Handling overdrafts

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Overview

When recording a transaction, Blnk requires the source to have enough funds to execute the transaction. If Blnk detects that there’s insufficient funds, the transaction is rejected.

However, Overdrafts allow you to successfully record a transaction regardless of the source total balance. If overdrafts is enabled, Blnk will process the transaction and allow the balance to go negative.

There are many useful, real-life applications for Overdrafts both for internal money movement and customer balances such as lending,

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Enable overdrafts on a transaction

Overdrafts are applied in the Record Transaction payload. To enable overdrafts, include the allow_overdraft attribute and set it to true in your request.

See example below:

{
    "amount": 100,
    "precision": 100,
    "reference": "ref",
    "currency": "USD",
    "source": "bln_28edb3e5-c168-4127-a1c4-16274e7a28d3",
    "destination": "@fees",
    "allow_overdraft": true,
    "meta_data": {
      "account_type": "savings"
    }
}

See also → Record a transaction.

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Real-life applications

There are many useful, real-life applications for Overdrafts both for your internal financial operations and customers.

1. Loans and credit facilities: You can easily implement lending features, track how much a customer has spent outside of their available balance, manage credit history, etc., and record it all in your Blnk Ledger.

2. Internal money movement: Your internal balances can often face fluctuations in cash flow, especially during unpredictable periods. Overdrafts allow you to efficiently manage this without disrupting your financial operation. See also → How internal balances work.

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See also

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