Bulk Payment Meaning | Definition | Challenges

Bulk payments - also commonly known as mass payments - offer a fast and cost effective way to send money to many people at once, both locally and internationally. You could choose bulk payments for running international payroll, or for paying all your overseas suppliers at once, for example. Used well, bulk payouts can save time and money, allowing you to focus on business growth instead of admin.

If you’re looking for easier bill payment services for your business, bulk payouts could be a big part of that. This guide covers the bulk payment meaning, and how to integrate a bulk payment solution like BatchTransfer into your US business.

What are Bulk Payments?

Bulk payments are a service usually only afforded to business account holders, to make multiple payments by uploading a single spreadsheet. You’ll need to enter into your spreadsheet the details of who needs to be paid, the amounts and currencies, and you can then upload the sheet in one go, to your preferred payment provider. They’ll take the payment information from your uploaded sheet, and process all the payments as a batch.

Bulk payments can have lots of advantages - saving time, and in some cases, money too. Plus, if you have a tool like BatchTransfer, you’ll get help to automatically repair problematic payments, including rejected ones, and can track your mass payouts in real-time.

Challenges of Bulk Payments

Bulk payments can be a very helpful solution for businesses looking to reduce their admin burden. However, there are a few challenges you’ll need to consider too. Here’s a roundup of things to think about when choosing if bulk transactions are right for you.

Limits

Before you choose a bulk payment service, take a look at any limits which apply. This could include the value of single payments, the value of total payments, or the number of transfers you can add to a single spreadsheet.

Most business account services do offer very high limits for transfers, to allow businesses to transact freely. Plus, the total number of payments you can process at once is usually 1,000 or more - making this suitable for a very broad range of business types and sizes.

Processing Time

If you’re paying team members or suppliers, it’s crucial their money arrives on time. Check the processing times of different services before you start using them. Particularly for international transfers, processing times can be long if the payment passes through the SWIFT network. Non-bank alternatives can often process the transfers through a local network instead of SWIFT, for a faster delivery time.

Take a look also at the options you’ll have for tracking payments once they’re on the way.

Safety and Security

Money transfer services should be properly licensed for the services they offer in the US and beyond. Plus, you’ll want to look out for extra security measures like end to end encryption. Aside from checking the provider’s security credentials look robust, take a look at how they operate customer service. If something goes wrong you’ll feel better knowing that you can get instant help from a friendly service team.

Fees

Naturally, when you’re transacting on behalf of your business, minimizing fees is important. This can be complicated when sending bulk payments, as different providers take very different approaches to their fee structure. You’ll need to make sure you’re considering all the fees which may apply, which could include a monthly fee, fair usage fees, or currency conversion costs, as well as any distinct fee for the bulk transfer.

If you’re struggling to find a provider which has clear and simple pricing, take a look at BatchTransfer. There’s a one time fee to get full account features, but then no monthly charges, and bulk payments are free to use once you’re signed up.

Cross-currency Transfers

You can use your bulk payment service to send money to many different countries and currencies all at once. However, this may mean that different fees apply. As well as the fee for processing your transfer, the provider may add on an additional percentage charge for currency conversion, which can be particularly costly when you’re sending a high volume of transfers.

Looking for a provider where currency conversion uses the mid-market rate with transparent fees, can present the best value for international bulk payments in particular.

Implementation

The final thing to consider when choosing a provider for your bulk payments is how simple it’ll be to implement the process - and what support you’ll find along the way.

You’ll need to navigate things like ensuring the appropriate members of your team have access to the system, importing client lists, setting up batch payment templates and so on. Ultimately, using bulk transactions can save a lot of time - but it’s still worth checking how streamlined the onboarding process is to make sure you don’t have to invest too much resource up front.

How to Integrate Bulk Payments into your Business Activities

The exact way you integrate bulk payments into your business will depend on the provider you select, and the support they’re able to offer you on the journey. However, the broad outline of the process will remain similar, whichever route you pick:

1. Think about the types of transactions you want to make - including volume, value, frequency and currency
2. Compare providers, basing your selection process on the specific transfer types you need
3. Set up a provider account and connect your bank account or other source of funding if required
4. Integrate your provider with your cloud accounting system if this service is offered
5. Choose the bulk payment template that you want to use, based on the provider requirements and your own needs
6. Schedule one off or recurring transfers using the template
7. Track and monitor the performance of the provider, so you can optimize as you go

3 Bulk Payment Services

Lots of different specialist providers offer a comprehensive bulk payment system for business customers, as part of their account offering. However, as different bulk payment services can have very different features and fees, it’s worth comparing a few before you decide which works best for your unique business needs. Here’s some inspiration to start you off, with popular international business account providers, which offer bulk transactions to their US customers.

Save Time and Money On Overseas Payments With Wise Business

Wise Business can help you save big time on international payments.

Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks. The Wise Business account is designed with international business in mind, and makes it easy to send, hold, and manage business funds in currencies.

Signing up to Wise Business allows access to BatchTransfer which you can use to pay up to 1000 invoices in one go. This is perfect for small businesses that are managing a global team, saving a ton of time and hassle when making payments.

Some key features of Wise Business include:

• Mid-market rate: Get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees on international transfers

• Global Account: Send money to countries and hold multiple currencies, all in one place. You can also get major currency account details for a one-off fee to receive overseas payments like a local

• Access to BatchTransfer: Pay up to 1000 invoices in one click. Save time, money, and stress when you make 1000 payments in one click with BatchTransfer payments. Access to BatchTransfer is free with a Wise Business account

• Auto-conversions: Don't like the current currency exchange rate? Set your desired rate, and Wise sends the transfer the moment the rate is met

• Free invoicing tool: Generate and send professional invoices

• No minimum balance requirements or monthly fees: US-based businesses can open an account for free. Learn more about fees here

Use Wise Business >>

PayPal

PayPal’s bulk payment service is called PayPal Payouts - it was previously referred to as the mass payment service. To use this service you must have a PayPal Business account, and use your PayPal balance to make a Payout. You can send to up to 5,000 people at once, but your PayPal balance must be in the same currency you’re sending before you initiate the payment¹. This means that if you’re sending a payment overseas, you’ll need to pay a currency conversion fee, as well as the Payout fee.

Here are some of the key PayPal Payout fees to consider²:

• Sending money in the US - 2% of total transaction value, capped at 1 USD
• Sending money overseas - 2% of total transaction value, capped at variable levels, depending on the currency - 14 GBP or 16 EUR for example
• Currency conversion if needed - 4%

Revolut

Revolut offers US business customers 4 different account plans, from the Basic to a fully custom made option for large enterprises. All plans aside from the Basic plan have the option of sending transfers to up to 1,000 people at once using a bulk payment³. Because you can’t use this feature on the Basic plan - which has no monthly fee - you’ll need to pay charges of 30 USD - 119 USD a month⁴ to access the feature.

Revolut accounts have some no fee transactions included in the monthly fee you pay - with fair usage fees kicking in after that. Similarly for currency conversion - some conversions will be completed at the Revolut rate every month before fair usage charges apply. An out of hours fee also applies if you convert currencies outside of market hours.

Here are some of the key Revolut Bulk Payment fees to consider:

• Plan monthly fees - 30 USD - 119 USD
• Local transfer fee once plan limit is exhausted - 0.2 USD
• International transfer fee once plan limit is exhausted - 5 USD
• Currency conversion fees - 0.6% fair usage fees, 1% out of hours fee

How to do International Bulk Payments

You’ll set up international bulk payments in much the same way that you would a domestic payment.

The key difference is you’ll need to specify the currency the funds should be received in as part of the spreadsheet upload. To ensure your recipient gets the exact amount you need to send to them, many services offer the option to enter the received amount, in the specific currency, to account for fluctuations in the exchange rate. This gives you peace of mind that your team or supplier will get their exact salary, or invoiced amount, rather than falling slightly short because of fees or changes in the exchange rate.

Source:

1. PayPal US Help - batch payments
2. PayPal US pricing
3. Revolut Help - Bulk Payments
4. Revolut Business Pricing