Direct Debit Transmission Files
To electronically transfer funds from a constituent’s bank account, you must create a direct debit transmission file to send to your organization’s bank. For example, you have several direct debit transactions in a revenue batch to be processed by EFT. To receive the direct debit payments, you must send your organization’s bank specific financial information to initiate the transaction. This financial information, such as payment amount and account numbers, is obtained in a transmission file. You can send the transmission file to and from the organization’s bank via portable memory or as an email attachment. You and your bank should decide the best way to communicate this information.
Note: If you generate a direct debit file for a SEPA bank account, you download the transmission file in the PAIN.008 XML format for those banks. For more information about SEPA, refer to Direct Debit Payments and SEPA Banking Institutions.
When you work with direct debit transmission files, consider when to send the prenotification to the bank. A prenotification alerts the bank that you will debit the constituent’s account and verifies the transfer is set up correctly. You must send prenotifications to the bank at least 10 days before the date you want to transfer the funds. When you send the prenotification to the bank, you request that the bank verify the account information is set up correctly and validate the account number. If the account number does not exist or is invalid, the bank declines the request. No funds transfer with a prenotification, and the bank does not verify sufficient funds exist. For more information about prenotifications, refer to Generate Prenotifications.
After you send a prenotification to the bank, you can create the direct debit transmission file to send to the bank. When the transmission file returns to your organization, you can commit its payments to the database. If a transaction is successful, the applicable amount for that payment is deposited into your organization’s bank account. If the transaction is unsuccessful, you can add the applicable rejection codes A rejection code is sent when a credit card transaction is rejected by the payment processor. They can be permanent (if the card is expired, for example) or provisional (if there are insufficient funds on the card). for that payment in the revenue batch. For information about how to create and manage direct debit transmission files, refer to Generate Direct Debit Files.
Note: To ensure your organization’s bank can process your direct debit transmission files, you must communicate effectively with your organization’s bank. Coding requirements are strict for direct debit files, and your organization’s bank can work with you in “test mode” to verify they can process your files. When the testing process is validated, you can request that the bank transfer you to “live mode” to begin to process payments. The program supports National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) for direct debit formats. For information about the file format, refer to Direct Debit File Formats.