Instant Settlement

Instant settlement means funds are available to the recipient in seconds or minutes rather than days. PerfectPay routes payouts over the fastest available rail so sellers, workers, and merchants do not have to wait for traditional settlement cycles.

Settlement Timing Comparison

Supported Instant Rails

Push-to-Card

Delivers funds to any eligible Visa or Mastercard debit card within minutes. Best for gig worker payouts and instant tips where the recipient already has a card on file.

RTP (Real-Time Payments)

Account-to-account transfers that settle in seconds via The Clearing House network. Requires the recipient's bank to be an RTP participant.

FedNow

The Federal Reserve's instant payment service. Operates 24/7/365 with no cutoff windows. Broad and growing bank participation.

Use Cases

• Gig worker payouts -- pay drivers, couriers, and freelancers immediately after job completion
• Restaurant settlements -- settle daily sales to the restaurant's bank account in seconds instead of waiting for next-day batch processing
• Marketplace seller payments -- sellers receive their share from split payments instantly rather than waiting for a weekly payout cycle
• On-demand withdrawals -- let platform users cash out their balance at any time

How It Works with Smart Routing

PerfectPay's smart routing extends to payouts. When instant settlement is requested, the system:

1. Checks recipient eligibility for each instant rail (bank participation, card eligibility)
2. Selects the fastest available rail
3. Falls back to the next best option if the preferred rail is unavailable
4. Delivers funds and reports the final status via webhooks

Requesting an Instant Payout

Use the Payouts API and specify the preferred payout speed:

curl https://sandbox.perfectpay.ai/payouts/create \
  -X POST \
  -H "api-key: YOUR_SECRET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 15000,
    "currency": "USD",
    "payout_type": "bank",
    "customer_id": "cus_worker_abc",
    "priority": "instant",
    "description": "Instant payout after delivery completion"
  }'

When priority is set to instant, PerfectPay selects FedNow, RTP, or Push-to-Card based on recipient eligibility and rail availability.

Enabling Instant Settlement

1. Connect a payout processor that supports instant rails in the dashboard
2. Ensure your merchant account is provisioned for the rails you want to use
3. Work with PerfectPay to verify recipient bank eligibility for RTP and FedNow
4. Start sending payouts with "priority": "instant"

Integration with QR Payments

Instant settlement pairs naturally with Instant QR Payments. A customer scans a QR code, completes payment, and the merchant receives funds in seconds -- closing the loop from purchase to settlement in a single interaction.

Operational Notes

• Instant payouts may carry higher per-transaction fees than standard ACH; review your pricing with PerfectPay
• Not all recipient banks support RTP or FedNow today; PerfectPay handles fallback automatically
• Monitor instant payout success rates and rail selection in the dashboard
• Use Webhooks to track real-time status changes on instant payouts