How do I split a payment across multiple bank accounts?

The Transaction Splits feature on Paystack allows you to split money received from a transaction between multiple bank accounts.

This makes it possible, for example, for a marketplace platform that sells goods on behalf of vendors to settle a second account in a painless way. Paystack automatically splits the payouts such that the vendor's bank account is credited with their share, and the platform owner gets credited with their own share at the same time.

The bank accounts that you split these payments with are called Subaccounts.

You can either split a transaction across multiple Subaccounts or you can split it with just one Subaccount.

Splitting a payment with multiple Subaccounts

To split a transaction with multiple Subaccounts, you will need to create a group containing each of those Subaccounts and your preferred split formula. This group is called a Split Group.

To create a Split Group:

1. Click on the Transaction Splits item on your Dashboard menu and select New Split Group.

2. Enter your preferred name for the group, select the currency and choose the Split Type. This could either be a Percentage Split or a Flat Split. Percentage Split allows you to specify which percentage of the transaction should go to each Subaccount while Flat Split allows you to specify a flat amount to be sent to each Subaccount.

3. After creating the group, you can add an existing Subaccount to it by typing the name of the Subaccount and selecting it from the dropdown or by clicking on New Subaccount to create a new Subaccount.

4. Fill out the required fields and specify the Percentage or Flat Split formula. You are allowed to add as many Subaccounts as you'd like. Here is an illustration:

After adding the Subaccounts, you can use your Split Group in three ways:

• Via the API
• Via your Payment Page
• Via Paystack Invoices

Via the API

When a Split Group is created on your Dashboard, a Split Code is generated as seen below.

To split payments with this Split Group via the API, you will need to pass the parameter split_code: "SPLITCODE" along with the other transaction parameters.

Any transaction initialized with a Split Code will automatically be split between your main account and that Split Group, using the split formula you specified.

Using the APIs, you can also add, remove, and update the Subaccounts in a Split, as well as change the active state of a Split.

Please see our Developer Documentation for a detailed guide on this.

You also have the option of creating a Split Group on the fly in cases where you can't determine a split configuration until later in the purchase flow. Please read through our Developer Documentation on Dynamic Splits

Via your Payment Page

Once you have created the Split Group, you can add it to a Payment Page by following these steps:

1. Click on Show Advanced Options while creating a new Payment Page or updating an existing one.
2. Under the Split payment with a Subaccount or Split Group field, choose Split Group and select your preferred Split Group from the list of Split Groups.
3. Create or Update your Payment Page.

Any transaction from this Payment Page will automatically be split between your main account and the Subaccounts in the Split Group that you have added, using the split formula you specified. Below is a simple illustration:

Via Paystack Invoices

Once you have created the Split Group, you can add it to an Invoice by following these steps:

1. Click the Invoices item on your Paystack Dashboard menu and click Request a Payment.
2. Select Professional Invoice, enter your customer's email address and click Edit Details.
3. Select the Split Group from the list of Split Groups in the Split payment With field on your Invoice.
4. Click Send Now.

The payment from this Invoice will automatically be split between your main account and the Subaccounts in the Split Group that you have added, using the split formula you specified. Below is a simple illustration:

Who gets charged the transaction fee?

When a transaction is split with multiple Subaccounts, you can choose which account the fees will be deducted from as seen below:

1. All accounts: Transaction fees are shared across each account, your payout account inclusive.
2. All proportional: Transaction fees are split according to the transaction share of each subaccount. See example below:
3. Your account: Your payout account bears all the fees.
4. Subaccount: You select one of the subaccounts in the Split Group to bear the fees.

Splitting a payment with one Subaccount

To split a payment with one Subaccount:

1. Go to the Subaccounts page on your dashboard.
2. Click the New Subaccount button as seen below:

2. Fill in the required fields and click on Create.

1. Currency: This is the currency of the subaccount you want to add.

2. Bank Name (For payouts): Here, select the bank the Subaccount belongs to.

3. Bank Account Number: Enter the account number for the Subaccount here. The account name is automatically resolved.

4. Name of Subaccount: Enter the name for the Subaccount on Paystack.

5. Transaction Split: This is the percentage of each payment the main account and subaccount get.

After creating the Subaccount, there are three ways you can split a payment between your payout account and the Subaccount:

• Via your Payment Page
• Via your Product Page
• Via the API

Via your Payment Page

Once you have created the Subaccount, you can add it to any Payment Page to split transactions from that Payment Page by following these steps:

1. Click on Show Advanced Options while creating a new Payment Page or updating an existing one.
2. Under the Split payment with a Subaccount or Split Group field, choose Subaccount and select your preferred Subaccount from the list of Subaccounts.
3. Create or Update your Payment Page.

Any transaction from this Payment Page will automatically be split between your main account and the Subaccount that you have added using the split formula you specified. Below is a simple illustration:

Via your Product Page

You can also add your created Subaccount to any Product Page to split transactions from that Product Page by following these steps:

1. Click on Products and select the Product you want to add the Subaccount to.
2. Click on the After Purchase tab and click Edit.
3. In the Split Payments field, choose the Subaccount you want to split the payments from that Product Page with and click on Save.

Any transaction from this Product Page will automatically be split between your main account and the Subaccount that you have added using the split formula you specified. Below is a simple illustration:

Via the API

When a Subaccount is created on your dashboard, a Subaccount code is generated as seen below.

To split payments with one Subaccount via the API, you will need to pass the parameter subaccount: "SUB_ACCOUNTCODE" along with the other transaction parameters.

Any transaction initialized with a Subaccount code will automatically be split between your main account and the Subaccount that you have added, using the split formula you specified. Please see our Developer Documentation for a detailed guide on this.

Who gets charged the Transaction Fees?

When a transaction is split with one Subaccount, the transaction fee is automatically charged to the main account. If the main account receives a 0% percentage deduction, the Subaccount gets charged the transaction fee. Using the APIs, you can change who bears the fees by passing the parameter bearer: "subaccount" while initializing a transaction.

Important to Note

It's very important to double-check the account information when creating a subaccount. Do this to ensure you are transferring to the correct bank account. Paystack will not be liable for payouts to an incorrect bank account.

You can keep an eye on all your split payments from the Transactions page. After you create at least one Subaccount, you'll see an 'All Accounts' dropdown on the Transactions page. Click this drop-down to show a list of all Subaccounts, and click on a Subaccount to see all the transactions that were split with that account.

Once you've done this, you can use the Export CSV button at the top right to download the transaction record for each Subaccount in order to track your split transaction history.

You can also get a report of all the Payouts made to a Subaccount by following the same steps on the Payouts Page as seen below: