> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.old.palomma.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Merchant Accounts

<Note>
  Merchant Accounts are not relevant for most merchants. They are an advanced
  feature. Contact the Palomma team if you have questions or want to create more
  Merchant Accounts.
</Note>

## What is a Merchant Account?

A `Merchant Account` is a virtual account that allow a merchant to discriminate balances within Palomma.

## The default Merchant Account

Every merchant has a default `Merchant Account`. The balance of this `Merchant Account` is the net between payins and payouts that the merchant has made.

## Example use case for more Merchant Accounts:

**I am a merchant with three business clients (A, B, C). I process payments for these business clients and want to keep their money separate to make my bookkeeping easier.**

In this case, you can create three `Merchant Accounts` (one for each business client). Assume the ids of these `Merchant Accounts` are `"MA-A"`, `"MA-B"`, `"MA-C"`.

When you create `Payin Links` and `Payin Requests`, you can specify the `targetMerchantAccountId`. So `targetMerchantAccountId = "MA-A"` means that the payin amount will be added to business client A's balance.

Similarly, when you create `Payout Requests`, you can specify the `sourceMerchantAccountId`. So `sourceMerchantAccountId = "MA-A"` means that the payout amount will be subtracted from business client A's balance.

Specifying the `Merchant Accounts` in this way allows you to keep separate balances for each of the business clients.

## Automated withdrawl of funds from Merchant Account

With the normal behavior of a `Merchant Account`, the balance stays in your `Merchant Account` until you choose to withdraw those funds. If you want funds to be automatically withdrawn to a target bank account every day, we can configure this for you. Contact us!