Bulk payment

Bulk Payment APIs enable businesses to submit and track multiple payment transactions efficiently, reducing processing overhead and simplifying high-volume payment operations.

These APIs are suited for supplier payments, vendor settlements, customer disbursements, incentives, refunds, and other large-scale payment workflows.

Available services

• Make bulk payment – Submit multiple payment instructions in a single request.
• Bulk payment enquiry – Retrieve the latest processing status of a submitted bulk payment and its individual transactions.

Bulk Payment APIs provide greater visibility, scalability, and control over high-volume payment operations while supporting bank-specific processing and settlement requirements.

Bulk payment processing

Bulk payment lifecycle consists of:

1. Make Bulk Payment – Submit the payment file to the bank.
2. Bulk Payment Enquiry – Retrieve the latest payment status after the payment has been submitted.

Bulk Payment Enquiry service was introduced to support banks that have moved to native bulk processing and now provide a dedicated enquiry mechanism.

Important: The current Make Bulk Payment response does not include any instant confirmation for banks as the operation is being carried through the native bulk processing. Refer to the latest API response definition for the applicable bank.

When to perform bulk payment enquiry

The timing and frequency of enquiries depend on the payment type and the status returned by the Make Bulk Payment API.

Initial Enquiry

• Do not perform Bulk Payment Enquiry when the Make Bulk Payment response returns StatusCode: Failed
• For requests that return StatusCode: Processing or StatusCode: Request_Timeout the first Bulk Payment Enquiry should be performed 30 minutes after the payment request was posted.

Same-day payments

For same-day bulk payments:

• Start enquiry 30 minutes after submission when the initial status is Processing or Request_Timeout.
• Perform enquiries at hourly intervals.
• Continue for a 24-hour window.
• Stop when the transaction reaches Completed or Failed.

Scheduled payments

For scheduled bulk payments:

• Perform Bulk Payment Enquiry once per day at EOD until the value date approaches.
• On the value date, switch to hourly enquiries.
• Continue hourly enquiries for a 24-hour window until Completed or Failed is received.

Detecting payment reversals

A payment can initially appear successful and subsequently be reversed. For bulk payments, it is recommended to perform an additional Bulk Payment Enquiry at EOD on the third and fourth day after the value date to detect potential payment reversals.

Important: Even when a payment has reached an apparently final successful status, the additional third- and fourth-day enquiries are recommended to account for reversal scenarios. A reversal may cause a payment that was initially Completed to subsequently become Failed.

Possible post-submission failures

A payment may fail after it has been successfully posted to the bank. Possible scenarios include:

• Technical error at the bank
• Insufficient balance, resulting in bank rejection
• Payment reversal due to an issue at the bank

Therefore, a successful initial submission or successful interim status should not necessarily be treated as the final outcome until the applicable enquiry window has been completed.

Expected processing timeline

Same-day bulk payments generally settle within an average of 30 minutes. However, the actual time to receive a final status can vary by bank and settlement cycle.

Examples include:

• SNB may provide a status update after 8:00 PM, following settlement.
• Bank Al Jazira may require additional processing and settlement time before the status is reflected.
• Payment reversals may affect the final status several days after the value date.

Because of these scenarios, the final status may take longer than the typical 30-minute settlement window.

Final payment status

The following statuses should be treated as final according to the applicable API response:

• StatusCode: Failed in the Make Bulk Payment response
• StatusCode: Completed or Failed in the Bulk Payment Enquiry response (at transaction level)

However, because a payment reversal can occur after an initially successful status. It is recommended to perform additional enquiries at EOD on the third and fourth day after the value date.

Bank-specific processing limits

Bulk payment processing capacity varies by bank.

Bank limits and processing capabilities may change and are subjected to bank operations, policies, and client agreement.

Recommended payment handling approach

For reliable bulk payment processing, implement the following sequence:

1. Submit the payment using Make Bulk Payment.
2. If the response is Failed, mark the payment as failed and do not perform an enquiry.
3. If the response is Processing or Request_Timeout, wait 30 minutes before the first enquiry.
4. For same-day payments, perform enquiries hourly for up to 24 hours.
5. For scheduled payments, perform enquiries once daily at EOD until the value date.
6. On the value date, perform enquiries hourly for 24 hours.
7. Perform additional enquiries at EOD on the third and fourth day after the value date to identify potential reversals.
8. Stop processing once the applicable final status has been established.

Bulk payment - Status handling summary

API updates and announcements

The introduction of Bulk Payment Enquiry reflects changes in bank-side processing capabilities. As banks introduce new services or change their processing behavior, SingleView may update the corresponding API documentation.

Where a bank change does not require a modification to the existing API contract, the change may be communicated separately through email announcements so existing users are aware of relevant bank or processing changes.