# Managing Preferred Payment Methods
### Abstract
In **Charted Payment Automation*****,*** managing preferred payment methods ensures that vendor payments are processed accurately and according to organizational preferences. By designating a preferred method — such as *ACH* or *Check* — for a specific payee, administrators can control how each payment is routed and avoid manual selection errors during disbursement. This configuration is especially useful for businesses handling multiple vendors with varied payment needs, such as defaulting most vendors to *ACH* while maintaining check issuance for others.
This article outlines the process for setting a preferred payment method within *Payment Automation.*
### Reviewing and Changing a Preferred Payment Method
Before you can ensure accurate payment routing, it's important to verify which payment method is currently marked as preferred for a given vendor. **Payment Automation** will use this preferred method when releasing payments. If you need to change the payment method prior to release, you can do so by changing the preferred payment method on the payee prior to release.
Follow these steps to review and manage **Preferred** **Payment Methods**:
1. Begin by hovering over the **Charted** menu, then **AP Automation**, and clicking the **Home** tab:\
2. **Next**, click the **Payees** option on the left to open the **Payees** list:\
Here, you will see all the payees you have imported:\
3. To start the review process, click the specific vendor with multiple payment methods and locate the **Payment Methods** section:\
4. To see which method is currently preferred, look for the label indicating the **Preferred** status next to the listed methods:\
5. Once you've confirmed the current setup, click on the **Payment Method** that you'd like to switch to:\
\
It will open a new screen for the **Payment Method Details**:
6. To switch the preferred **Payment Method**, select the three-dot action menu ( . . . ) associated with that **Payment Method**, and click **Set Preferred** from the dropdown of the action menu:\
7. After setting the new **Preferred** method, validate that the status label has successfully moved to your selected method:\
\
\
Note: Set the preferred **Payment Method** to match each payee’s expectations. When onboarding or updating a vendor, review and adjust as needed.\
This concludes the process of **Managing Preferred Payment Methods** in *NetSuite*.
---
# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.
Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:
```
GET https://docs.charted.com/ap-automation/charted-features/payment-automation/managing-preferred-payment-methods.md?ask=
```
The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.
Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.