Bulk Payment – bulk disbursement solutions

Application Programming Interface Banking: Bulk Payment

It is a tasking job when it comes to making payments to multiple people at a regular interval of time. Adding a beneficiary to the bank account and then making payments is an investment of time and efforts. This is where Batch Payment comes into the picture. ‘Bulk Payment’ is a bank payment option that allows making several transactions at once. It is a method of transferring funds to a large number of partners, beneficiaries, publishers, suppliers, vendors, etc. usually at a fixed schedule that can be pre-defined. For example, Employers crediting the salaries of their employees. This way, money can be transferred easily to any bank account, UPI address or Online Wallets through Batch Payment options.

Instead of paying each individual recipient manually, bulk payments can be made either by bulk transfers via a bank account (either by uploading a spreadsheet on the banking portal or by manually adding each beneficiary/recipient before making a transfer) or by the use of a bulk payment Applications Programming Interface (API).

API Banking allows for the interaction of various software programs and facilitates for a fully automated banking service platform and is tailored for each individual’s needs. It allows third-party providers access to the bank’s data in a secure and transparent manner. Unlike in banks, where even a small mistake in the payment file can block all the transactions, using API Banking can mean that in spite of any invalid transfers, the valid ones will always go through. The process of reconciliation of failed transfers or invalid transactions is fully automated. The information of which transfers failed and the reason for that failure is also provided. This saves a lot of time which would otherwise have gone in investigating the reasons for payment failures.

Bulk Payment through API Banking is affordable, accessible and easily available. It offers a simplified disbursement process with end-to-end support during the whole payment lifecycle while constantly ensuring the security of the bank accounts involved and providing risk management for the transactions. It is comparatively faster, more efficient, and cost effective way of sending out cheques. Depending on what the mass payment provider has opted for, payouts can be made on any platform - through UPI, directly into the banks, as a payment card or even as gift certificates to make online purchases.

Working of Applications Programming Interface Banking:

1. You have to select a funding account to transfer funds to it (For example: through NEFT)
2. You can create as many disbursal accounts as needed and these can be made to organise funds.
3. After this, you can start disbursing the funds through API Banking.

Key Features of Bulk Payments include:

• Payment Order Management - Payment logs allow customers to keep track of their transactions and have a complete history of their payments.
• Scheduled Payments - It allows customers to pay at scheduled dates of the month. This is especially a huge benefit and is extremely time saving when it comes to paying affiliate commissions, customer rebates, survey incentives, and employee benefits on a regular basis.
• Disbursement profiling for different groups of employees/beneficiaries - You can disburse allowances/salaries to your employees based on groups formulated through online portals. All business models are supported.
• Maker-checker Flow Implementation - You can set user access rights and secure your accounts.
• Options to Reverse, Retry and Cancel payment order - You get instant refunds for online payments independent of banks’ working hours.
• Borderless Transactions - Payments can be made to clients in different countries and in different currencies.
• Instant Verification - Bank account and recipient name can be instantly verified before making transfers.
• Cost-effective Transactions - Businesses sending money can cut back on a large amount of wire transfer and foreign exchange fees. In addition, any fees related to the paperwork regarding financial institutions in other countries can be reduced significantly.
• Multiple payout options - Transactions can be made towards bank accounts, Paytm wallet, tax free meal allowances, BHIM UPI ID, and gift vouchers, making this a versatile payment option.

The main benefits of using API Banking to make bulk payments include:

Although integrating an API is slightly more complex than using bulk file uploads or making manual transfers, API is completely automated and has numerous benefits over the ‘traditional’ bulk bank transfers.

Mass payments through API banking is more recipient-focused with payouts being more than just bank transfers, and the bank accounts for the recipient are verified in real time allowing for a faster and more effective way to transfer funds.

With the evolution of technology, there are no longer barriers or borders stopping individuals or organisations from expanding their market and trade. With the concept of ‘Open Banking’ and the easy availability of mass payment platforms, international business opportunities have been blooming.

A national holiday or a bank holiday will not affect the service and this, in turn, facilitates expansion and encourages trade with customers outside the country (although there are restrictions relating to the volume and purpose of payment).

As bulk payments are batched together for efficiency, you can make thousands of payments within a matter of minutes as opposed to bank transfers which take time to process and this whole process is automated using an API.

Transfer of funds is within a matter of minutes. While the transfer of amounts over 2,00,000 can take longer and are restricted by banking hours, transfers through BHIM UPI ID and PayTM wallet is instantaneous.

All bank accounts in India are supported with instant verification of the recipient details before a transaction. In case of wrong account details being entered, transfer of funds fails immediately, and a confirmation of failure is received from the parent bank within 24 hours.

Bulk payments through API banking also saves a lot of time. It is an automated platform that manages high volumes of payments, and employs technology to execute these payments. It can reduce the workload of a company significantly thereby increasing efficiency towards more profitable tasks and saving money and resources too.