New Zealand agencies can now create a bank-ready payment file for trust account disbursements in Rex. Instead of re-entering each solicitor and creditor payment into online banking, you download one file from Rex and upload it to your bank.
This article covers which banks are supported, how to set up your trust account, and how to create a bank upload file.
❗ Please Note: NZ bank file upload is in beta. Each file format has been built and tested against the bank's published specifications. If your bank ever rejects a file, contact Rex Support straight away. A rejected file doesn't move any money.
Which Banks Are Supported?
Rex creates the file format your bank accepts, based on the bank set on your trust account:
- BNZ (account prefix 02 or 08) - AFI Direct Credit file (.afi)
- ANZ (account prefix 01 or 11) - Domestic CSV file (.mts)
- ANZ (account prefix 06) - Domestic CSV file (.dlo)
- Westpac (account prefix 03) - DeskBank file (.dbb)
❗ Please Note: ASB, Kiwibank, TSB, Rabobank NZ and Nelson Building Society aren't supported yet. Payments to payees with these banks can't be included in a bank upload and need to be paid manually in online banking.
Australian trust accounts aren't affected and continue to create ABA files as before.
How Do I Set Up My Trust Account for Bank Upload?
- 🔒 Open your trust account settings.
- In the Bank dropdown, choose ANZ, BNZ or Westpac.
- Check the trust account number is correct. Rex accepts 15 or 16 digit NZ account numbers, with or without dashes, spaces or brackets.
- Save.
❗ Please Note: If your trust account was set up before this update, the bank may have been typed in by hand. Check the Bank dropdown is set to the right bank. If it's set to Other, bank upload isn't available and you'll see "Bank file upload is not yet supported for this bank. Please contact support to request your bank."
How Do I Create a Bank Upload File?
- When adding a payment in the listing's trust account, tick Include this transaction as part of bank upload. The payment is added to the pending upload list.
- Go to Financials > Trust Account. A yellow banner shows how many payments are waiting to be uploaded.
- Click Create Upload.
- Rex checks each payee's bank account and shows its status (see below). Select the payments you want to include. Select All only selects valid payments.
- Create the file. It downloads to your computer.
- Log in to your bank's online banking and upload the file.
If your payments go to payees at different banks, Rex creates a separate file for each bank.
What Do the Payee Account Statuses Mean?
- Valid (green) - the account number is correct and the payment can be included. The number shows in NZ format, for example 02-1234-1234567-000.
- Invalid (red) - "Invalid account number provided". Check the payee's bank account number on their contact record.
- Missing (amber) - "No bank account saved". Click the link to go to the contact's Bank Details tab and add it.
- Unsupported (amber) - "Bank not supported for upload". The payee banks with a bank Rex can't create a file for yet. Pay them manually.
Payments that aren't valid can't be selected. Hover over the checkbox to see why.
❗ Please Note: Each bank limits how long payee names and references can be, for example 20 characters for BNZ. Anything longer is shortened in the file automatically.
❓ FAQs
My bank rejected the file. What should I do?
Contact Rex Support straight away with your bank's error message. No money moves when a file is rejected, so you can pay manually in the meantime.
Can I use bank upload with ASB, Kiwibank or TSB?
Not yet. Only ANZ, BNZ and Westpac are supported. Contact Rex Support to let us know which bank you'd like added.
Some of my payees bank with ASB. Can I still use bank upload?
Yes. Payments to ANZ, BNZ and Westpac payees can be uploaded. Payments to ASB payees show as Unsupported and need to be paid manually.
Why are there two files?
Rex creates one file per bank. If your payees bank with more than one supported bank, you'll get a file for each.
Does this change anything for Australian trust accounts?
No. Australian trust accounts continue to create ABA files.