# Monato Direct Debit Platform

Monato is a B2B direct debit platform built for Mexican businesses that need to collect recurring or one-off payments from their customers. It handles the full lifecycle of a charge — from mandate registration through banking partner processing and settlement — so merchants can focus on their business rather than payment operations.

## What You Can Do

- Collect payments from customers via **CLABE** (bank transfer) or **debit card** instruments
- Submit charges individually through the **REST API** or in bulk via **SFTP batch files**
- Manage customers and payment instruments through the **API** or the **Monato Portal**
- Receive real-time charge results and chargeback notifications via **webhooks**
- Generate reports and reconcile settlements through the **Portal**


## Integration Paths

Monato offers three ways to interact with the platform. Most merchants use more than one.

| Path | Best for |
|  --- | --- |
| [REST API](/products/directdebit/content/guides/api) | Programmatic charge creation, customer and instrument management, real-time integrations |
| [Portal](/products/directdebit/content/guides/portal) | Manual operations, file uploads, reporting, webhook and API key configuration |
| [SFTP / Bulk Collections](/products/directdebit/content/guides/sftp) | High-volume batch charge submission via CSV files |


## Mexican Regulatory Context

Direct debit in Mexico operates under **Domiciliación Bancaria**, a payment method regulated by Banxico and CNBV. Under this framework, payers have up to **90 days** to dispute a charge with their issuing bank. Monato handles the mechanics of the banking network on your behalf, but merchants should be aware of this chargeback window when designing their collections strategy.

See [Chargebacks](/products/directdebit/content/chargebacks) for more detail.