Overview

Batchly generates banking files from selected authorised Xero bills for supported payment formats in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and South Africa.

Batchly does not connect directly to your bank or transfer money. You download the payment file from Batchly, upload it to your banking service, review the imported payment and complete your bank's approval and authorisation process.

Once the cash payments have been successfully processed by your bank, return to Batchly and complete Mark as Paid to record the payments in Xero.

Supported banking files

Understanding bank compatibility

Bank-file support works differently by region.

In some regions, Batchly supports a particular banking service, such as NatWest / RBS Bankline or Handelsbanken Corporate Online Banking – Faster Payments in the United Kingdom, or FNB Online Banking Enterprise in South Africa.

In Australia, Batchly supports the standard ABA / Direct Entry payment-file format. This means compatibility is based primarily on whether your business banking service accepts an ABA / Direct Entry file rather than whether Batchly has a direct integration with that bank.

Australia: ABA / Direct Entry compatibility

Batchly generates an Australian ABA / Direct Entry payment file that can be uploaded to compatible Australian business banking services.

Examples of Australian business banking services that can accept the ABA / Direct Entry payment file generated by Batchly include:

• NAB Connect — supports Australian Direct Entry / ABA payment-file uploads.
• Commonwealth Bank CommBiz — supports Direct Entry (EFT) payment-file imports, including files in ABA format.
• Westpac Online Banking — supports Direct Entry / Pay Anyone ABA payment-file imports.
• ANZ Internet Banking for Business — supports .aba payment-file imports for eligible business payment workflows.

These banking services are examples rather than an exhaustive compatibility list. Other Australian business banking services may also accept the standard ABA / Direct Entry format generated by Batchly.

Before you begin

• Connect your organisation to Xero and sync the latest bills and supplier details.
• Have an appropriate pay-from bank account for the supported format and currency.
• For Handelsbanken, use an active GBP bank account set up in Xero and confirm that your Corporate Online Banking service uses the matching eight-column Faster Payments import template.
• Make sure supplier bank account numbers are correct in Xero.
• For South Africa, confirm the supplier's branch or universal branch code and account type separately in Batchly under Supplier Intelligence → Payment Readiness.
• Select authorised bills with an outstanding balance and resolve any blocking warnings.
• Confirm that your banking service supports the relevant payment-file format and that your user has permission to upload and authorise payments.

Step 1: Select your bills

1. Open Bills and use the available filters to find the bills you want to pay.
2. Select the bills and review the selected amounts, bill count and supplier readiness warnings.
3. Click Process Batch.

Step 2: Choose the account, date and amounts

1. In Pay From, choose the bank account you intend to pay from.
2. For UK bank-file runs, check the Bank-file format and select either NatWest/RBS Bankline or Handelsbanken Corporate Online Banking – Faster Payments to match your banking service.
3. Choose the Payment Date.
4. Check that the account is appropriate for the supported payment-file format and currency, then click Continue.
5. If partial bill payments are available for your Batchly plan, review the selected settlement amounts at the payment-amount review step.

A selected settlement amount includes credits and cash combined. The banking file contains only the cash portion of the settlement.

A completely credit-only run does not require a banking file.

The selected payment date is included where supported by the payment-file format. Actual processing still depends on your bank's cut-off times, approval requirements and processing schedule.

Step 3: Review the export for your region

Check the pay-from account, payment date, included bills, cash total and any validation messages before downloading the file.

Payment grouping and reference rules vary by format. The number of bank-payment records in the exported file may therefore differ from the number of Xero bills in the Batchly payment run.

Australia: ABA

Batchly generates the Australian ABA / Direct Entry file used by compatible business banking services such as NAB Connect, Commonwealth Bank CommBiz, Westpac Online Banking and ANZ Internet Banking for Business.

• File Name: optionally change the download name while keeping the .aba extension.
• Payment batch description (optional): up to 12 characters to help identify the batch in your bank import.
• DE User ID (optional): enter the correct six-digit DE User ID / APCA ID if your banking setup requires one.
• Include self-balancing transaction: available for Commonwealth Bank accounts. Enable this only when required by your CommBiz configuration.
• Fallback reference shown to suppliers (optional): up to 18 characters, used when both the supplier's Xero payment reference and contact account / customer reference are blank.
• Click Download ABA & Continue.

Batchly cannot retrieve your DE User ID, balancing-entry requirement or bank permissions from Xero. Keep these settings aligned with the requirements of your banking service.

ABA payments are grouped by supplier and payment destination.

New Zealand: ASB MT9, BNZ AFI or ANZ Transactive

Batchly selects the supported New Zealand payment-file format from the pay-from account you choose.

• ASB accounts use the MT9 export.
• BNZ accounts use the AFI export.
• Supported ANZ accounts use the ANZ Transactive New Zealand CSV without Control Record export.
• Review the selected NZD pay-from account, payment summary and file details before downloading.

Other New Zealand pay-from banks or payment-file variants are not automatically supported. Australian DE User ID, self-balancing and ABA reference settings do not apply to New Zealand files.

United Kingdom: NatWest / RBS Bankline

Select NatWest/RBS Bankline under Bank-file format in Pay From. The export screen is labelled Export NatWest Bankline file. Use this format with the supported NatWest / RBS Bankline service.

• Review the selected GBP pay-from account, sort code, account number and total debit.
• Check the supplier summary and resolve any blocking validation errors.
• Click Download Bankline file.

Do not assume that the Bankline export is compatible with another UK bank or a different payment-import format.

United Kingdom: Handelsbanken Faster Payments

Batchly supports GBP Faster Payments through Handelsbanken Corporate Online Banking using a matching eight-column CSV import template. This support does not include Bacs, EUR or USD payment files.

• In Pay From, choose your active GBP Xero bank account, then select Handelsbanken Corporate Online Banking – Faster Payments under Bank-file format.
• Choose the payment date and continue through any payment-amount review shown.
• On Export Handelsbanken CSV, review the payer account, suppliers, cash amounts, payment reference and total debit. Resolve any blocking validation errors.
• Click Download Handelsbanken CSV.
• After completing any credit allocations when prompted, import the CSV through the matching Faster Payments template in Handelsbanken. Check every imported payment and the total before authorising.

Use the matching eight-column template with amounts interpreted using two implied decimal places: for example, 5880 represents £58.80. Other Handelsbanken templates, including the separate five-column Bulk Faster Payments format, are not interchangeable with this export. If you are unsure which template your service uses, contact Batchly before processing a live run.

South Africa: FNB Online Banking Enterprise

Batchly generates a Payments CSV for supported FNB Online Banking Enterprise payment imports.

Your organisation pays from its selected FNB ZAR account. Suppliers receiving those payments may hold their accounts with FNB or another South African bank.

• Make sure each supplier's bank account number is correct in Xero.
• If a supplier shows Payment details required, open Supplier Intelligence → Payment Readiness.
• Confirm the supplier's branch or universal branch code and account type in Batchly.
• Return to Bills and select the payment-ready ZAR bills.
• In Pay From, select the FNB account you intend to pay from.
• Review the payment date, payer account and total debit.
• Click Download FNB CSV & Continue.

For detailed setup instructions, see Setting up supplier payment details for FNB payments in South Africa.

Step 4: Complete any credit allocation

If your run includes new supplier-credit allocations, complete Apply Credits in Xero when prompted and check that it succeeds before paying the reduced cash amount through your bank.

Step 5: Upload and authorise with your bank

1. Sign in to the banking service for your selected pay-from account.
2. Choose its payment-file import or bulk-payment option and upload the file downloaded from Batchly.
3. Review the imported destination accounts, payment date, references and total against Batchly.
4. Complete your bank's approval and authorisation steps.
5. Check the payment outcome before returning to Batchly.

Renaming a banking file does not prevent duplicate payments. Always confirm the status of the original payment before re-uploading a file.

What happens next

After your bank successfully processes the cash payments, return to Batchly to:

• Complete Mark as Paid to record the payments in Xero.
• Send remittance advice emails, or skip that step if you do not want to send them.
• Export the batch report for your records.

Batchly relies on your confirmation of the banking outcome. If some payments were rejected or did not complete, resolve the difference before recording the run as paid.

Common bank questions

Does Batchly work with Handelsbanken?

Yes. Batchly generates a GBP Faster Payments CSV for Handelsbanken Corporate Online Banking using the matching eight-column import template. Choose your GBP Xero bank account and the Handelsbanken bank-file format in Pay From. Upload, review and authorise the payments in Handelsbanken, and set the portal payment date to match Batchly. This does not imply support for other Handelsbanken templates, Bacs or foreign-currency payment files.

Does Batchly work with NAB?

If you use NAB Connect and your account is configured to upload Australian Direct Entry / ABA payment files, you can generate the ABA file in Batchly and upload it through NAB Connect. Batchly does not connect directly to NAB or transfer the money.

Does Batchly work with Commonwealth Bank?

CommBiz supports Direct Entry payment-file imports. Batchly can generate the Australian ABA file, including an optional self-balancing transaction for Commonwealth Bank accounts where required by the organisation's CommBiz setup.

Does Batchly work with Westpac?

Westpac Online Banking supports Direct Entry / Pay Anyone ABA payment-file imports. Generate the ABA file in Batchly and upload it through Westpac's normal file-import workflow.

Does Batchly work with ANZ in Australia?

ANZ Internet Banking for Business supports .aba payment-file imports for eligible business payment workflows. Generate the ABA file in Batchly and upload it through ANZ's normal payment-file import process.

Which Australian banks can I use with Batchly?

Batchly generates the standard Australian ABA / Direct Entry payment file rather than connecting directly to a specific bank. Examples of business banking services that can accept this file include NAB Connect, Commonwealth Bank CommBiz, Westpac Online Banking and ANZ Internet Banking for Business. These are examples rather than an exhaustive compatibility list, and other Australian business banking services may also accept the standard ABA / Direct Entry format generated by Batchly.

Does Batchly confirm that the bank actually paid the supplier?

No. Batchly prepares the payment file and records the payment in Xero when you complete Mark as Paid, but the bank remains responsible for processing the transfer. Check the payment outcome in your banking service before confirming the run as paid in Batchly.

Need help?

Review any validation or error message shown by Batchly or your bank before trying the payment again.

• Correct pay-from bank account details in Xero where required.
• Correct supplier bank account numbers in Xero where required.
• For South African suppliers, confirm or review the supplier's branch code and account type under Supplier Intelligence → Payment Readiness.
• Sync Batchly after making relevant changes in Xero.
• For bank-file import problems, confirm that your banking service accepts the format generated by Batchly and check any bank-specific file settings or permissions.
• For Handelsbanken imports, check the selected eight-column Faster Payments template, amount interpretation and payment date in the banking portal. Do not edit exported amounts or switch to another template to bypass an import error.

If you still need help, contact the Batchly team with the bank name, banking service, file format, batch date and exact error message.