Bulk/Batch Payment

1. Version Control

Version

Date

Description of Changes

Bahrain OBF v1.0.0

28th Oct 2020

Initial Release

2. Introduction

Bulk/Batch payment allows the user/customer to post his/her consent at PISP to initiate multiple payments to one or more beneficiaries in a single transaction, wherein the PISP provides this instruction to the customer’s ASPSPs. The user/customer can select the date of payment to the respective beneficiaries as per his/her requirements. This use case details out the Customer Experience Guidelines and Technical API Specifications that are required to be developed and followed by both ASPSPs and PISPs. This use case is applicable mainly for corporate customer.

Few sample bulk/Batch payments include salary payments, multi-invoice payments, supplier payments, multiple refund processing, etc.

3. Customer Experience Guidelines

3.1 Initiation of Bulk/Batch Payment

3.1.1 Customer Experience Journey:

Business users/customers can initiate, through PISPs, Bulk/Batch payments allowing them to make multiple payments from their payment accounts.

The authentication approach used in this journey replicates single domestic payment-a/c selection @PISP (supplementary info), where there is supplementary information to be displayed. If the payment order is incomplete then the principles of journey single domestic payment-a/c selection @ASPSP will apply.

The following definitions of Bulk and Batch payments are used:

Bulk Payment: A group of payments (e.g. in a file) to be paid to multiple creditor accounts from the same debtor account, on the same date, with the same currency and through the same payment scheme.

Batch Payment: A group of payments (e.g. in a file) to be paid to multiple creditor accounts from multiple debtor accounts. These may involve different payment execution dates, currencies and payment schemes.

 

 

3.1.2 Customer Experience Checklist and Customer Experience Considerations

S.No.

Customer Experience Checklist and Customer Experience Considerations 

 Participant

Implementation Requirements

1

Minimum Set of Parameters

PISPs must either allow user/customer to specify any of the below information or pre-populate this information on their behalf for the Bulk & Batch payments:

  • Total amount of all payments in the Bulk/Batch and currency

  • Number of payments included in the Bulk/Batch

  • Reference for the file (as per best practice)

 

 

PISP

 

 

Required

 

 

2

User/Customer payment Account Selection:

If PISPs allow users/customers to import/upload a Batch/Bulk file of payments, then the file may contain one user/customer payment Account (for Bulk) or multiple user/customer payment Accounts (for Batch). In this case, PISPs should not allow the customer to define a user/customer payment Account for the Bulk or Batch. PISPs may read the file and pre-populate the user/customer payment Account in the case of Bulk payments. Moreover, PISPs may use the user/customer payment Account IBAN to identify and pre-populate the user’s/customer's ASPSP that the Bulk/Batch needs to be submitted for processing.

Otherwise, if no external file upload or user/customer payment Account(s) in the file, PISPs must allow users/customers to either:

  • Enter the user/customer payment Account details (one or multiple)

  • Select their account details (assumes they have been saved previously and a user/customer is required to verify/authorize the account identification details in a PISP before storing it in PISP)

  • Select their ASPSP in order to select their user/customer payment Account from there

 

PISP

 

Required

3

Minimum Set of Parameters:

If PISPs allows user/customers to import/upload a Bulk/ Batch file of payments, then the file may contain the payment scheme(s) and the requested execution date(s) for the Bulk/Batch of payments. In this case, PISPs should not allow the customer to define the payment scheme and the requested execution date. PISPs may read the file and pre-populate the payment scheme and the requested execution date in the case of Bulk payments and also for the Batch payments if the same throughout the file.

Otherwise, if no external file upload or payment scheme and the requested execution date in the file, PISPs must allow user/customer to specify the below information:

  • Instruction instrument (payment scheme)

  • Requested Execution date

Note: For Batch Payments, this will only hold if these parameters will need to apply to all the transactions within the Batch.

 

PISP

 

Required

4

User/Customer Consent to PISP:

PISPs must request for the user’s/customer's consent to the payment clearly displaying any of the following information if specified by users/customers or pre- populated by PISPs:

  • Total amount of all payments in the Bulk/Batch and currency (subject to S.No. 2 options)

  • Number of payments included in the Bulk/Batch (subject to S.No. 2 options)

  • Reference for the file (as per best practice) (subject to S.No. 2 options)

  • Instruction instrument (payment scheme) (subject to S.No. 1 options)

  • Requested Execution date (subject to S.No. 1 options)

  • User/Customer payment Account or selected ASPSP (subject to S.No. 2 options)

    • Note 1: If user/customer payment Account is selected in the previous screen, PISPs should mask the account details

    • Note 2: If user/customer payment Account details are provided, PISPs may use the account IBAN to derive and display the ASPSP

PISPs must provide messaging to inform users/customers that they will be taken to their ASPSPs to complete the payment. Example wording: "You will be securely transferred to your ASPSP to authenticate and make the payment".

CX consideration:

  • Generic PISP to ASPSP redirection screen and message

 

 

 

PISP

 

 

 

Required

5

SCA-Strong Customer Authentication

SCA must be the only action required at the ASPSPs (unless supplementary information required). The ASPSP authentication must have no more than the number of steps that the user/customer would experience when directly accessing the ASPSP channel.

CX consideration:

  • If SCA as described in this section cannot occur on the same screen of displaying the amount and the payee (e.g. for some biometric authentications methods), then ASPSPs should offer users/customers options to proceed or cancel the payment with "equal prominence”

 

 

  ASPSP

 

 

 Required

 

 

 

 

6

Additional Supplementary Information:

Although the payee details and total amount are known to the ASPSP before the user/customer is authenticated. ASPSPs must introduce a step after authentication to allow users/customers to provide additional information associated with the Bulk/Batch payment in order to complete the payment instructions if the payment order is incomplete. This information may include:

  •  User/Customer payment Account Identification details (for Bulk payments only)

  • Instruction instrument (payment scheme) (for Bulk payments and for Batch only if it applies to all payments in the Batch)

  • Requested Execution date (for Bulk payments and for Batch only if it applies to all payments in the Batch)

ASPSPs must be able to introduce a step after authentication to display additional /supplementary information in relation to the Bulk\Batch payment instructions such as expected execution date, specific terms related to this payment type, charges, etc.

 CX consideration:

  • ASPSPs should also display to users/customers all the payment instruction information received from PISPs

  • ASPSPs should inform users/customers about their “point of no return” for making the payment and that their payment will be made after pressing the proceed button. Example wording: "Proceed to make payment”

  • ASPSPs should allow users/customers to review the information described above. The user/customer can either proceed with the payment or cancel it, on the same screen using options with “equal prominence”

  • Generic ASPSP to PISP redirection Screen and message

 

 

 

 

 

ASPSP

 

 

 

 

 

Required

 

7

PISP Confirmation

PISPs must display the information received from the ASPSP. This information may include:

  • The unique identifier assigned to the payment instruction by ASPSPs

  • The payment status (and status update date & time) - Confirmation of successful payment initiation

If received form ASPSPs, PISPs must display the information received from the ASPSP. This information may include:

  • The expected payment execution date & time

  • The expected settlement date & time (i.e. the value date of the payment)

  • The ASPSP charges (where applicable)

 

 

 

PISP

 

 

 

Required

 

8

Further Payment Status Update

PISPs must follow up with ASPSPs in order to check and update the users/customers with the most updated information that can be received by ASPSPs in relation to the execution of the payment.

 

PISP

 

Required

 

4. API specification: Brief description

4.1 Bulk/Batch Payment Consents

This API Specification page details out the Bulk/Batch Payment Consents resource is used by a PISP to register an intent to initiate a Bulk/Batch Payment.

4.2 Bulk/Batch Payments

This API Specification page details out the Bulk/Batch Payment resource is used by a PISP to initiate a Bulk/Batch Payment.

 

 

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