How to Get Started on Payer as a Company

Payer enables companies to make and manage payments from a central payment account. Before a company can begin making payments, it must first complete the required company setup and compliance checks.

1. Your company must have an RC number

Your company’s RC number is required during onboarding. It is one of the company details used to verify the business as part of the Know Your Business (KYB) compliance process.

2. You must have a director or shareholder with a BVN

You will also need the BVN of at least one director or shareholder associated with the business.The BVN and director/shareholder information form part of the KYB requirements used to verify the company and support the creation of the company's payment wallet.

Important: Companies without these requirements cannot currently be onboarded

If your business does not have an RC number or does not have an eligible director/shareholder with a BVN, it cannot currently be onboarded on Payer. This may affect businesses such as:

Foreign companies that do not have the required Nigerian company registration details.
Sole traders or businesses that do not have the required RC number.
Businesses that cannot provide the BVN of an eligible director or shareholder.
Businesses whose available company information does not meet the required KYB information.

These requirements are part of the compliance process and are necessary to support company verification and wallet creation.

Step 1: Request Company Setup

The first step is for your company to be set up on the platform.This setup involves two internal teams:

DevOps

DevOps sets up the company server required for your company environment. The necessary information is shared with the team by the implementation officer

Implementation Team

Once the required server setup has been completed, the Implementation Team sets up the company on the HRIS and invites the designated primary admin.

Is this setup instant? No.

The setup process requires a support ticket. It is therefore important to raise a support request when you are ready to begin the onboarding process rather than expecting the company environment to be created automatically.

Step 2: Receive Your Primary Admin Invitation

After the company has been set up on the HRIS, the Implementation Team invites the designated primary administrator. The primary admin is the user who will initially complete the company's Payer onboarding. This user will subsequently have access to the administrative functions required to set up the company's payment operations.

Step 3: Complete Company Onboarding on Payer

Once you have received the primary admin invitation, the primary admin can proceed with onboarding on Payer. You will need the following company information:

Company RC number.
BVN of at least one director or shareholder associated with the business.
Relevant director/shareholder information required during the onboarding process.

The information provided is used for KYB compliance and supports the creation of the company's payment wallet.

Why is this information required?

Payer handles the movement of company funds. As a result, the company and its associated individuals must be appropriately verified before a payment wallet can be created. The RC number establishes the registered business identity, while the BVN and associated director/shareholder information support the required verification process.

Step 4: Complete Onboarding

Once the required information has been provided and the onboarding process is successfully completed, your company will have access to the Payer environment. At this point, the company can begin configuring its payment operations.The primary admin can proceed to:

Add team members.
Set up beneficiaries.
Configure payment approval permissions.
Fund the payment account.
Begin creating payments.

Step 5: Add Team Members

The primary admin can add other members of the company's team to Payer. Adding team members allows payment activities to be distributed among the appropriate people instead of requiring one person to manage every step.For example, depending on your company's internal process, different users may be responsible for:

Preparing payment information.
Reviewing payment details.
Approving payments.
Managing beneficiaries.
Monitoring payment status.

The exact responsibilities available to each user depend on the permissions assigned to them.

Step 6: Configure Payment Approval Permissions

Payer supports configurable approval levels.This means that companies can determine the appropriate approval structure for their payment processes.The approval levels are configurable, and an administrator can assign the right to approve payments to the appropriate user or users.

Who can approve a payment?

A payment can be approved by an admin who has been assigned the required approval permission.Simply being a team member or having access to Payer does not necessarily mean that a user can approve payments. The appropriate approval permission must be assigned.

Why configure approval levels?

Approval controls can help companies maintain internal financial controls by separating payment preparation from payment approval.For example, a company may have one person prepare a payment while another authorized admin reviews and approves it.

Step 7: Add Beneficiaries

Before making certain payments, you may need to add the relevant beneficiaries. A beneficiary is the individual or organisation that will receive a payment. Beneficiaries can be configured individually or through the available beneficiary bulk-upload process. Payer provides a beneficiary upload template for companies that need to add beneficiaries in bulk.

Step 8: Fund Your Payment Account

Your Payer payment account must have sufficient funds before payments can be successfully processed. The payment account can be funded through an external bank account using an online transfer.It is important to fund the payment account before approving or processing payments.

What happens if there is insufficient money?

If the wallet balance is insufficient to cover transactions in a payment batch, some transactions in that batch may fail. This means that insufficient funds can result in partial failure of a batch, rather than necessarily stopping every transaction from being processed. You should therefore ensure that the payment account has sufficient funds before processing payments.

Step 9: Start Making Payments

Once your company has:

Completed onboarding.
Added the relevant users.
Configured approval permissions.
Added beneficiaries where required.
Funded the payment account.

You can begin making payments through the appropriate payment options available in Payer. For payroll-related payments, you can use Payments → Net Salary. For other payment requirements, you can use the relevant payment option under the Payments section.

Bulk Upload Templates

Payer supports bulk uploads for several payment activities.Available templates include:

Net Salary
Other Payment
Pension Payment
Beneficiary Upload

Bulk upload is particularly useful when you need to process payments for multiple employees or beneficiaries rather than entering each transaction individually.

Common Bulk Upload Validation Errors

When preparing a bulk upload file, ensure that all required fields are completed correctly. Some of the common validation errors include:

Validation Error	What It Means
Phone number required	A required phone number has not been provided.
Account number required	The beneficiary or employee's bank account number is missing.
Gender is required	The required gender field has not been completed.
Employee Name is required	The employee's name is missing.
Salary is required	The salary amount has not been provided for a Net Salary payment.
Bank name is required	The employee or beneficiary's bank name has not been provided.

Always use the relevant Payer bulk-upload template and ensure that all mandatory fields are completed before uploading.

Payer Onboarding: End-to-End Summary

The complete company onboarding journey is:

Support Ticket → DevOps Server Setup → HRIS Company Setup → Primary Admin Invitation → Payer Onboarding → KYB Verification → Wallet Creation → Team Setup → Beneficiary Setup → Approval Configuration → Account Funding → Payments

Once these steps are completed, your company can use Payer to initiate, approve, process and monitor payments.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a company use Payer without an RC number?

No. An RC number is part of the KYB information required for onboarding.

Can a company use Payer if none of its directors or shareholders has a BVN?

No. At least one eligible director or shareholder with a BVN is required for onboarding.

Can a foreign company without the required Nigerian company information onboard?

No. If the company cannot provide the required RC number, BVN and associated director/shareholder information, it cannot currently be onboarded.

Is company setup automatic?

No. The initial DevOps and Implementation setup requires an official request

Who completes the Payer onboarding?

The designated primary admin completes the Payer onboarding after the company has been set up and the admin has been invited.

Can multiple people use Payer?

Yes. The primary admin can add team members and assign the appropriate permissions.

Can approval permissions be configured?

Yes. Approval levels are configurable, and the appropriate admin can be given approval rights.

How do I fund my payment account?

The payment account can be funded from an external bank account through an online transfer.

What happens if there is not enough money in the payment account?

Some transactions within the batch may fail because of insufficient wallet balance.

Does Payer calculate payroll?

No. Payer does not calculate payroll, tax deductions, pension deductions or other payroll components. Payroll must already have been calculated before the payment is initiated on Payer.Payer's role in this process is to execute the payment that has already been calculated and prepared by the admin.

What You Need Before Getting StartedTo make onboarding as smooth as possible, have the following ready:

Company RC number.
BVN of at least one eligible director or shareholder.
Relevant company/director information for KYB verification.
Details of the primary admin.
Details of team members who will use Payer.
Beneficiary information where applicable.
Employee bank and salary information for Net Salary payments.
Access to the company's external bank account for funding the payment account.

Once these are available, the company can begin the setup and onboarding process.