Answer
A Member Verification Request (MVR) is a SuperStream message that asks an employee's super fund to confirm the member's account details before you make a contribution. From 1 July 2026 the ATO requires this check before the first contribution to an employee's fund, as part of the move to Payday Super. Lightning Payroll handles this for you automatically — there is nothing extra to set up.
When Lightning Payroll sends a Member Verification Request
The check runs automatically while you are submitting your super contributions through SuperStream. You do not send it from a separate screen.
- It applies from 1 July 2026 onwards. Before that date, your super submissions are unchanged.
- It is sent only before the first contribution to a given employee-and-fund combination. Once a contribution to that fund has gone through successfully for that employee, no further verification is sent for that pairing, so you will not see it on every pay.
- It applies to Australian super funds. Self-managed super funds (SMSFs) are not verified this way.
What you will see when sending super
When a verification is needed, Lightning Payroll sends the request and waits up to about a minute for the fund to respond. It then shows a Member Verifications window listing each employee and fund, grouped by outcome:
- Verified — the fund confirmed the member's details.
- Pending — the fund has not responded yet.
- Failed — the fund could not verify the member's details.
From this window you can choose how to proceed:
- Wait Another Minute — keep waiting for any outstanding responses to arrive.
- Send Verified Now — send the contributions for the members who were verified, and leave the rest for later.
- Send All Anyway (Override) — send every contribution, including any that did not verify.
- Cancel & Roll Back — stop and discard the verification requests so you can try again later.
If a member cannot be verified
A failed or pending verification usually means the fund has not responded yet, or the account details the fund holds do not match what is recorded for the employee. Check the employee's super fund details (the USI, member number and personal details) against what the fund has on file, then try again.
If Lightning Payroll tells you a fund is not yet able to receive Member Verification Requests, that fund has not finished setting up for this part of SuperStream. Please contact the fund and ask when they will be ready to receive verifications.
You can still choose to send a contribution that has not been verified, but the fund may reject it. Where possible, resolve the verification first.
