RTP Payments

RTP® payments allow Customers to send instant credit payments through The Clearing House (TCH) RTP® Network.

RTP payments are processed in near real time and are intended for domestic U.S. payments.

Prerequisites

Before sending an RTP payment:

1. Confirm that your Client or Customer has access to the Instant Payments rail.
2. Verify that the receiving financial institution participates in the RTP network.
3. Ensure the source Synthetic Account has sufficient available funds.
4. Review the Instant Payments Reject Codes and Descriptions documentation.
5. Configure Message Queue or Webhook notifications if your integration uses event-driven processing.

Receiving Bank Eligibility

RTP payments can only be sent to financial institutions that participate in the RTP network.

Before initiating an RTP payment, verify that the receiving institution is eligible to receive RTP payments.

RTP Network Limits

Payment amounts must remain within applicable RTP network limits and any program-specific limits.

Send an RTP Payment

To send an RTP payment:

1. Verify that the receiving financial institution is eligible to receive RTP payments.
2. Ensure the destination account is configured for the Instant Payments rail.
3. Confirm that the source Synthetic Account has sufficient available funds.
4. Create the transfer using the appropriate transfer workflow.
5. Monitor transfer and transaction activity until processing completes.

When an RTP payment is initiated, funds are debited from the source Synthetic Account as part of the payment origination process.

If sufficient available funds are not present, the payment is rejected.

Receive RTP Payments

RTP payments can be received through a Virtual Reference Number (VRN) mapped to a general Synthetic Account.

To receive RTP payments:

1. Create a VRN mapped to a general Synthetic Account.
2. Register the VRN for RTP acceptance.
3. Confirm that the VRN RTP registration status is registered.

For additional information, see Virtual Reference Numbers (VRNs).

Monitor RTP Activity

Transaction activity can be monitored through:

• Message Queue notifications
• Webhook notifications
• Transfer records
• Transaction records

The following resources can be used to review RTP transaction activity:

• List Transactions
• Get a Single Transaction

Depending on processing conditions and program configuration, RTP payments may:

• Complete successfully
• Be rejected
• Fail
• Enter a queued state when RTP queueing is enabled

Continue monitoring transfer, transaction, and notification activity until a final outcome is reached.

RTP Queueing

RTP queueing allows outbound RTP payments to remain queued when the RTP network is temporarily unavailable.

When RTP queueing is enabled and the RTP network is unavailable, the payment is queued instead of failed. The system automatically retries the payment while it remains in the queue and processes the payment once the RTP network becomes available.

Queueing applies only to RTP network availability interruptions.

Queueing does not bypass:

• Account validation
• Payment validation
• Available-funds requirements
• Compliance reviews
• Sanctions screening
• RTP network rejection conditions

If the configured queue duration is exceeded before the RTP network becomes available, the payment fails. For additional information, see Instant Payments Queueing.

Testing

Use the Sandbox environment to test RTP payment workflows, error handling, and status monitoring.

For supported testing scenarios, see Testing Error Scenarios.

Related Resources

• Instant Payments
• Instant Payments Queueing
• Instant Payments Reject Codes and Descriptions
• Virtual Reference Numbers (VRNs)
• Message Queue
• Webhooks
• Transfer Statuses
• Transactions