a template, the separate guide on how to ask a client to pay politely focuses on that conversation in more detail.
What should you avoid putting in a payment reminder?
- Blame you cannot support. You know the payment is outstanding; you may not know why.
- Vague hints. “Just checking in” makes the customer work out what you want.
- A fake emergency. Do not pretend every late payment is a crisis to create pressure.
- Too much backstory. Your customer does not need a paragraph about your cashflow before they can understand what is due.
- Legal threats copied from the internet. Formal recovery steps depend on the type of debt, the agreement and the circumstances.
- An old or broken way to pay. Make sure the payment link or instructions in the reminder are current.
What if the customer ignores the reminders?
First check the boring possibilities: did they receive the request, is the amount correct, are the payment details working, and have they raised a problem you have not answered? If those checks are clear and repeated reminders still get no response, the problem is no longer finding a better sentence.
Decide what happens next in the real relationship — direct contact, pausing further work, agreeing a new date, or using an appropriate recovery process. The guide to following up when a client ghosts you covers the no-response situation separately.
If the unpaid amount is a business-to-business commercial debt, GOV.UK has separate guidance on late commercial payments, interest and debt recovery. Check the rules and your own circumstances before adding statutory-interest or recovery wording to a reminder.
How payment reminders work in Simply Link
Where Simply Link fits
A reminder works better when the amount, due date, payment status and previous follow-up already belong to the same payment.
In Simply Link, reminders belong to the Payment Request being tracked. The Customer, Service, amount, due date, payment state, reminder history and Activity stay connected, so you do not have to reconstruct the situation from messages and your banking app each time you follow up.
The Simply Link payment workflow
One Payment Request stays with the payment from setup to paid.
- 1
CREATE
Choose the Customer, amount, due date and payment setup.
- 2
PREVIEW
Check what the customer will see before anything is sent.
- 3
MAKE LIVE
Turn the draft into a real Payment Request.
- 4
SHARE
Send the secure payment page by the channel that suits the job.
- 5
TRACK
See what is waiting, overdue, partly paid or complete.
- 6
PAID
Keep the payment and Activity history with the request.
Manual reminders
Free and Pro can both use Remind now on eligible Payment Requests when you decide a customer needs a one-off follow-up.
Automatic reminders on Free
Free includes automatic reminders for one eligible Payment Request per calendar month using the fixed reminder timing and wording. Other eligible requests can still use manual reminders.
Automatic reminders on Pro
Pro enables automatic reminders across every eligible unpaid Payment Request. You can choose from the available reminder timings and customise the wording used before a due date and when a payment is overdue.
Simply Link keeps the important payment context around that custom wording, including the amount, due date and secure payment action. The reminder can be automatic; the customer is never automatically charged.
The useful template is the one that matches reality
You do not need the cleverest possible payment reminder. You need one that tells the customer what is due, what has changed, and what they should do next — without making you rewrite the same awkward message from scratch every time.
Start calm. Get more specific when you need to. And when the situation stops being routine, stop automating the conversation.