Enduring Payments

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This section is intended for developers using Akahu's enduring payments functionality. It is not relevant for those using the one-off account information or one-off payment APIs.

Akahu enduring payment consents let you initiate payments from your users' bank accounts on an ongoing basis. Once a user authorises a consent, your application can initiate payments with a single API call and no further user interaction.

Enduring payment consents have no expiry and don't require a fixed schedule or amount, so they suit both recurring payments (e.g. a subscription fee) and ad-hoc payments (e.g. a purchase or a digital wallet top-up).

They are often used as an alternative to a saved credit card. Payments initiated through an enduring payment consent do not incur a percentage-based fee, making them a flexible, cost-effective, ongoing payment method.

How it works

Using enduring payments involves two phases:

1. Request enduring payment consent: Send the user through Akahu's OAuth authorisation flow to authorise an enduring payment consent. The consent defines the payees you can pay to, and the limits that apply. See Requesting Payment Consent.

2. Initiate payments: Once the consent is authorised, initiate payments from the consented account to the approved payees, within the approved limits, with a single API call. See Making a Payment.

Common applications

Akahu enduring payment consents are used in a wide variety of consumer and business products. Some common use cases include:

Funding a digital wallet or investment account

Enduring payment consents are an attractive payment method for financial platform operators who receive funds from customers to fund a digital wallet or investment account. Some advantages of using enduring payment consents for this include:

• Low, predictable costs (fixed fee with no percentage component).
• Immediate confirmation of payment settlement at customer's bank.
• Error-free reconciliation (provide your own unique reference fields).
• Easily bundled with account and identity information for KYC checks prior to payment initiation.
• Variable amounts and frequency, allow for automation of regular transfers (e.g. weekly investments) and one click ad-hoc top-ups.

Business payroll and tax payments

Accounting and payroll software use enduring payment consents to automate business administration tasks like tax payments to Inland Revenue and employee payroll payments. Enduring payment consents are well suited to use cases like these due to their low fixed costs and immediate confirmation of settlement at the payer's bank.

Subscriptions

Subscription services including gym management platforms and SaaS products use enduring payment consents to facilitate regular subscription payments. These platforms prefer enduring payment consents over direct debits for the immediate feedback when payments fail and the ability to easily retry.

Financial automation

Personal financial management tools use enduring payment consents to facilitate automated savings and investing for their customers. These tools help their customers work towards retirement and build financial resilience by making sure their money is working for them. Enduring payment consents make these products possible due to their low costs and flexibility.