Sample - Plaid API
POST/payment_initiation/payment/create

Create a payment

Creates a payment to a previously created recipient. Supply recipient_id, an alphanumeric reference, and an amount; omit schedule for a one-time payment or provide it to create a standing order. Standing orders must use GBP and recipients in the UK, and the response contains the initial payment status.

  • RetriesRetries up to 2×, 500ms backoff, 30s timeout.

8 body fields

Payment creation details, including the recipient, payment reference, amount, optional recurring schedule, and payment options.

client_idstringoptional
Your Plaid API `client_id`. The `client_id` is required and may be provided either in the `PLAID-CLIENT-ID` header or as part of a request body.
secretstringoptional
Your Plaid API `secret`. The `secret` is required and may be provided either in the `PLAID-SECRET` header or as part of a request body.
recipient_idstringrequired
The ID of the recipient the payment is for.
user_idstringoptional
The `user_id` of the end user the payment is initiated for, as returned by [`/user/create`](https://plaid.com/docs/api/users/#usercreate). The user must have a `name` and either an email address or a phone number. Required for new integrations.
referencestringrequired
A reference for the payment. This must be an alphanumeric string with at most 18 characters and must not contain any special characters (since not all institutions support them). In order to track settlement via Payment Confirmation, each payment must have a unique reference. If the reference provided through the API is not unique, Plaid will adjust it. Some institutions may limit the reference to less than 18 characters. If necessary, Plaid will adjust the reference by truncating it to fit the institution's requirements. Both the originally provided and automatically adjusted references (if any) can be found in the `reference` and `adjusted_reference` fields, respectively.
amountobjectrequired
The amount and currency of a payment
scheduleobjectoptional
The schedule that the payment will be executed on. If a schedule is provided, the payment is automatically set up as a standing order. If no schedule is specified, the payment will be executed only once.
optionsobjectoptional
Additional payment options

2 status codes
200Returns the created payment's `payment_id`, its initial `PAYMENT_STATUS_INPUT_NEEDED` status, and a unique `request_id`.
payment_idstringrequired
A unique ID identifying the payment
statusstringrequired
For a payment returned by this endpoint, there is only one possible value: `PAYMENT_STATUS_INPUT_NEEDED`: The initial phase of the payment
Allowed:PAYMENT_STATUS_INPUT_NEEDED
request_idstringrequired
A unique identifier for the request, which can be used for troubleshooting. This identifier, like all Plaid identifiers, is case sensitive.
defaultError response
error_typestringrequired
A broad categorization of the error. Safe for programmatic use.
Allowed:INVALID_REQUESTINVALID_RESULTINVALID_INPUTINSTITUTION_ERRORRATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDEDAPI_ERRORITEM_ERRORASSET_REPORT_ERRORBASE_REPORT_ERRORRECAPTCHA_ERROROAUTH_ERRORPAYMENT_ERROR
error_codestringrequired
The particular error code. Safe for programmatic use.
error_code_reasonstringoptional
The specific reason for the error code. Currently, reasons are only supported for OAuth-based item errors; `null` will be returned otherwise. Safe for programmatic use. Possible values: `OAUTH_INVALID_TOKEN`: The user's OAuth connection to this institution has been invalidated. `OAUTH_CONSENT_EXPIRED`: The user's access consent for this OAuth connection to this institution has expired. `OAUTH_USER_REVOKED`: The user's OAuth connection to this institution is invalid because the user revoked their connection.
error_messagestringrequired
A developer-friendly representation of the error code. This may change over time and is not safe for programmatic use.
display_messagestringrequired
A user-friendly representation of the error code. `null` if the error is not related to user action. This may change over time and is not safe for programmatic use.
request_idstringoptional
A unique ID identifying the request, to be used for troubleshooting purposes. This field will be omitted in errors provided by webhooks.
causesarrayoptional
In this product, a request can pertain to more than one Item. If an error is returned for such a request, `causes` will return an array of errors containing a breakdown of these errors on the individual Item level, if any can be identified. `causes` will be provided for the `error_type` `ASSET_REPORT_ERROR` or `CHECK_REPORT_ERROR`. `causes` will also not be populated inside an error nested within a `warning` object.
statusintegeroptional
The HTTP status code associated with the error. This will only be returned in the response body when the error information is provided via a webhook.
documentation_urlstringoptional
The URL of a Plaid documentation page with more information about the error
suggested_actionstringoptional
Suggested steps for resolving the error
required_account_subtypesarray<string>optional
A list of the account subtypes that were requested via the `account_filters` parameter in `/link/token/create`. Currently only populated for `NO_ACCOUNTS` errors from Items with `investments_auth` as an enabled product.
provided_account_subtypesarray<string>optional
A list of the account subtypes that were extracted but did not match the requested subtypes via the `account_filters` parameter in `/link/token/create`. Currently only populated for `NO_ACCOUNTS` errors from Items with `investments_auth` as an enabled product.

Error handling

recipient_id, reference, and amount are required, and amount must include both currency and value. currency must be GBP, EUR, PLN, SEK, DKK, or NOK, while value must be at least 1 with no more than two decimal places. reference must be 1 to 18 alphanumeric characters without special characters.