Real-time rails · 24/7

Instant payment network — every real-time rail, one API.

SEPA Instant, FedNow, RTP, Faster Payments, PIX, PayID and Visa Direct ride the same authentication, the same response shape, and roll into the same reconciliation feed on topropay. Seconds to settle, 24/7, across the rails your buyers actually use.

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€ 5,976 CLEARED · 7.4 s SEPA Inst · EU
Seconds to clear · 24/7 · across every rail in the panel.
SCT Inst
SEPA Instant Credit Transfer · EU
FedNow
United States · 24/7 RTGS
RTP
United States · The Clearing House
Faster Payments
United Kingdom
PIX
Brazil · BCB
PayID / OSKO
Australia · NPP

Key benefits

Why this instant payment system pays for itself in CSAT alone

Four properties that show up the moment a merchant moves from batch settlement to real-time rails for the buyer- and counterparty-facing flows that matter.

  1. 01

    Seconds to settle, not days

    Inbound payments clear in seconds across SEPA Instant, RTP, FedNow, PIX and Faster Payments. Funds availability is visible in the merchant's dashboard the moment the rail confirms — no waiting for a batch file.

  2. 02

    One API across every real-time rail

    The same endpoint that authorises a card payment kicks off an instant payment system request. Region detection picks the correct rail; the merchant doesn't fork their integration per rail.

  3. 03

    Instant payouts on the same surface

    instant payout payment via Visa Direct, Mastercard Send, SEPA Instant credit, RTP credit and FedNow credit ride the same payout API. Per-region rail selection is platform-side.

  4. 04

    One ledger across rails

    Inbound receipts, outbound payouts, fees and adjustments from every instant rail normalise into one reconciliation feed. Daily exports tagged by rail, currency and counterparty for finance.

How the instant payment gateway works

From API call to cleared funds in five steps

What actually happens between the merchant's API call and the cleared-funds event in the unified ledger — symmetric for inbound and outbound flows.

  1. 01

    Initiate via unified API

    Inbound: the merchant exposes a hosted pay surface or a quote-and-pay link. Outbound: the merchant calls POST /v1/payouts with counterparty, amount and currency. Same authentication, same response shape.

  2. 02

    Rail selection

    Region and counterparty drive rail selection — SEPA Instant for EU IBANs, FedNow or RTP for US routing numbers, PIX for Brazilian PIX keys, PayID for Australian PayID handles. Card-rail payouts use Visa Direct or Mastercard Send.

  3. 03

    Real-time exchange

    The instant payment network exchanges the message with the counterparty's institution and returns a clearing confirmation in seconds. Failures surface immediately with a normalised reason code.

  4. 04

    Confirmation & token

    On success topropay issues a signed event and a payment token. For recurring counterparties the token is reusable so the merchant doesn't re-enter the rail details on the next pay-out.

  5. 05

    Reconcile in one feed

    The instant payment is tagged in the unified ledger by rail, currency, counterparty and the originating invoice or order ID; settlement balance updates without waiting for end-of-day.

Rails & regions

instant payment services covered rail-by-rail across regions

Six rail/region cells covering EU, US, UK, Brazil, Australia/NZ and the global card-rail layer. Per-rail message formats and per-rail compliance handled platform-side; the merchant integrates once.

  • European Union

    SEPA Instant Credit Transfer

    10 seconds max under EPC SCT Inst scheme; €100,000 instruction limit per scheme rules. instant ach payment-style flows on a different rail; SEPA-area IBAN reach across participating institutions.

  • United States

    FedNow + RTP

    FedNow (Federal Reserve) and RTP (The Clearing House) cover US-side instant rails. instant ach payment via same-day ACH where instant-rail reach isn't available; Visa Direct / Mastercard Send for card-rail payouts.

  • United Kingdom

    Faster Payments

    Faster Payments Service (FPS) covers UK-side instant payments up to the per-scheme limit. Open Banking pay-by-bank rides on top for consumer-initiated instant payments.

  • Brazil

    PIX (Banco Central)

    PIX is the Brazilian Central Bank's instant rail — settlement in seconds across PIX keys (CPF, CNPJ, email, phone or random). PIX-Recorrência for scheduled instant debits where supported.

  • Australia / NZ

    PayID + OSKO (NPP)

    New Payments Platform via OSKO for instant credit transfers; PayID resolves a counterparty's BSB+account from a phone, email or ABN. NZ instant rails via partner where supported.

  • Card rails (global)

    Visa Direct + Mastercard Send

    Card-rail instant payouts to a cardholder's eligible debit/credit card. Per-country eligibility varies; the platform exposes the eligibility check before the merchant attempts the payout.

Main use cases

Where an instant payout payment gateway earns its keep

Six recurring merchant shapes where real-time settlement turns a back-office task into a competitive advantage.

  • Mktp

    Marketplaces with instant seller payouts

    Sellers see funds in their bank or card within seconds of an order clearing — major retention lift over T+1/T+2 marketplace defaults.

  • Gig

    Gig & creator platforms

    Workers cash out at shift end through SEPA Instant, FedNow or Visa Direct. Per-worker daily-limit policies enforced in the dashboard.

  • Travel

    Travel and ticketing refunds

    Cancellation refunds returned on the instant rail rather than the original card scheme's refund cycle — meaningful CSAT lift on tight booking windows.

  • B2B

    B2B settlement on real-time rails

    Same-day or sub-minute B2B settlement via SEPA Instant, FedNow or RTP credit messages — preferred over end-of-day batch for time-sensitive trade flows.

  • Ins

    Insurance claim payouts

    Approved claims paid out instantly via Visa Direct, Mastercard Send or the local instant rail. Claim file references travel with the payout for downstream reconciliation.

  • Gam

    Licensed gaming withdrawals

    Where the operator is licensed, withdrawal-to-player flows ride the local instant rail or Visa Direct. Withdrawal limits enforced server-side under the operator's compliance rules.

Platform features

Capabilities behind the instant payment software layer

Twelve capabilities labelled by role — inbound, outbound, rail, token, risk, ops, webhook and finance — so engineering can see where each one bolts on.

  • Inbound

    Real-time inbound receipt

    One endpoint, region-correct rail. Settlement confirmation in seconds rather than minutes or hours.

  • Outbound

    Real-time outbound payout

    One endpoint for instant payouts via card rail or bank instant rail; per-region eligibility exposed up front.

  • Rail

    SEPA Inst rail integration

    Direct or partner-accessed SEPA Instant Credit Transfer; per-counterparty institution reachability check.

  • Rail

    FedNow + RTP rails

    US-side instant rails behind one wrapper; routing-number-based rail selection between FedNow and RTP.

  • Rail

    Faster Payments + Open Banking

    UK-side instant rail plus pay-by-bank consumer flow on top.

  • Rail

    PIX + PayID rails

    Brazilian PIX and Australian PayID covered behind the same API as the Western instant rails.

  • Rail

    Visa Direct + Mastercard Send

    Card-rail instant payouts globally, subject to per-country and per-issuer eligibility.

  • Token

    Reusable counterparty token

    Successful instant payouts return a token reusable for the next payout to the same counterparty — no re-entry of rail details.

  • Risk

    Velocity & list controls

    Per-counterparty velocity rules, allow/deny list management and screening before any instant rail send fires.

  • Ops

    Operator-side approval flows

    Optional dual-approval for outbound instant payments above configurable thresholds, with actor identity logged per event.

  • Webhook

    Signed lifecycle events

    Signed webhooks for initiate, accept, confirm, fail and refund; replay-safe IDs.

  • Finance

    One reconciliation feed

    Every instant rail's settlement events normalise into one ledger, tagged with rail, currency and counterparty.

Trust & compliance

Compliance posture across every real-time rail

One audited environment for the orchestration layer plus per-rail compliance for instant rails. Travel Rule data attached where applicable through partner gateways with VASP / MiCA-relevant authorisations.

PCI DSS Level 1
Card data captures into the platform vault for any Visa Direct / Mastercard Send outbound; PAN never lands in merchant systems.
SCA & PSD2
Selective EMV 3DS2 on inbound card payments; payment-initiation flows on Open Banking follow the AISP / PISP authorisation pattern.
FedNow / RTP / SEPA Inst posture
topropay's connectivity to instant rails sits with licensed partner institutions; per-rail message format compliance handled platform-side.
Travel Rule (where applicable)
Where a payout crosses a regulated counterparty boundary, FATF Travel Rule data is collected and attached via partner gateways with VASP / MiCA-relevant authorisations.
Sanctions & AML alignment
Sanctions screening on onboarding and on every counterparty before an instant payout fires; AML monitoring tuned per merchant vertical, volume and rail mix.
Licensed verticals only
Licensed gaming, regulated financial services and other compliance-bound verticals supported only where current operating licences exist. Grey and black-market verticals are out of scope regardless of which instant rail is used.

Ready to settle in seconds

Bring instant rails onto a unified orchestration API.

A 30-minute review covers the instant rails relevant to your geographies, payout policy with per-counterparty velocity rules, eligibility coverage for Visa Direct and Mastercard Send, and a sandbox to test against before any commercial commitment.

Book an instant-rails review Read the API docs

Frequently asked

Buyer questions about the instant payment network on topropay

Definitions, instant-vs-batch mechanics, payout limits, dispute handling on instant rails and the practicalities of running every real-time rail under one API.

  1. 01

    What does an instant payment network mean in the topropay context?

    An instant payment network on topropay is the set of real-time rails — SEPA Instant, FedNow, RTP, Faster Payments, PIX, PayID/OSKO — plus card-rail instant payouts (Visa Direct, Mastercard Send) — exposed through the platform's unified API. Each rail clears in seconds; topropay handles per-rail message formats, eligibility checks and reconciliation.

  2. 02

    How is the instant payment system different from same-day ACH or wire?

    The instant payment system clears in seconds, 24/7, with immediate funds availability. Same-day ACH clears in hours and only on business days; wire clears in hours during banking windows. instant ach payment is sometimes used colloquially to describe FedNow or RTP, but ACH and RTP/FedNow are separate rails with different message formats.

  3. 03

    Does the instant payment gateway support both inbound and outbound flows?

    Yes. The instant payment gateway role on topropay covers both inbound (a buyer paying the merchant) and outbound (the merchant paying a counterparty). The API contract is symmetric — same authentication, same event shape, same reconciliation tagging — with the rail selected by region and counterparty type.

  4. 04

    What instant payment services does the platform offer day-one?

    Instant payment services on day-one include real-time inbound receipts on the rails available in the merchant's primary geographies, instant payouts via card rails and the equivalent bank instant rails, a counterparty token for reuse on repeat payouts, and the unified reconciliation feed. Adding rails as the merchant expands geographies is a configuration change.

  5. 05

    How does the instant payout payment gateway work for marketplaces?

    An instant payout payment gateway on a marketplace pays the seller within seconds of an order clearing — via card rail (Visa Direct / Mastercard Send) where the seller has an eligible card, or via the local bank instant rail (SEPA Instant, FedNow, PIX, PayID) where they have an account. The marketplace's dashboard surfaces eligibility per seller.

  6. 06

    Can the platform handle instant ach payment specifically?

    instant ach payment on topropay is delivered via FedNow and RTP for US-side instant credit transfers; legacy same-day ACH is also supported through the wider ACH connectivity but settles in hours, not seconds. The merchant picks the speed policy per counterparty in the dashboard.

  7. 07

    Is there an instant payment solution for high-volume payout fleets?

    Yes. The instant payment solution scales horizontally across rails — per-merchant rate limits are sized against forecast volume; outbound payouts above configurable thresholds can require dual-approval; per-counterparty velocity rules and AML screening run server-side before the rail message fires.

  8. 08

    Is topropay an instant payment processor in the traditional sense?

    topropay sits in the instant payment processor role at the orchestration layer — owning the unified API, the vault, the routing engine, the unified dispute / refund queue and the reconciliation feed. The rail connectivity sits with licensed partner institutions that hold the per-rail scheme membership.

  9. 09

    How quickly does an instant payout payment actually arrive?

    An instant payout payment on SEPA Inst clears in up to 10 seconds per the EPC scheme rules. FedNow and RTP target seconds. PIX and PayID/OSKO typically clear in under 10 seconds. Visa Direct and Mastercard Send target within minutes; some issuers post the credit within seconds. The platform surfaces the actual end-to-end timing per rail.

  10. 10

    Does the merchant integrate separate instant payment software per rail?

    No. Instant payment software on topropay is one integration. The platform's API in front of the rails means the merchant ships the same client SDK and the same server endpoint regardless of which rail clears any given transaction. Rail selection happens platform-side based on region and counterparty type.

  11. 11

    What happens if the counterparty's institution doesn't support the chosen instant rail?

    The platform exposes a reachability check before the merchant attempts the payout. If the counterparty's institution isn't on the instant rail, the call either falls back to same-day ACH / SEPA SDD credit (with the merchant's policy permission) or returns a normalised 'no instant rail reachable' reason code so the merchant's system can choose how to handle it.

  12. 12

    Are there limits on instant payouts?

    Yes — per-scheme limits (SEPA Inst €100k, FedNow $1m, Faster Payments £1m per the current scheme rules), per-merchant daily volume caps set at onboarding, and per-counterparty velocity rules. Limits adjust as the merchant scales; manual overrides require dual-approval.

  13. 13

    How does dispute / refund handling work on instant rails?

    Instant rails don't have a chargeback right equivalent to card schemes. Refunds run as a new instant credit in the reverse direction; recalls require counterparty institution co-operation and are managed case-by-case. For card-rail instant payouts (Visa Direct / Mastercard Send), scheme dispute rules apply on the inbound side only.

  14. 14

    Can the platform pair instant payouts with card-on-file inbound payments?

    Yes. A merchant can take inbound payment via card (with VTS / MDES network tokens) and pay out a different counterparty via the instant rail, all under the same unified API. The two sides reconcile against each other in one ledger.

  15. 15

    What's the fastest way to evaluate the platform's instant payment shape?

    Sandbox covers the full instant payment shape from day one — every rail simulates eligibility, success, partial-failure and rejection responses. Most merchants run a parallel test against their existing provider for 2–4 weeks before cutting over.

Related

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