How can I conduct a batch payment?

Businesses may submit a single file and make numerous payments across a variety of currencies and payment types using Freemarket's batch payments capabilities at no extra cost. The transaction types of the payments might vary, and our clients are able to make cross-border payments effectively and efficiently. Freemarket’s clients need to be able to make multiple payments:

• Quickly; saving the time and cost of manually typing or pasting-in payments
• Efficiently; using a format configurable from their ERP or treasury platform
• Accurately; minimising the expensive mistakes associated with manual keying

Important information on batch transactions

• The service can be switched on or off depending on the client’s needs
• Any client requiring this functionality should request it through their Relationship Manager
• Multiple currencies can be included in the same batch
• Each payment in the file will be treated as individual payments and will be debited as such. For example, a file which has 15 USD and 12 CAD payments will see 15 debits on their USD account and 12 debits on their CAD account
• Clients will upload a .CSV file to the platform containing all the required data
• The web dashboard can only be used to upload the payment file
• There is a guide & template .CSV file in the appendix of this article
• We accept a range of payment types on the file(s) e.g. SWIFT, SEPA, Faster Payments etc.
• Each payment order will be subject to initial data input validation and checks
• Any payments which do not pass validation (checks on file format, message content, account numbers etc.) will be highlighted when the file is uploaded
• The payments which do not pass initial validation checks will have to be corrected or withdrawn from the file and escalated separately; the successful payments that have been checked & validated will continue through the process
• Uploaded files will be processed throughout the day – there aren’t any specific processing times, however, there may be certain cut-off times in some currencies.
• Beneficiaries which have not authorised for single payments may be included in the file
• All of the files will therefore be subject to two-factor approval before processing
• If the file includes new beneficiaries, they will be created in the system with unauthorised status. If a subsequent payment is made to those unauthorised beneficiaries in the future, then the payment requires authorisation
• Post import, payments will be checked by Freemarket & its banking partners for sanctions, PEPs, fraud and in more detail for payment scheme rules, message content, and reachability. Payments which are stopped for investigation at those stages will be removed from the file and the remainder of the file will automatically continue for processing

The batch payment procedure from start to completion

To access the batch payments screen, log into your Freemarket account and select the batch option.

Choose the pre-formatted CSV file by selecting the file upload button. To ensure the accuracy of the information, many validations will be performed, including checks of the account balance in each currency, beneficiary information, ultimate originator, and the maximum withdrawal amount necessary to complete the file. If there is a mistake, the system will indicate the cause so that it may be fixed:

All cross-border transactions worth more than 100,000 GBP must be made individually, without using the bulk option. You will receive an email or text message telling you that all validations are completed using an OTP. The message will also provide the total number of transactions and a special batch number (identifier).

You will be prompted to confirm the beneficiaries every 30 days using the platform's 2FA function. This indicates that the user must approve the batch by verifying the specified code. The system will create beneficiaries with the status "unauthorised" if more beneficiaries are added to the batch payment. The recipients must be authorised to receive future payments. The other account user(s) will be alerted if the account is set up for approval workflow and asked to confirm authorisation and to approve the user.

Once the preceding steps are finished and you can see all the payments, a new transaction type will be generated. There is no ability to accept the individual transactions in the file; just to approve or reject the batch as a whole. Once the batch payment is accepted, the payment won't go through until the system has completed processing each transaction.

As soon as everything has been processed, the batch's status will change to complete. The entire batch will be accessible in finished transactions. In order to confirm that the batch has been processed and is therefore finished, an email or SMS will be issued to the user.

Appendix

1.0 Format Guide

Note: comma is not allowed on the provided CSV as it will cause an error in the file.

Important: all mandatory fields need to be populated and field format adhered to for the file to be processed with no errors. Non-mandatory fields will need to remain blank.

• Import file example

• Payment Purpose Codes example

• Industry list example