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Reference responding

How a trade reference answers a request through a private link, or declines, without creating an account.

A trade reference receives an email with a private link to /reference/<token>. The token is the only credential.

Who can use it#

Whoever holds the link. The page is public, not indexed by search engines, and needs no sign-in. A forwarded link works for the forwarder too, so reference providers should not share it. /reference offers help to people who lost the email. A saved reference (a contact the customer kept for reuse) uses /reference/saved/<token> the same way.

What the page does#

  1. Loads GET /v1/reference/:token/view and shows the applicant and requesting supplier to confirm, with the sentence "Five questions, about three minutes" and the date the link closes.
  2. The reference answers: credit limit range, payment terms, how promptly invoices are paid, late or returned payments, a recommendation and notes. A draft is kept in the browser until submitted.
  3. The reference certifies the answers and signs with a drawn signature or a typed name, then submits to POST /v1/reference/:token/respond.
  4. Or declines with a reason (declined: true). A decline is recorded as DECLINED.
  5. A conversation panel (messages and attachments through /v1/reference/:token/messages and /documents) lets the reference ask the supplier questions.

States and errors#

  • Unknown, replaced or unavailable link: one neutral page, "No response has been submitted from this page" (the API answers 404).
  • 410: the link expired; ask the sender for a fresh one.
  • 409: already answered or changed; refresh to see the status.
  • 400: invalid response, missing signatory name or bad signature image. 413 too large. 429: more than 10 attempts per hour per IP.

After submitting#

The confirmation screen says what happens next (who sees the answers, that VendorLogic does not make the credit decision, that nothing more is needed) and offers the optional supplier sign-up. The response is stored with its signer and signature as evidence of record and appears on the application's References tab for the supplier's credit team. Responses that arrive by email reply through a connector are drafts and are labeled as weaker evidence (see the connectors documentation). Reference responses are not shown to the applicant.