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Instant Disbursement vs Scheduled Disbursement

A guide on how to use instant and scheduled disbursements

Written by Ololade Akingbade

Once a mandate is ready for debit (i.e., after the ready_to_debit event is received), you can initiate a disbursement. Mono Disburse supports two types of disbursements depending on how you want to manage payouts: Instant and Scheduled.

Before You Begin

The following steps apply to both instant and scheduled disbursements. Complete these before making a disbursement request:

  1. Set up a source account: create a source account and authorize the linked mandate. This account serves as the source of funds for all disbursements.

  2. Confirm mandate readiness: Ensure you have received the ready_to_debit webhook event. This confirms the mandate is active and eligible for payout.

Instant Disbursement

An instant disbursement is executed immediately, once the request is made.

This is best suited for real-time payout use cases such as:

  • Loan disbursements

  • Refunds

  • Time-sensitive payments

To Initiate an Instant Disbursement;

  1. Make a POST request to the endpoint below:

    POST https://api.withmono.com/v3/payments/disburse/disbursements

  2. Once the request is received, Mono processes the transfers immediately and sends webhook notifications for both batch-level and distribution-level events.

Full API Reference: Create Instant Disbursement

Scheduled Disbursement

A scheduled disbursement allows you to create a payout in advance and execute it at a later time.

This is useful for:

  • Salary payments

  • Vendor payouts

  • Bulk or batch disbursements

  • Time-based repayment cycles

To Initiate a Scheduled Disbursement;

  1. Make a POST request to the endpoint below:

POST https://api.withmono.com/v3/payments/disburse/disbursements 

After creation, the disbursement batch will remain in a scheduled state until the specified scheduled_date, at which point Mono automatically processes the transfers.

Full API Reference: Create Scheduled Disbursement

Transitioning a Scheduled Disbursement

If you need to trigger a scheduled disbursement before its set date, or cancel it entirely, you can use the Transition Disbursement endpoint.

POST https://api.withmono.com/v3/payments/disburse/disbursements/{batch_id}/transition

This endpoint allows you to change the state of a scheduled disbursement batch. For example, to trigger its execution or cancel it.

Full API Reference: Transition Disbursement

You can explore other Disburse APIs here.

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