Real-Time Payments

In May 2022, Routable introduced real-time payments to our API. The Real-Time Payments (RTP) network is a payment processing platform that provides funds availability within seconds, 24/7/365.

While ACH and RTP are both types of account-to-account transfers, there are some important differences:

  • Real-Time Payments are final and irrevocable. No settlement time is required, so your vendor receives their funds instantaneously.
  • Real-Time Payments are available year-round, without being delayed due to weekends or banking holidays, and funds become available in almost real time.

How to use Real-Time Payments in the Routable API

  • Use the real_time_payment delivery_method with type=ach in your Create a Payable call.
  • As with ach_same_day and ach_next_day, the withdraw_from_account in your Create a Payable call must reference the Account ID for your Routable balance account. You can find this ID using the List Accounts endpoint.
  • Because real-time payments are final, they cannot be canceled once they are initiated.
  • The vendor's pay_to_payment_method must be of type: bank.

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Not all banks support receiving real-time payments

Not all banks support receiving Real-Time Payments. To check whether your vendor's bank can accept them, call the List Payment Methods endpoint. If the delivery_options array for type ach on a given a PaymentMethod contains real_time_payment, the bank supports receiving transfers of this type.

See below for an example response.

{ "object":"PaymentMethod", "id":"cecf67c0-4671-44fe-9a51-b31cdbee65b1", "type":"bank", "type_details":{ "account_number":"XXX3210", "account_type":"checking", "institution_name":"Citibank", "routing_number":"021000021" }, "created_at":"2020-01-24T14:15:22+00:00", "delivery_method":"ach", "delivery_methods": { "ach": [ "ach_same_day", "ach_next_day", "ach_expedited", "ach_standard", "real_time_payment" // This bank account supports real-time payments ] }, "is_created_by_company":true, "is_preferred_by_company":true, "is_primary":true, "name":"Citibank ***3210", "links":{ "self":"https://api.sandbox.routable.com/v1/companies/ec60d364-9100-4728-a3cb-0f200a8a0f5d/payment-methods/cecf67c0-4671-44fe-9a51-b31cdbee65b1", "company":"https://api.sandbox.routable.com/v1/companies/ec60d364-9100-4728-a3cb-0f200a8a0f5d" } }

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