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"
  }
}