SMS automation
Balance verification
Check each SMS against your account balance so forged messages are caught.
Balance verification protects you against forged payment SMS. Most payment SMS include your new account balance. If you tell Paybob your current balance, it checks every incoming SMS against it: an SMS is only accepted when your old balance plus the amount received equals the balance in the SMS.
A fake SMS from someone pretending to be your provider won't know your real balance, so it's held instead of confirming a payment.
How it works
You create one balance record for each pair of device and payment method: for example, the phone with your bKash Personal SIM and the bKash Personal SMS filter.
While that record is Active, every SMS that phone forwards for that payment method is checked:
- The SMS is stored as Pending.
- If current balance + amount = the balance in the SMS, the SMS becomes Approved and the current balance moves forward to the new value.
- If it doesn't add up, the SMS stays Pending and can't confirm a payment.
SMS that arrive out of order are handled: if a later SMS arrives before an earlier one, it waits as Pending, and both are approved as soon as the missing one arrives and the chain adds up.
When there's no active balance record for a device and payment method, SMS are approved straight away without this check.
Your SMS filter needs a balance
Balance verification only works if the payment method's SMS filter reads the balance with a {balance} placeholder. An SMS without a balance always stays Pending.
Set it up
Check your balance
Look up the account's current balance in the provider's app.
Create the record
Go to Automation → Balance Verification and click New Verification. Choose the Device and the Payment Method, and enter the Current Balance. New records are Active.
Keep it in step
Paybob updates the balance automatically with every approved SMS. If you spend or withdraw money from the account, the next payment SMS won't add up. Update Current Balance right away: you can edit it directly in the list.
The list
Each record shows the Device, Payment Method, Payment Type, Currency, Current Balance and Status. Filter by status, payment type, device or payment method.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | SMS are checked against the balance. |
| Pending, Verified, Failed | Not active: SMS for this device and payment method are approved without the balance check. |
There can only be one record per device and payment method.
What isn't checked
- SMS sent through the Inline SMS API or added by hand don't use balance verification.
- Only money received is checked. Payments you send out don't move the balance forward, so update the balance by hand after them.
Held SMS
An SMS held as Pending because the balance didn't add up stays in SMS Data. If it's genuine, for example because you spent from the account, set Current Balance to the balance just before that payment. Held SMS are checked again whenever the phone next forwards an SMS for that payment method, and those that now add up are approved.
You can also set a held SMS to Approved by hand on the SMS Data page, after checking it against your account. Approving by hand doesn't move the current balance, so update it too.
Permissions
Viewing, creating, updating and deleting balance records each have their own permission. See Staff and roles.