Overview

Batchly supports South African payment files for FNB Online Banking Enterprise.

Your organisation pays from its own FNB bank account. Each supplier you are paying has their own receiving bank account, which may be held with FNB or another South African bank.

How the payment details work

Batchly does not let you edit the supplier's bank account number. If the account number is incorrect, update it in Xero and refresh payment readiness in Batchly.

What you need to confirm for each supplier

For each supplier included in an FNB payment file, Batchly needs:

• Bank account number — supplied from Xero.
• Branch or universal branch code — a six-character code for the supplier's receiving bank.
• Account type — the type of the supplier's receiving account.

Supported account types are:

• Current / Cheque
• Savings
• Transmission
• Bond
• Subscription Share

Where can I find the supplier's branch code and account type?

Use a trusted source that relates to the same supplier bank account recorded in Xero.

• Supplier bank confirmation letter or proof of bank account: this is usually the best source because it can confirm the account number, branch code and account type together.
• Your existing payment or beneficiary records: if you already pay this supplier through FNB, your existing records may contain the branch code and account type.
• The supplier's bank: a bank's published universal branch code may be used where appropriate.
• The supplier: if the account type or branch details are unclear, ask the supplier to confirm their current banking details.

If a supplier advises that their bank details have changed, verify the change using your organisation's normal supplier-verification process before updating Xero or confirming new payment details.

Can suppliers use different South African banks?

Yes. Your organisation can pay from an FNB account while individual suppliers receive funds into accounts held with different South African banks.

Each supplier must have the correct branch or universal branch code and account type for their own receiving account. You do not need to create a separate Batchly payment run simply because suppliers use different banks.

Set up a supplier for FNB payments

1. Make sure the supplier's bank account number is recorded correctly in Xero.
2. In Batchly, open Supplier Intelligence.
3. Open Payment Readiness.
4. Find the supplier showing Payment details required.
5. Click Set payment details.
6. Check the masked Xero bank account shown by Batchly.
7. Enter the supplier's branch or universal branch code.
8. Select the supplier's account type.
9. Click Save and confirm.

The supplier should become Ready immediately. You do not need to run another Xero sync just to save the branch code and account type.

What if I have a large number of suppliers?

The branch code and account type are an initial supplier setup requirement. Once confirmed in Batchly, they are saved for that supplier and do not need to be entered again for every bill or payment run.

If you have many suppliers, start with the suppliers you intend to pay in your next batch. Suppliers without confirmed South African payment details remain blocked from the FNB cash file until they are set up.

If the same supplier exists across multiple Xero organisations, payment details are currently confirmed separately for each organisation.

What happens if the supplier's Xero bank account changes?

Batchly remembers which Xero bank account the saved branch code and account type were confirmed against.

If the supplier's bank account number later changes in Xero, Batchly will no longer treat the previous confirmation as payment-ready.

The supplier will show: Bank details changed — review required.

1. Verify the changed supplier bank account using your normal supplier-verification process.
2. Refresh payment readiness in Batchly.
3. Open Review payment details.
4. Confirm the branch code and account type for the new account.
5. Click Save and confirm.

The supplier remains blocked from the FNB cash file until the new account has been confirmed.

Clear previously confirmed payment details

If you no longer want to use the saved branch code and account type:

1. Open Supplier Intelligence → Payment Readiness.
2. Click Review payment details for the supplier.
3. Click Clear payment details.
4. Review the warning and confirm the clear action.

Clearing the Batchly payment details does not change or remove the supplier's bank account in Xero.

The supplier will return to Payment details required and cannot be included in an FNB cash payment file until the branch code and account type are confirmed again.

Create the FNB payment file

1. Open Bills.
2. Select the payment-ready ZAR bills you want to pay.
3. Click Process Batch.
4. In Pay From, select the FNB account you intend to pay from and confirm the payment date.
5. Continue to Export Banking File.
6. Review the payment date, payer account and total debit.
7. Click Download FNB CSV & Continue.

Upload the downloaded CSV to FNB Online Banking Enterprise and review the imported payments before authorising them.

What happens next?

After reviewing and authorising the payments in FNB, return to Batchly to complete the remaining workflow:

• Complete Mark as Paid to record the payments in Xero.
• Send supplier remittance advice emails, or skip the remittance step if required.
• Export the batch report for your records.

Troubleshooting

Need help?

If you are unsure about a supplier's branch code or account type, confirm the details with the supplier or their bank before generating the payment file.

If an FNB import fails, contact Batchly support with the payment date, the exact FNB import error and, where available, the FNB import result.