Create and Approve payments

Payments are created and initiated from the Payments page. Each payment must first be approved by an approver before it can be started. Below are the three main steps to create, approve, and start a payment in your progam, before payment instructions are shared to the FSP.

Who can perform actions in this page?

Finance Manager and Finance Officer roles can create and start payments. Approvers must be selected and added to each programs. Additional users may be granted only View permission on this page. Learn more about Users & Roles

1. Create a payment request¶

To initiate a new payment request:

  • On the top right, click Create new payment Create new payment button
  • A page will open displaying a list of registrations included in the program. Only registrations with Included status who have not yet received all their installments will appear in the list. Registrations who have received and completed all their payments will not be shown. Select List
  • Select the list of registrations to be added to the payment round as follows.
    • Make an individual selection by clicking on the on the individual registration line;
    • Or do a bulk selection by clicking on the on the upper table line Select
  • On the bottom right, click Add to payment; Add to Payment
  • Confirm the payment information;
  • Click on Create payment.

No change possible in the payment list

Once a payment is created, its details cannot be changed. This includes the list of people in the payment and the transfer value. Before creating a payment, make sure to carefully review the transfer value, budget, and selected registrations. If needed, apply filters such as location or FSP and confirm your selection before proceeding.

To change the transfer value before creating a payment, please refer to Program settings & Budget

2. Approve payments¶

Once the payment request has been created, it must be approved by an approver.

  • Go to the payment page,
  • Click on payment cards with the message XX of XX approved In the transaction, you can review the list of registrations included in the payment list, the total amount reserved and the total registrations.
  • Based on this information, you can either approve or leave the payment. Approve or Cancel
  • If you agree, click on Approve payment. The payment request status will be updated.
  • If you disagree, click on Cancel. The payment will remain pending. Based on your SOP, inform your relevant colleagues for follow-up.
  • Once approved by all approvers, the payment request status will change from Pending approval to Approved

Approvers flow

Approvals are based on thresholds. This is the minimum amount at which this approval is required. At least one approver with threshold 0 is needed to ensure all payments are approved. You can assign multiple users to the same threshold and require only one of them to approve (e.g., the first to log in). Approvers must be assigned to the program without a scope. Email notifications to the approver(s) and payment creator are automated and include a link to the payment page.

Currently, approvers and their respective thresholds are set per program by the 121 team. If no user has been assigned yet or you want to change the setup, please share the names, order, and amounts with the support@121.global.

3. Start payment¶

Once the payment has been approved by all approvers in the list, the finance manager can start the payment.

  • Enter the approved payment card,
  • Click the start payment on the top right, Start Payment
  • The payment will start,
  • All payments status will change from Approved to Processing.

4. Delete payment¶

  • You can delete payments that are pending approval. Click the next to the export button at the top right of the page.
  • Deleting a payment does not affect the registrations’ status (included) or their received number of payments.
  • Users who can create payments also have permission to delete.

5. Payment Instructions¶

In the 121 Platform, payments can be processed in two different methods: with a manual payment via a FSP portal or with a direct FSP integration.

  • For payment instructions with a manual export - import function, refer to the Manual Payment instructions page. Payment status will remain on processing until the reconciliation has been imported,
  • or payment instructions with an integrated Financial Service Provider, refer to the instructions on the Payment with an integrated FSP page

Below, the different payment statuses.

Status Description Actions required
PENDING APPROVAL The payment request has been created but is still awaiting approval from all approvers. Approvers must approve the payment to continue.
APPROVED The payment request has been approved by all approvers. The payment must be started to continue.
SUCCESSFUL The payment has been sent to the Registrations and they can now use it. None.
PROCESSING The payment is waiting for confirmation of one or more financial officers. The transfer is not yet sent to the Registrations selected for this payment round or the reconciliation file has not been imported yet. Import the reconciliation file into 121 Platform to update the status.
FAILED The transaction has failed. The registrations have not received any payments. Please check the error message provided by your bank. Failed payment can be due to wrong bank details, phone number or ID number depending on the chosen payment methods. You can try again. Contact our 121 Support Team if this remains unsolved.

Need further assistance? Contact your dedicated Account Manager or reach our support team via email.