# Send payouts to customers

A **payout** sends money from your MONEI account **to a customer** — the reverse direction of a normal payment. Merchants use payouts for things like rewards and winnings, marketplace or seller disbursements, insurance settlements, or returning funds to a customer outside of a standard refund.

note

Payouts to customers are not the same as your own [settlement payouts](https://docs.monei.com/manage-account/payouts-and-settlements/.md) — those are the transfers MONEI makes to **your** bank account from your sales. This page is about money you send **out to customers**.

## Supported methods[​](#methods "Direct link to Supported methods")

You can send payouts with:

* **[Bizum](https://docs.monei.com/payment-methods/bizum/.md)** — to the customer's phone number.
* **[Card](https://docs.monei.com/payment-methods/card/.md)** — to the customer's card.

## Before you can send payouts[​](#requirements "Direct link to Before you can send payouts")

Two things must be in place first.

### Payouts must be enabled for your account[​](#gated "Direct link to Payouts must be enabled for your account")

Payouts are a gated feature and are **not available by default**. The Payouts API is currently in **closed beta**, and MONEI's risk team reviews and approves each account before payouts can be used. To request access, [contact our Support Team](https://support.monei.com/hc/requests/new). Payouts are **not available in the test environment**.

### You need a prefunded balance[​](#balance "Direct link to You need a prefunded balance")

Payouts are paid from a **prefunded MONEI account balance**, not from your incoming sales. You provide this balance upfront:

1. [Contact support](https://support.monei.com/hc/requests/new) to arrange a bank transfer to MONEI.
2. Once MONEI receives your transfer, the amount is credited to your account balance.
3. Every payout you send draws down this balance.

A **minimum initial top-up** is required to activate payouts — see the [Payouts API guide](https://docs.monei.com/guides/payouts/.md) for the current amount — and your balance must stay positive for payouts to keep working.

If your balance is too low to cover a payout, the payout is rejected with an **insufficient balance** error. To send more, transfer additional funds the same way.

## Send a payout[​](#send "Direct link to Send a payout")

Once payouts are enabled and your balance is funded, you send a payout from your server by setting the transaction type to **`PAYOUT`** when you [create a payment](https://docs.monei.com/apis/rest/payments-create/.md), choosing Bizum or card as the method. The funds are sent to the customer and deducted from your balance; a successful payout settles with a `PAID_OUT` status, which you can track in [MONEI Dashboard → Payments](https://dashboard.monei.com/payments).

For step-by-step instructions and code samples (Bizum and cards), see the [Payouts API guide](https://docs.monei.com/guides/payouts/.md).

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## Common questions[​](#common-questions "Direct link to Common questions")

### How do I add balance for payouts?[​](#add-balance "Direct link to How do I add balance for payouts?")

[Contact support](https://support.monei.com/hc/requests/new) to arrange a transfer to MONEI. Your account balance is credited once the funds are received, and payouts draw from it.

### Why was my payout rejected?[​](#rejected "Direct link to Why was my payout rejected?")

The two most common reasons are that **payouts aren't enabled** for your account yet (request access from support) or that your **account balance is too low** to cover the amount (transfer more funds).