Direct online banking

Overview

Direct Online Banking lets customers pay directly from their bank account by redirecting to their bank's online portal to authorize the transfer. PayMongo integrates with major Philippine banks through Brankas, the payment infrastructure provider that handles the bank connections.

Supported banks

How it attaches to a Payment Intent

Direct online banking follows the standard Payment Intent redirect flow:

1. Create a Payment Intent with the bank's method type in payment_method_allowed
2. Create a Payment Method with the appropriate type
3. Attach the Payment Method — the response includes next_action.redirect.url
4. Redirect the customer to their bank's online portal
5. Customer logs in and authorizes the transfer
6. Customer returns to your return_url
7. Confirm via webhook — payment.paid or payment.failed

Accept a direct bank transfer

Create a Payment Intent

const intent = await fetch('https://api.paymongo.com/v1/payment_intents', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Authorization': 'Basic ' + btoa('sk_test_YOUR_SECRET_KEY:')
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    data: {
      attributes: {
        amount: 25000,
        currency: 'PHP',
        payment_method_allowed: ['dob', 'brankas'],
        description: 'Invoice #789'
      }
    }
  })
}).then(r => r.json());

Create and attach a Payment Method

For DOB (BPI and UnionBank), set type to dob and pass bank_code in details:

// Example: BPI via DOB
const pm = await fetch('https://api.paymongo.com/v1/payment_methods', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Authorization': 'Basic ' + btoa('pk_test_YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY:'), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    data: {
      attributes: {
        type: 'dob',
        details: { bank_code: 'bpi' }  // or 'ubp' for UnionBank
      }
    }
  })
}).then(r => r.json());

For Brankas (BDO, Metrobank, Landbank), set type to brankas and pass bank_code in details:

// Example: BDO via Brankas
const pm = await fetch('https://api.paymongo.com/v1/payment_methods', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Authorization': 'Basic ' + btoa('pk_test_YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY:'), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    data: {
      attributes: {
        type: 'brankas',
        details: { bank_code: 'bdo' }  // or 'metrobank', 'landbank'
      }
    }
  })
}).then(r => r.json());

Then attach to the Payment Intent:

const intent = await fetch(
  `https://api.paymongo.com/v1/payment_intents/${paymentIntentId}/attach`,
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Authorization': 'Basic ' + btoa('pk_test_YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY:'), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      data: {
        attributes: {
          payment_method: pm.data.id,
          client_key: clientKey,
          return_url: 'https://yoursite.com/payment/complete'
        }
      }
    })
  }
).then(r => r.json());

window.location.href = intent.data.attributes.next_action.redirect.url;

Transaction amounts

Each bank has its own limits per transaction:

* For BPI Online Banking, customers can raise their own transaction limit — see Changing the BPI transaction limit below.

Amounts outside these limits fail with parameter_below_minimum or parameter_above_maximum errors. The customer's own bank may also impose daily transfer limits on their account.

Changing the BPI transaction limit

BPI allows customers to increase their transaction limit directly in the BPI app, so payments above the default ₱50,000.00 cap can go through:

1. Log in to the BPI app
2. Choose Account Maintenance
3. Select Limits and Spending
4. Adjust the "Load e-wallet & pay via external partners" limit — this is the limit that applies to PayMongo transactions
5. Select Change limits
6. Authenticate the change via Mobile Key

Once updated, the customer can pay amounts greater than ₱50,000.00 via BPI Online Banking. If they still encounter issues at checkout, they can contact PayMongo support at [email protected].

User experience notes

• Bank portals may require the customer to log in with their online banking credentials
• Processing times vary by bank — most complete within seconds but may take longer during peak hours
• Customers who abandon the bank portal without authorizing will cause the Payment Intent to return to awaiting_payment_method after the session expires
• Show a clear loading state while waiting for the customer to return from the bank redirect