Paying someone via mobile money is not a difficult task, after all, most organizations have a mobile wallet, bank account or have the ability to visit a mobile money agent for a deposit nearby their offices. However, while it is easy to make one outgoing payment, a high number of outgoing payments can become time-consuming and prone to error if no good system is in place.
What are mobile money bulk payments?
Mobile money bulk payments, also known as mass payments, batch payments or bulk payouts for mobile money, is a batch of mobile money payments from a single account to a pre-specified list of more than one beneficiary executed at the same time.
Imagine you are doing hundreds of different payments per month or a set of the same payments on a regular basis. Doing each payment individually is a time-consuming job, this is where bulk payments come in. The advantage of doing a bulk payment is that doing payments is reduced to preparing a list that includes all beneficiaries.
How to setup a beneficiary file?
A mobile money bulk payment is a payment created from a pre-specified list. This list includes the beneficiary details of each beneficiary. Usually the row includes the beneficiary and the columns include the details of the beneficiary. A row usually includes the name of the beneficiary, the amount, the mobile money wallet type and a note for internal usage. The note can be used to match with the internal (accounting) system.
Real time tracking
The most common system for mobile money bulk payments is a portal bank or via a MNO. Each system has its own tracking ability and the possibilities depend per country.
Who can be paid
As long as the beneficiary has an account they can be included in a bulk payment, think of:
- Loan disbursement
- Insurance claims settlement
- Pay employees
- Promotional payments
- Payment of suppliers
- Disbursement of various project funds
- Dividend payments
- Rent payments
Apart from companies and individuals, mobile money bulk payments can also be made to governmental and financial institutions, such as:
- Utility bills – water (DAWASCO, WRA etc), power (TANESCO, Kenya Power)
- School fees
- Bank / SACCO account deposits
- Statutory payments – NHIF, NSSF, KRA, TRA
How do you setup a mobile money bulk payment system
A mobile money bulk payment system can be provided via an online banking portal or via a MNO.
There is also an option to integrate it with your existing internal (accounting) system reducing the reconciliation load. ClickPesa can help you with this, find here more information about the benefits of an integrated mobile money bulk payments solution for your organization.