Sample - Plaid API
POST/payment_initiation/recipient/create

Create a payment recipient

Creates a payment recipient for payment initiation in a supported European country. Supply name and the recipient's IBAN or Bacs details, and provide address when the recipient's institution requires it. The operation is idempotent, so repeating the same payment details returns the same recipient_id.

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

6 body fields

The recipient's name, payment account details, and optional bank address.

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.
namestringrequired
The name of the recipient. We recommend using strings of length 18 or less and avoid special characters to ensure compatibility with all institutions.
ibanstringoptional
The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) for the recipient. If Bacs data is not provided, an IBAN is required.
bacsobjectoptional
An object containing a Bacs account number and sort code. If an IBAN is not provided or if this recipient needs to accept domestic GBP-denominated payments, Bacs data is required.
addressobjectoptional
The optional address of the payment recipient's bank account. Required by most institutions outside of the UK.

2 status codes
200Returns the created or existing `recipient_id` and a unique `request_id` for troubleshooting.
recipient_idstringrequired
A unique ID identifying the recipient
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

name is required and must contain at least one character. iban must contain 15 to 34 characters when used, address must include street, city, postal_code, and country, and country must be a two-character ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code.