Group Account
Introduction
Group Account helps enterprise groups centrally manage funds across branches and subsidiaries. The parent account gets a consolidated view of all branch balances and can move funds between entities in real time.
This is ideal for multinational corporate treasury teams that collect revenue in multiple currencies and need to reallocate funds across entities, settle supplier obligations, and maintain visibility over global cash positions.
💡 This guide covers the Group Account use case. For comparison with other account types, see Account types.
What you can do
- Open accounts for all your branches and subsidiaries under one parent
- Move funds between branches instantly via ledger-to-ledger transfer
- View all balances across the group in one dashboard
- Execute payouts on behalf of any branch
- Collect revenue locally through dedicated virtual accounts
Example
Figure 1. Structure of Group Account
Let's imagine a fictitious multinational lifestyle brand called FittelPlay, headquartered in Hong Kong with branch operations in the US, UK, Netherlands, and Japan. Each branch previously maintained its own local bank relationships, making it impossible for headquarters to see real-time cash positions or move funds quickly across entities.
User Journey
Figure 2. The user journey from payment to payout
2 The UK branch collects revenue in GBP and EUR through its own virtual account.
3 Headquarters views consolidated balances across all branches in real time.
4 Treasury initiates a ledger-to-ledger transfer to move excess USD from the US branch to the Japan branch to cover JPY supplier payouts.
5 Japan branch uses the received funds to execute local payouts to domestic suppliers.
Typical Customers:
- Multinational corporations managing regional branches and subsidiaries
- Enterprise groups with centralized treasury operations
- Cross-border businesses with shared service centers or manufacturing hubs
- Holding companies that need consolidated cash visibility across entities
Building it with WorldFirst
1. Onboarding
Start by establishing the Parent Account at your group headquarters, then onboard each branch as a child account. Submit entity registration documents, director information, and business proof for each branch. Once approved, each branch receives an independent virtual account for local collections.
2. Collection
With branch accounts active, allocate dedicated virtual accounts in local currencies. The US branch receives a USD virtual account, the UK branch receives GBP and EUR virtual accounts, and so on. All inbound payments are automatically matched to the corresponding branch account, with real-time webhook notifications when funds arrive.
3. Balance Dashboard
Headquarters can query balances across all branches through the Consolidated View. This returns total, available, and frozen balances for each entity — giving treasury a single-pane view of global liquidity without logging into multiple banking portals.
4. Moving funds
When one branch needs additional funds to settle invoices, headquarters initiates an L2L Transfer. If currency conversion is required, Spot FX is applied at a competitive rate. The transfer completes in minutes rather than the days typically required for SWIFT.
Note: L2L Transfer specifications (processing time, min/max amount, supported currencies, FX margin, cut-off time) are subject to change. Please refer to the latest API documentation or contact your account manager for current values.
5. Payouts
Each branch maintains its own recipient list for local suppliers. Headquarters can also manage global suppliers centrally and execute payouts on behalf of any branch. Before creating a payout, ensure sufficient available balance in the source branch's account.
6. Compliance and reconciliation
For regulatory compliance and audit purposes:
- All cross-branch transfers are recorded with full audit trails.
- Transaction statements can be pulled via API or SFTP for each branch individually, or viewed in consolidated format.
- Fund freeze capabilities allow headquarters to place holds on branch balances for escrow, contractual obligations, or dispute resolution.
Note: For detailed error codes and troubleshooting, please refer to the API Reference documentation.