Batch Debit Processing

Batch debiting allows you to process authorised bank account payments in bulk by uploading a payment file. With this system you are responsible for obtaining the debit authority's, scheduling,  debit amounts, reminders and dishonour handling; we simply process per your instruction. You can build your own batch in Pay Advantage, import from an ABA file, or use the Pay Advantage API.

If you wish to use Batch Debiting you must first contact customer support to enable this option (A separate application is required to enable this facility). Batch card processing is only currently available through the API.

Direct Debit Authority

It is a legal requirement that you hold a valid signed direct debit authority from a signatory on a bank account before debiting. As we don't manage the formal direct debit authority with batch debiting you are required to obtain this from your customer and it must contain all of the information that is contained in our paper/pdf debit requests in particular the debit amount, debit date, frequency, BSB/Account, Account name and the unaltered Direct Debit Terms & Conditions. You can either use  the form by itself or incorporate the required elements into your contracts. An electronic signature is acceptable using a documentation signing system such as docu-sign or please sign.

Before batch debiting can be enabled you are required to submit to us a final version of your direct debit authority and whilst we don't require these to be uploaded you are required to keep these for a minimum of 5 years after the last debit and in line with our terms of service. From time to time we will request you supply these contracts to verify compliance. Should you alter the direct debit authority in any way you must notify and seek our approval first.

ABA Files

The ABA file format, sometimes called Direct Entry, is a flat fixed length file constructed of a number of different transaction types and is the de facto standard for bulk electronic payments in Australia. It is used by all major Australian financial institutions to allow for direct entry debit or credit instructions to be displayed in one simple format.

Pay Advantage uses a modified version of this format for the purpose of importing debit instructions and to maximise compatibility with existing systems.

See the attached "ABA File Specifications"  for assistance creating your ABA files including how to on-charge direct debit fees to your customers. 

Creating a Draft Batch

Once Batch Debiting has been enabled for your account you can access batch debits by going to the Direct Debit Menu & selecting Batch Debiting.

Manual Creation: You can quickly create your own batch debit by clicking the create batch button. From here you can give the batch a name, set the debit date and add individual debit instructions.

Importing from ABA file: Select "Import  Batch File" button to import a batch from a ABA file. The debit date and debit instructions will automatically be created from the information provided in the file. Once a file is imported you can change the date of the debit and delete debit instructions.

API: Refer to the help article on creating debit batches via the API.

*Note restrictions apply for how far forward you can schedule a batch debit. 

Adding Debit Instructions

After you create a batch you will need to add debit instructions for each customer who will be included in this batch. You can also set a Batch name, a reference that will be included with the transaction, Payment amount and fees, and account details. Use Save to save your draft Batch debit, you can come back and edit it later if you need to. Once complete you need to confirm the Batch Debit & Instructions are ready to be authorised.

Confirming & Authorising a Draft Batch

When you are ready to process your draft batch debit you must confirm the batch. Confirmed batches can not be edited. Once confirmed the batch must be authorised by a user/api key that has Batch Debit Authorisation privileges. Multiple batches can be authorised at once.

Processing of batches

Batches that have been confirmed and authorised are deemed to have been accepted for processing. On the date the batch is due to be debited we will process the batch by submitting the debit requests to the individual member institutions requesting them to debit your customers bank accounts. Once this process is complete the batch will be marked as processed. If a batch has a debit date that occurs on a weekend or public holiday the batch will be processed on the next available business day.

Group Key Feature

Any Debit Instruction may have a Group Key assigned. As the name suggests, this field is used for grouping related instructions together. The same group key may be used across any number of batches over any period of time. A good idea is to use the group key as a customers unique code or identifier. This is helpful for fee management and recovery. If a charge dishonour's, any on-charged fee that dishonour's will be added to the next on-charged debit instruction with a matching group key.