Overdraft Meters

An overdraft meter measures the overdraft amount of a set of balances of a given balance template or balance class.

An overdraft meter can be owned by both group and subscriber objects. If a charge from a subscriber is on a group’s balance, the charge can be stopped by an overdraft meter owned by the group.

When Allow Charges to Exceed Credit Limit is enabled in a rate table, a prepaid balance can exceed its credit limit of 0, and a postpaid balance can exceed its current credit limit. Use an overdraft meter to manage excess charges over the credit limit for all balances, for prepaid balances only, or for postpaid balances only. For more information about how MATRIXX Engine determines whether charges are allowed to exceed the credit limit, see the discussion about exceeding credit limits.

A virtual balance is a non-G/L balance that is used to track usage for groups and group members that share a group balance. It is created when an aggregated balance is added to a group wallet or group member wallet. If there is an overdraft meter on the aggregate balance in a group wallet, and a subscriber's purchase charges impact the aggregate balance, the purchase charges for the subscriber will be limited by the overdraft meter in the group wallet.

To configure an overdraft meter, when creating or editing a meter template, select Overdraft in the Measured Quantity list in the Meter Details tab. If a charge from a subscriber is on a group’s balance, the charge can be stopped by an overdraft meter owned by the group. For more information about configuring an overdraft meter, see the discussion about configuring overdraft meter details in My MATRIXX Help.

The credit limit of an overdraft meter is a fixed, non-negative amount. When the credit limit value is set to 0, no overdraft is allowed. If you have a credit limit value greater than 0, you can turn off overdraft by changing the Value field to 0 on the Threshold tab on the overdraft meter. For more information about editing credit limits on an overdraft meter, see the discussions about configuring and editing meter template thresholds in My MATRIXX.

An overdraft meter cannot track unlimited balances. The overdraft meter amount is the sum of the overdraft amount of underlying balances and includes impacts such as grants as they become available or expire. If a charge causes the overdraft meter amount to exceed the meter limit, the charge is denied.

Consider the following balances.

An overdraft meter has a credit limit of 10GB defined in its template. This 10GBs is the meter overdraft limit.
  • Balance B1 is postpaid with credit floor 0 and credit limit 10GB. The current balance amount is 9GB (9GB has been consumed and 1GB remains).
  • Balance B2 is postpaid with credit floor 0 and credit limit 10GB. The current balance amount is 12GB (12GB has been consumed and 2GB overdraft).
  • Balance B3 is prepaid with credit floor -10GB and credit limit 0. The current balance amount is -3GB (7GB has been consumed and 3GB remains).
  • Balance B4 is prepaid with credit floor -10GB and credit limit 0. The current balance amount is 4GB (14GB has been consumed and 4GB overdraft).
In this example, the amount of overdraft meter for all balances is 6GB (2GB + 4GB). The meter overdraft limit is 10GB so an additional 4GB of overdraft is allowed.
  • If balance B1 charge is 5GB (1GB + 4GB) the charge is allowed.
  • If balance B2 charge is 4GB, the charge is allowed.
  • If balance B3 charge is 7GB (3GB + 4GB), the charge is allowed.
  • If balance B4 charge is 4GB, the charge is allowed.

Overdraft Meter Restrictions

The credit limit of an overdraft meter is a fixed, non-negative amount. An overdraft meter cannot track unlimited balances. The meter amount is the sum of the overdraft amount of underlying balances and includes impacts such as grants as they become available or expire. An overdraft meter cannot have any of the following meter properties.

  • Aggregate
  • Periodic
  • Session Meter
  • Turnstile
  • Update Required in Event
In addition to the meter property restrictions:
  • An overdraft meter cannot be associated with a specific service type.
  • An overdraft meter cannot be associated with balance filters.
  • An overdraft meter cannot track unlimited balances.
  • An overdraft meter cannot be adjusted or reset.
  • An overdraft meter can be owned by both group and subscriber objects.
  • A fixed, non-negative credit limit value must be defined for an overdraft meter.
  • Balance floor threshold is not supported for an overdraft meter.
  • Soft thresholds are not supported for an overdraft meter.
  • A virtual balance is a postpaid, unlimited balance by default and is not tracked by an overdraft meter unless a credit limit threshold is added for the balance.