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Credit control rules |
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Credit control settlement |
Credit control rules
What is credit control?
Credit control allows you to use Alibaba Cloud services on credit. Alibaba Cloud grants you a credit limit. Within this limit, you can use cloud products and services without prepayment or a linked payment method and settle your bills monthly.
In enterprise financial management, credit limit setting allows an administrator account to allocate credit limits to member accounts.
What payment restrictions apply with a credit limit?
After credit control is enabled, you cannot use other payment methods, such as a credit card or PayPal, to purchase subscription-based products. You can only use your available credit.
How do I view my credit limit?
New console
Your account manager applies for a credit limit on your behalf. Alibaba Cloud grants the limit based on a comprehensive assessment of your spending and business operations.
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console. In the Asset Information section, view your Credit Limit.
Legacy console
Your account manager applies for a credit limit on your behalf. Alibaba Cloud grants the limit based on a comprehensive assessment of your spending and business operations.
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console. On the Account Overview page, in the Available Credit section, click Available Credit Details.
You can then view your credit limit:
What does available credit mean?
Available Credit is the usable balance in your account. Your Available Credit can become negative due to refunds, account adjustments, or other operations. It is calculated using the following formula:
Available Credit = Cash Balance + Credit Limit + Credit Refunds - Unsettled Amount for the Current Month - Unsettled Amount from Previous Months
Cash Balance: The remaining funds in your account.
Credit Limit: The credit line approved for your account (for users with credit only).
Credit Refunds: Refunds for services purchased using your Credit Limit, such as from subscription cancellations or service downgrades.
Unsettled Amount for the Current Month: The total cost of unbilled services used in the current month.
NoteFor the Alibaba Cloud International website (alibabacloud.com), monthly bills initially include only the pre-tax amount. Taxes are added when the bill is officially issued in the following month. To prevent your account from becoming overdue after taxes are applied, set your alert threshold carefully.
Unsettled Amount from Previous Months: The total amount of unpaid bills from previous months.
What if my available credit is negative?
When your available credit falls below zero, your account becomes overdue and the system sends you an email alert.
You can continue to use your resources for 15 days, known as the restricted service period. During this period, you can use your existing services but cannot purchase new services or renew existing ones. If you do not settle the overdue amount by the end of this period, all your services and instances are shut down. If you still do not make a payment within 15 days after the shutdown, all instances are released and their data is permanently lost.
To avoid service interruptions or data loss, pay your overdue bills by bank transfer as soon as possible.
Credit control settlement
What is a monthly bill?
Alibaba Cloud consolidates all your subscription and pay-as-you-go consumption for the month into a monthly bill.
During the current month, the bill is in an "Unsettled" state because an official invoice has not yet been issued.
At the end of the month, the unsettled bill is finalized. Its status then changes to "Unpaid" or "Paid", depending on whether you have paid it.
What is an Alibaba Cloud dedicated bank account?
An Alibaba Cloud dedicated bank account is a unique virtual bank account assigned to each credit control customer as a sub-account of Alibaba Cloud's primary account with Citibank. When you transfer funds to this account, the system automatically detects the payment, credits the funds to your Alibaba Cloud account, and applies them to your unpaid bills.
Notes:
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This feature is currently available only to credit control customers contracted with Alibaba Cloud's Singapore, United States, or Malaysia entities.
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The system can automatically process only SWIFT and Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfers. Avoid making direct deposits or check payments to this account, as the system does not recognize them automatically.
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A wire transfer may take two to four business days to appear in the Alibaba Cloud system, depending on your remitting bank and country or region.
How do I find my dedicated bank account?
You can find your dedicated bank account information in one of the following ways:
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Activation email: When we activate your dedicated bank account, Alibaba Cloud sends a notification email with the subject "Your Alibaba Cloud Dedicated Bank Account is Ready".
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Expenses and Costs console:
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In the Expenses and Costs, log on to the Expenses and Costs console and select Billing Account. In the Asset Information section, find your Cash Balance and click Top-up & Remittance to go to the Add Funds page, where you can view your dedicated bank account details.
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In the Expenses and Costs, log on to the Expenses and Costs console and select Account Balance. On the Account Balance page, click Add Funds to view your dedicated bank account details.
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Monthly invoice: Your dedicated bank account details are listed at the bottom of your monthly invoice.
How do I pay a monthly bill?
You can pay your bills by bank transfer or by using a linked bank card.
New console
Method 1 (Recommended): Automatic monthly write-off
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Enable Automatic Write-off. If it is already enabled, proceed to the next step.
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Deposit funds into your account.
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On the Overview of Monthly Bill page, select a billing month with an Unpaid Amount bill.
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Click Pay Bill and follow the instructions to make a Add Funds. After we receive the funds, the system pays the bill automatically.
For more information about top-up methods, see Payment methods.
NoteWhen Automatic Write-off is enabled, the system first uses deposits to pay outstanding bills. Any remaining funds remain in your Billing Account.
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Method 2: Manual payment via a settlement task
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On the Overview of Monthly Bill page, click Unified Settlement to create a settlement task. You can select bills from up to three months and from multiple member accounts (for enterprise account users) for a single settlement.
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Make a Repay for the unified settlement bill, which is in the Settling state.
Method 3: Transfer from an administrator account
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On the Overview of Monthly Bill page, select a billing month with an Unpaid Amount bill, and click Pay Bill.
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Select the Transfer operation, choose a Transfer-out Account, enter the Amount to Be Replenished, and click Confirm Transfer. After the transfer is complete, the system pays the bill automatically.
Legacy console
We recommend that you pay your monthly bills by bank transfer.
You can enable the Automatic Payment feature on the Account Overview page and then make a wire transfer to the bank account listed on your monthly invoice. When Alibaba Cloud receives your payment, it automatically pays your unpaid monthly bills, starting from the oldest, until it pays all bills or the funds run out.
If you disable the Automatic Payment feature, you must manually pay your monthly bills after we receive your payment. Follow these steps:
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Go to Payment Details and click the Unpaid tab. Select an unpaid monthly bill to view its details.
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After you confirm the bill details, click Pay.
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Enter the amount to pay, select a payment method, and then click Pay.
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After a short while, go to the Paid tab to confirm that the bill has been paid.
How to pay using a dedicated bank account?
Automatic payment for monthly bills via bank transfer is enabled by default. When you make a wire transfer to your dedicated bank account, Alibaba Cloud automatically uses the funds to settle your unpaid bills. The system pays bills in chronological order, from oldest to newest, until all overdue bills are settled or the funds run out. After you receive an invoice, make a wire transfer to your dedicated bank account according to the payment schedule in your contract.
Note:
Depending on your country or region and remitting bank, your bank may charge a service fee for the wire transfer. When making the transfer, instruct your bank to charge all fees to the beneficiary account (Alibaba Cloud). Alibaba Cloud covers these fees to ensure that the credited amount matches your remitted amount. After the transfer, keep your remittance slip. If the credited amount is less than what you remitted, contact your account manager. Alibaba Cloud will use your remittance slip to reimburse you for the fees.
How do I enable or disable Automatic Payment?
If you enable the automatic payment feature:
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If your account has a cash balance, Alibaba Cloud automatically deducts funds from your balance on the first day of each month to pay the previous month's bill.
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If your account has no cash balance, any incoming bank transfer is automatically applied to your oldest unpaid bill first, including any overdue credit control monthly bills.
New console
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console. On the Billing Account page, use the Automatic Write-off toggle to enable or disable the feature, and then click Save.
Legacy console
On the Account Overview page, click the settings button for the Automatic Payment feature, located below Available Credit. You can then enable or disable the feature and click Save.
Why is my dedicated account deposit delayed?
When you make a wire transfer to your dedicated bank account, the system automatically deposits the funds into your account after receiving the payment. If the funds have not arrived, the bank may still be processing the transfer. Wait for the bank to complete the transfer.
How do I download an invoice?
Alibaba Cloud generates a consolidated monthly invoice for all your subscription and pay-as-you-go consumption. The previous month's invoice is available by the 6th of each month.
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In the Expenses and Costs, log on to the Expenses and Costs console and select Invoices from the left-side navigation pane. Click the Download Invoice tab to download the real-time invoice for a paid bill.
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In the Expenses and Costs, you can view and download invoices for the last three months on the Account Overview page. To download older real-time invoices, go to the Payment Details page, click the Paid tab, and download the invoice for each bill individually.
How do I configure email recipients for invoices?
After Alibaba Cloud generates your monthly invoice, it sends the invoice to your registered email address.
To add more recipients for invoice emails, see basic message receiving management.