How to share bank details safely with a client
Pasting your IBAN into a DM feels wrong because it is. Here's what's actually risky, what isn't and the clean way to do it.
By Julian Fella, co-founder of Folio · Updated July 12, 2026
The short answer.
Sharing the details a client needs to pay you is normal and mostly safe. The risk isn't the IBAN itself, it's the channel: public comments, group chats and unencrypted DMs that can be screenshotted, forwarded or read by whoever compromises an inbox later. Verify who you're dealing with, share through something access-controlled, and keep a record of who got what. Folio's Pay-Me does this for free: your payment details on a password-gated page, shared only with the client you choose.
What actually goes wrong.
The scary story people imagine, someone draining an account with just an IBAN, is mostly a myth. The real failures are duller and more common. Payment redirection: a scammer in a hijacked email thread swaps the account details at the last moment, and the client pays the wrong person. Harvesting: details posted in a public story or comment get scraped and reused in fraud that later points back at you. And plain chaos: you've pasted your bank details into forty conversations and have no idea who has them.
Notice that all three are channel problems. The same detail shared privately, with access control and a record, carries almost none of that risk.
The rules that cover 95% of it.
- 1
Verify the client first
A real client has a consistent name, domain and history. If the deal appeared out of nowhere and the money conversation is moving faster than the work conversation, slow down.
- 2
Never post details publicly
No IBANs in bios, public comments, stories or community threads. Anything public is permanent.
- 3
Use an access-controlled channel
Share details through something the wrong person can't open, a gated page beats a DM, and a DM beats a public post.
- 4
Confirm changes out of band
If payment details ever 'change' mid-project, confirm by a second channel like a call. That single habit kills the most expensive scam in freelancing.
- 5
Share only what's needed
A client paying you needs your IBAN or account number and your name. They never need your card number, PIN, online banking login or a code from your bank's app.
The cleanest way: a gated page.
This is exactly why Pay-Me exists. Your payment methods, like bank transfer, PayPal, Wise or Revolut, live behind a password on your Folio page, encrypted at rest. When a project is agreed you give the client the password. They open your link, unlock the details and pay you directly. Nothing sits in a chat history, nothing is public, and Folio never touches the money. It's free and you keep 100%.
It also fixes the soft problem nobody names: asking for money stops feeling like begging when the ask is a designed part of your page instead of a bare IBAN in a bubble.
What never belongs anywhere public.
Your full card number, CVC, PIN, banking passwords and one-time codes are not payment details, they're access to your money, and no legitimate client will ever ask for them. Your IBAN or account number is fine to share privately with someone paying you. If you want the full breakdown per detail, we wrote a plain-English guide to what's safe to share.
Questions
Is it safe to send my IBAN to a client?
Yes, privately. An IBAN alone can't be used to pull money out of your account in normal circumstances, and receiving payments is what it's for. Share it in a gated or private channel, never publicly.
Can someone steal money with just my bank details?
Not directly. The realistic risks are redirection scams and misuse of harvested details in fraud. Verifying the client and controlling access closes most of that.
Should I email my bank details?
Email works until an inbox on either side is compromised, which is exactly how invoice-redirection fraud happens. A password-gated page is safer because there's nothing to intercept later.
What details does a client actually need to pay me?
For a bank transfer: your name and IBAN (or account number and sort/routing code). For PayPal or Wise: your handle or email. Never your card number, PIN or any login.
What if a client asks me to confirm a code or login?
That's not a client, that's a scam. Banks and payment apps never need you to read back codes to receive money.
Does Folio see my payment info?
It's encrypted at rest and only revealed to someone with the password. Folio never processes the payment and never touches the money.
Is Pay-Me free?
Yes. Free, no fee on payments, you keep 100%.
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