For government and nonprofit teams managing numerous accounts across different institutions, bank polling streamlines cash visibility and supports better decision-making around liquidity, investment, and payments.
Bank polling refers to the automated retrieval of account information, such as balances, deposits, withdrawals, and other transaction data, directly from a financial institution’s system.
This process is typically facilitated via:
- Secure file transfers (ex., BAI2, CSV, XML formats)
- Bank APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)
- Online banking portals (less common for automation)
Unlike bank reporting that is initiated by the bank (ex., sending end-of-day statements), bank polling is initiated by the organization’s treasury system, which “polls” or queries the bank for the latest data.
How Bank Polling Works
Here’s how the process generally unfolds:
1. Connection Setup
Treasury software is securely connected to the bank’s system using APIs, file transfers, or direct logins.2. Polling Schedule
The organization sets a polling schedule, typically once or multiple times per day, to retrieve account data.
3. Data Collection
At the scheduled time, the system sends a request to the bank and retrieves current balances and transaction details.
4. Centralization
Retrieved data is imported into a centralized treasury system or cash management tool for analysis, reporting, or forecasting.
Benefits of Bank Polling:
- Real-time or near-real-time visibility into cash positions
- Improved accuracy for cash forecasting and daily cash positioning
- Reduced manual data entry, which lowers the risk of errors
- Better liquidity management across multiple accounts or banks
What’s important here?
Bank polling is an essential process for organizations that need timely, accurate insights into their cash balances across multiple bank accounts.
Bank polling helps by automating data retrieval, to support better cash positioning, forecasting, and decision-making, especially for government and nonprofit teams responsible for managing complex account structures. With bank polling, you gain more control, reduce risk, and increase the efficiency of your treasury operations.
