How can I approve payments?

You can approve a payment from Macquarie Business Online (MBO) or the Macquarie Mobile Banking app. 

All approvals then need to undergo two-factor authentication in the Macquarie Authenticator app.

Approve payments in MBO

To approve a payment
  1. Log in to Macquarie Business Online
  2. In the menu, select Task Centre and then go to your To Do list
  3. Select the payment you want to authorise
  4. Review the details of the payment
  5. Click Approve
  6. A push notification will be sent to your device registered in Macquarie Authenticator
  7. Click on the notification sent to your device, or 
  8. Open your Macquarie Authenticator app and select the payment from your Tasks
  9. Click Approve payment.

Once you’ve approved a payment, you’ll see the status of the payment has changed in Task Centre to reflect your authorisation.

Approve payments in the app

To approve a payment in the Macquarie Mobile Banking app:
  1. Select the Tasks icon from the front screen
  2. Select the payment or task you want to authorise
  3. Review the details of the payment or task
  4. Tap Approve task
  5. Your device will switch to the Macquarie Authenticator app
  6. Review the additional details of the payment and tap Approve payment.

Once you’ve approved a payment and it has left your account/s, you can view the account’s transaction history to see the details of the completed payment. See Searching account transactions, for more information.  

How do I set up a payment for someone else to approve

To set up a payment for someone else to approve, you just need to follow the steps to create your payment as usual, but on the Review your payment screen, select Submit for approval.

  • In MBO, you can select specific approvers to receive push notifications alerting them to the approval request. 
  • In the Macquarie Mobile Banking app, all approvers will receive a push notification.

Authorisation by approvers

Approvers can see details of the pending payment via:

  • the To Do tab in Task Centre in MBO
  • Task Centre in the Macquarie Mobile Banking app, or
  • the Macquarie Authenticator app.

If your payment or task requires dual authorisation, the status of your payment will change from ‘Awaiting approval’ to ‘Partially authorised’ after the first approver has authorised. Once the payment is authorised by the second approver and is fully authorised, it will be processed on the intended date.

The payment authorisation process is the same for both approvers.

How do I approve payments and tasks in bulk?

Bulk approval allows you to authorise up to 20 payments or tasks using the same single push notification.

It’s important to note that only someone with authoriser level access will be able to set up a bulk approval in MBO.

To approve payments and tasks in bulk:

  1. Log in to Macquarie Business Online
  2. In the main menu, select Task Centre and then go to your To Do list
  3. When you hover over a payment or task, you’ll see a checkbox on the left-hand side of it – select all tasks you wish to authorise
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the list and hit Approve selected or Clear selected to clear your list and start again
  5. If you hit Approve selected, you’ll be prompted to review each task’s details on the review screen
  6. Once you’re happy, select Approve and follow the steps to complete the approval using the Macquarie Authenticator app.

If the payment or task requires dual authorisation, both approvers will need to go in and follow the steps above to complete the bulk approval or approve the payment or task individually.

If for some reason the authoriser can’t receive the push notification from the Macquarie Authenticator app, please refer to Notifications for Macquarie Authenticator. 

Things to note about approving payments and tasks in bulk

  • You can only approve payments and tasks in bulk via MBO. This feature is not currently available in the Macquarie Mobile Banking app.
  • If a Daily Payment Approval Limit (DPAL) has been applied to your Macquarie Access Code (MAC), and you've exceeded your limit for the day, the payments that exceed your limit will fail approval and you’ll no longer be able to approve that payment. To proceed, you can ask another user to assist with the approval. Alternatively, cancel the payment via the To Do tab in Task Centre, then recreate the payment and wait until after 12:00am (AEST/AEDT) to approve it.
  • If a recurring payment is part of your bulk approval and the first payment date is in the past, the payment will fail. To proceed, you can modify the payment date and approve it again. Alternatively, cancel the recurring payment via the To Do tab in Task Centre, then recreate the recurring payment and authorise as normal.
  • If you get the message ‘This task has already been actioned’, it means that the task is no longer valid for you to approve. This could be because another user has already authorised it. To check if another user has approved it, refresh your browser screen, and check your To Do tab in Task Centre. If another user hasn't approved it, we recommend asking someone else in your business to assist with the approval, or you can cancel the task and recreate the payment or task and approve again.

How do I get updates on approved payments and tasks?

You won’t receive an additional notification once a payment is fully approved.

To view completed and scheduled tasks in Task Centre:

  1. Log in to Macquarie Business Online
  2. On the menu, navigate to Task Centre
  3. Select the History tab to view previously authorised tasks and tasks set to run on the same business day
  4. Select the Scheduled tab to view tasks to occur in the future.

If you’ve approved your payments or tasks in bulk, both the bulk approval and all the individual underlying payments and tasks will show up in History tab. 

What are partially approved payments?

A partially approved payment means that it still needs one more approver to authorise the payment before it can be processed.

How long do I have to authorise a payment?

One-off payments

For a payment to be processed on the same business day, it must be fully authorised (including by Macquarie, if required) by 6:30pm (Sydney time).

If a payment isn’t authorised by that time, it will remain in Task Centre and can be authorised any time within the next five business days. If a payment isn’t authorised within five business days, it’ll expire, and you’ll need to create it again.

Recurring payments

For a recurring payment to be successfully processed, it must be authorised by 6:30pm (Sydney time) on the first payment date.

If it isn’t authorised by this time, it’ll remain in Task Centre and can be authorised any time up until five business days after the start date you provided. Like a one-off payment, if the recurring payment isn’t authorised within five business days, it’ll expire, and you’ll need to create it again.

It’s important to note that:

  1. If the recurring payment is authorised after 6:30pm (Sydney time) on the required start date, the first payment will be processed on the next recurring payment date.
  2. Any recurring payments that fall on a non-business day or public holiday will be processed on the business day before or business day after, depending on what you selected when creating the payment.
  3. BPAY® payments will be treated as received by the biller the following business day.

® Registered to BPAY Pty Ltd ABN 69 079 137 518

International and Domestic Telegraphic Transfers

For a Telegraphic Transfer request to be processed on the same business day, it must be fully authorised by 3:00pm (Sydney time).

If a Telegraphic Transfer request isn't authorised by that time, it'll remain in Task Centre in Macquarie Business Online and can be authorised any time within the next five business days. If a payment isn’t authorised within five business days, it'll expire, and you'll need to create it again.

It's important to note that International Telegraphic Transfers will normally be received within 48 hours by the correspondent bank once the request has been processed. If the correspondent bank isn't the beneficiary's bank, it may take additional time to receive the funds. A correspondent bank is the bank in the foreign country who we liaise with to transfer funds.

Bulk approvals

For added security, you only have five minutes to complete your bulk approval. Cancelling the bulk approval will not cancel your payments and account requests. You’ll still be able to authorise them individually within five business days of submission.

What if a payment authorisation expires?

An expired payment means that a payment wasn’t authorised in time and has not been processed.

If you’d still like to make the payment, you’ll need to create the payment again and ensure it is fully authorised.

Why does my payment need Macquarie approval?

If your payment needs Macquarie approval, it has been blocked from being processed. This could be for several reasons, including if you have insufficient available funds in your account. In this instance you’ll need to contact your relationship manager or call us on 1800 620 673 (+61 2 8550 5603 if calling from overseas).

We’ll then provide further details on whether the payment can be processed. It’s important to note that if we can approve the payment, it needs to be approved by 6:30pm (Sydney time) otherwise it’ll expire. 

Search Help Centre

Input search

    Log in to Macquarie Business Online

    Macquarie Business Online is an online banking experience that can grow with your business and help you achieve your goals.

    Resolve a complaint

    Everyone at Macquarie is committed to providing our clients with the highest standard of products and services available. If you have feedback we would like you to tell us about it. 

    Request a call

    Fill out our form so we can review your application and connect you with the right banking specialist.