Import members in bulk from a CSV file

Upload a CSV of member records, preview and validate every row, then commit the valid rows to create members in one batch.

Bulk import creates many member profiles at once from a single CSV file. You upload the file, the platform previews and validates every row, and then you commit the rows that pass. No member is written to your workspace until you confirm the preview, so you always see exactly what will be created before anything happens.

Bulk import is for onboarding an existing book of members, like a migration from your core banking system. For a single new member, use the New Member form instead. See Creating members.

Who can import members

You need the members.bulk_import capability. This is a separate capability from members.create because it carries its own rate limit and validation flow. If you do not see the Import button on the Members list, ask your Administrator to check your role.

Where to start

Open the Members list at https://loan.compuzign.com/your-slug/members, then click Import. The import dialog opens with three steps: upload, preview, and result.

The CSV columns

The platform reads a header row and matches columns by name. Header matching is case-insensitive, and spaces or hyphens are treated as underscores, so both first_name and First Name are accepted. Columns the platform does not recognise are ignored. A leading UTF-8 byte-order mark, the marker Excel prepends when it exports a CSV, is stripped automatically, so an Excel export imports cleanly.

Required columns

Every row must have a value in each of these five columns.

Column	What it holds
cif	The member account number, also called the CIF. Maximum 40 characters. Must be unique within your workspace and within the file.
first_name	The member’s first name.
last_name	The member’s last name.
date_of_birth	Date of birth in yyyy-mm-dd format. The member must be at least 18 years old.
branch_code	The code of a branch that already exists in your workspace.

Optional columns

These columns are written when present and left blank when omitted.

Column	What it holds
middle_name	The member’s middle name.
gender	One of M, F, or OTHER. Any other value is ignored.
email	A valid email address. A malformed address fails the row.
phone	A contact phone number. Stored exactly as written, with no format validation.
address_line1	First line of the mailing address.
address_line2	Second line of the mailing address.
city	City.
parish	Parish.
postal_code	Postal code.
employment_status	One of EMPLOYED, SELF_EMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYED, RETIRED, STUDENT, or OTHER. Any other value is ignored.
trn	Tax Registration Number. Encrypted at rest.
dl_number	Driver’s licence number. Encrypted at rest.

If your CSV contains TRN or driver’s licence numbers, delete the file from your computer after the import finishes. Those values are encrypted at rest in the platform, but the spreadsheet on your machine is plain text.

Download a starter template

The upload step has a Download a starter template link. It gives you a CSV with the full header row and one well-formed sample row, so you can edit in place rather than build the header by hand.

Limits

Limit	Value
Rows per file	500
File size	1 MB
File type	A CSV the parser can read
Committed imports per hour	5 per user

A file with more than 500 data rows is rejected. Split it and import the pieces separately. The hourly limit counts committed imports only, so one credential cannot create thousands of fake records in an hour.

The real gate on file type is the CSV parser, not the extension. When the browser reports a content type, it must be text/csv, application/csv, or text/plain; when no content type is sent, that check is skipped and the file is parsed directly. Either way, a file that does not parse as CSV is rejected.

How the import works

The flow is preview then commit. You never mutate your workspace from the upload itself.

1. Upload the CSV

   Drag the file onto the drop zone or browse for it, then click Continue. The platform virus-scans the file before parsing, and an infected file is rejected outright. It then parses the header, validates each row, and cross-checks every cif and branch_code against your workspace. This writes an import record with status PREVIEWED and emits member.import.previewed. No member rows are created.

   If the file is malformed, the platform records the import with status REJECTED, emits member.import.rejected, and shows you the reason. Nothing is created. This covers a missing required column or a row count over the limit, and also an empty file, a file with a header but no data rows, and any file that cannot be parsed as CSV.

2. Review the preview

   The preview shows every row with a status pill and a summary strip you can click to filter. Each row falls into one of four groups:

   • Ready (creatable): the row is valid and will be created.
   • Already a customer (skipped_existing): an active member with this cif already exists in your workspace. The existing-CIF check ignores soft-deleted members, so a CIF that belonged to a previously deleted member can be reused on import.
   • Duplicate in file (skipped_duplicate_in_file): the same cif appears in an earlier row of this file.
   • Invalid (errored): the row failed validation. The pill shows the reason, for example missing first_name or branch_code does not exist in this workspace.

   Only Ready rows are committed. Everything else is skipped with a reason you can see.

3. Commit the valid rows

   Click Create N members. The platform re-reads the same file, verifies it matches the file you previewed, re-validates against your current workspace, and creates a member for every still-valid row. It flips the import record to COMMITTED and emits member.import.committed.

   The result step shows how many members were created and lists any rows skipped at commit time, with a reason for each.

Between preview and commit, a row can change. If another staff member creates a member with the same cif in the meantime, that row is skipped at commit and reported in the result, rather than failing the whole batch.

After the import

Imported members are created with KYC status UNVERIFIED. They are ready to use, but each member must still pass identity verification before a loan can be disbursed against their profile. See KYC verification.

Events recorded

Every import is recorded in the audit trail, separate from the per-member member.created events the commit produces.

Event	When it fires
member.import.previewed	A file was uploaded and validated. The preview is ready.
member.import.committed	The valid rows were committed and members were created.
member.import.rejected	The file was malformed and could not be previewed.