Managing Large-scale Customer Payouts with Ease

In a landscape of rising consumer expectations and regulatory pressures, organisations are facing increasing demand to streamline their payments processes. Whether dealing with one-off refunds due to service outages, overcharging or regular compensation for complaints, the need to issue payments quickly and accurately, often without the necessary bank details stored, has never been more critical.

This is emphasised through Consumer Duty, which was introduced last year and ensures that FCA-regulated firms focus on good customer outcomes, fair treatment, and prompt resolution of issues.

For such organisations that discover they need to make remediation payments or fall short of compliance standards, the need to execute high-volume payouts quickly and securely becomes even more pressing.

Traditional methods, such as cheques or manually acquiring details for bank transfers, add administrative burden and introduce delays, errors, and security concerns. These outdated approaches create friction, leaving customers waiting for payments and often leading to further dissatisfaction.

Bottomline’s Payouts Automation solution offers an adaptable and customer-friendly way to manage these payments, accommodating both regular and ad-hoc requirements while removing manual bottlenecks. Alongside built-in payment data verification via the Confirmation of Payee for Business service, you can be confident you’re always paying the right person.

By streamlining the payout process and eliminating the need for cheques or manual transfers, our payouts product helps clients meet efficiency goals, reduce errors, and deliver a modern, customer-centric experience that builds trust and confidence.

The Biggest Concerns

During a recent webinar entitled ‘Payout conflict: How to settle payments quickly and securely’, a straw poll of the audience found that only one in five could say that they had a robust system in place to issue large-scale refunds quickly and securely, if required. More than half (58%) indicated they had a system in place but faced capability issues.

Yet managing large-scale payouts efficiently is essential, as inefficient processes can drain time and money, stressing already busy teams.

Essential Steps in Managing Customer Payouts

When managing customer payouts, the biggest concern for the majority (59%) of the webinar audience was the accuracy and efficiency of the payout process. Any delays or mistakes in the process can further frustrate customers who might already be dissatisfied due to poor service, support, or advice.

38% of the audience cite that data security and compliance as a major concern, given the sensitive nature of customer payment information. Breaches or mishandling of data can lead to regulatory consequences and damages trust between you and your clients.

To effectively manage and process refunds, reviewing your existing processes is an essential first step in preparation for making payouts.

Begin by examining the information stored in your systems. While this may seem obvious, many organisations no longer retain customers' personal bank account details unless necessary. Also, if a client has cancelled a Direct Debit, for example, then you might no longer have their payment details stored. 

Then consider how you want to make a payment, which can be influenced by customer demographics, access to data and team capacity. While most consumers have come to expect digital payments, some customers may still prefer traditional methods such as a cheque.

Where cheque refunds are absolutely necessary, we strongly recommend using an outsourced cheque service. This process is best left to specialists who eliminate the overhead of maintaining onsite MICR printers, securely storing stationery and manual processing.

With Payouts Automation, you can even adopt a hybrid payouts and cheque service, primarily offering digital payments while still providing a small number of customers the option to receive payments via cheque. This allows you to streamline the process while remaining flexible and supporting customers who may not bank digitally.

Ensuring Timely Payments

Another key factor is the timeliness of the payment, which plays a critical role in ensuring customer satisfaction.

Using Payouts Automation, you have the flexibility to choose between Faster Payments, settling within 1 day, or Bacs, within 3 working days. Both methods have up to 3 levels of batch authorisation, helping to prevent errors and fraud and giving you full control and confidence in the accuracy of your payments.

It is also essential to keep payees informed throughout the process; ensuring your customers know when to expect payment and then keeping them informed at every stage will result in an efficient process and a successful outcome.

Bottomline’s Payouts Automation Solution provides fully branded, automated emails and from your domain, keeping your payees informed and reminding them to claim their payment if they still need to.

Communication was particularly important when we helped several local councils, such as the Vale of Glamorgan Council, deliver winter fuel and cost-of-living support payments via QR code letter — as they didn’t hold email addresses. They saw a significant take-up rate and made the request process as easy as possible to provide essential support to their residents.

Taking an End-to-End Approach

Our end-to-end solution is designed to tackle the challenges of large-scale payouts, providing the necessary controls to protect against errors and fraud while maintaining a simple and efficient process.

To improve your payouts process, it’s important to choose software that is simple to use, secure with built-in validation and verification, efficient through electronic payment methods like Bacs or Faster Payments, and flexible enough to support your customers’ requirements, whether through email, embedded links, QR codes, or even cheques.

With the right tools in place and clear communication with customers, many organisations have successfully managed high-volume payout campaigns, met tight deadlines and ensured a smooth, efficient process for both existing and former customers.

*CoP for Business is provided by Bottomline Payment Services Ltd, who are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations for the provision of payment services with FCA registration number 616279.