BPAY® Batch service

We’re changing the way we process your BPAY® Batch service and introducing Available Funds processing. This means when you submit a BPAY Batch payment file, we’ll first check the full file value against the Available Funds in your account. If there are insufficient funds, we’ll look to see if you have a Formal Limit in place. If you do, we’ll process up to the Formal Limit value.

Note: Available Funds means the balance of your account, including any Formal Overdraft Facility, less uncleared funds and excludes set-off arrangements.

There are two main changes to be aware of.

• Available Funds

We’re introducing Available Funds processing to enable files to be processed using your Available Funds balance. This change will have an impact on what your real-time account balance looks like within your accounts.

• Processing

When you submit your BPAY Batch files, they will be processed via one of the scenarios below.

1. Available funds
   If there are funds in your account, the file will “straight through process” using these funds, whether there is a Formal Limit or not.
2. Insufficient Funds, no Formal Limit
   If there are insufficient funds and no Formal Limit, the file will reject and you will be contacted by us to either transfer funds into the account or remove payments from your file and re-send the file.
3. Insufficient Funds, Formal Limit
   If there are insufficient funds and you have a Formal Limit, the full value of the file will process against your Formal Limit (provided the file value is within this limit).
4. Insufficient Funds, Insufficient Limit
   If there are insufficient funds and the limit is also insufficient, a referral will be sent to your Relationship Banker who will decide to pay or decline your file.

Debit to your accounts/s

Your real-time account balances may look different when successful payments are made based on Available Funds in your account. Your account balance will be debited by the full value of each file in real time and the value of any payments that fail BPAY Biller validation will be credited back to your account in real time. Overnight, these debits and credits will balance and display as a single transaction in your account history the next day.

If your file processes using your Formal Limit, you will continue to see one overnight debit to your account.

We are making this change on 1 October 2020.

Your real-time account balances may look different when successful payments are made based on Available Funds in your account. Your account balance will be debited by the full value of each file in real time and the value of any payments that fail BPAY Biller validation will be credited back to your account in real time. Overnight, these debits and credits will balance and display as a single transaction in your account history the next day.

If your file processes using your Formal Limit, you will continue to see one overnight debit to your account.

If you use the BPAY Batch service through NAB (by submitting files through either NAB Connect or Direct Link), you will notice this change, primarily where you submit a file and it is processed using the Available Funds in your account. The biggest difference you will see is the change to the real-time debits (successful payments) and credits (failed payments) that appear in your intra-day (or real-time) account balance. Any intra-day debit or credit balances will appear as a single net debit overnight in your account history.

We’ve listened to customer feedback and understand that the use of Formal Limits complicates our onboarding process and delays the ability to start using your BPAY Batch service. We’ve made changes so that Formal Limits are now optional. If you need a Formal Limit, you can discuss this with your Relationship Banker or Small Business Specialist. If you don’t need a Formal Limit, you can by-pass the credit application process and use Available Funds processing which will save you time and allow you to start making BPAY Batch payments sooner.

Please be aware of these changes. You will not need to do anything different to the way you submit your BPAY Batch files or receive your results files.

Available Funds means the balance of your account, including any Formal Overdraft Limit, less uncleared funds and excludes set-off arrangements.

The “Formal Limit” is the transactional limit applied specifically to the BPAY Batch service. This is separate to any Formal Overdraft Limit that your Relationship Banker may approve.

• The Formal Limit is a processing limit which enables you to submit a BPAY Batch file up to its maximum value to be processed from your nominated accounts where there are insufficient Available Funds in your account.
• Formal Overdraft Limits extend the working capital in your bank accounts and incur debit interest when you use these funds.

No, you no longer need to use a Formal Limit as a result of this change. Please contact your Relationship Banker to discuss your transactional requirements and whether a Formal Limit is required.

When you submit a BPAY Batch file, the processing of this file will fall into one of the below scenarios:

1. Available funds
   If there are funds in your account, the file will “straight through process” using these funds, whether there is a Formal Limit or not.
2. Insufficient Funds, no Formal Limit
   If there are insufficient funds and no Formal Limit, the file will reject and you will be contacted by us to either transfer funds into the account or remove payments from your file and re-send the file.
3. Insufficient Funds, Formal Limit
   If there are insufficient funds and you have a Formal Limit, the full value of the file will process against your Formal Limit (provided the file value is within this limit).
4. Insufficient Funds, Insufficient Limit
   If there are insufficient funds and the limit is also insufficient, a referral will be sent to your Relationship Banker who will decide to pay or decline your file.

You can only arrange a temporary excess if you don’t have enough Available Funds in your account at the time of processing and you have a Formal Limit in place. If you do not have a Formal Limit, the system will not look to any pre-arranged temporary excess in calculating the available funds balance. Temporary excesses are subject to approval by your banker.

You can debit up to five of your nominated BPAY Batch accounts in the one file. There is no specific order or format for debiting multiple accounts. If you’re processing without a Formal Limit, ensure that every account that you’re debiting has cleared Available Funds to avoid file rejection.

No, BPAY Batch does not recognise other accounts in a set-off arrangement. You can nominate five (5) accounts during onboarding and you may debit all of these accounts in each file you submit. However, the system will not look to other set-off arrangements to determine Available Funds.

If a file can’t be processed due to technical failures, insufficient funds or insufficient limit, you will receive assistance from NAB. Your file might be rejected if:

• Your payment has a processing date that’s older than two business days prior to the file submission date.
• You send the same file twice, and it’s identified as a duplicate.
• Your account has insufficient funds to process the file. Ensure your account has enough cleared funds upon submission of your file to avoid rejection. If you are debiting multiple accounts in a file, all accounts must have Available Funds, or the file will reject. If you do not have sufficient funds but you have a Formal Limit, your whole file will be processed using your Formal Limit.
• The file is above the value of any Formal Limit that has been pre-approved by NAB.