June 09, 2025
Announcing Instant Pay-Ins on Plaid Transfer
Plaid launches real-time pay-ins via Request for Payment—now powering instant payments for Carvana vehicle purchases.
Plaid is expanding Instant Payments on Plaid Transfer to support real-time pay-ins via Request for Payment (RfP) on the RTP® network. Plaid is one of the first providers to enable RfP for U.S. businesses at scale, delivering a multi-rail bank payments platform that now supports instant pay-ins via RTP, as well as payouts across leading networks: RTP, FedNow, Same Day ACH, and more.
With RfP, you can request a payment from a customer in real time. The customer receives a prompt in their banking app and authorizes the transaction instantly. Funds settle in seconds, even on nights, weekends, and holidays—providing a trusted, always-on payment experience.
This new functionality is powered in collaboration with Cross River, combining real-time settlement infrastructure with Plaid's consumer-friendly UX and built-in risk tools.
Faster, safer real-time bank payments
Traditional bank transfers, especially for large transactions, often involve friction, delays, and risk. With RfP, Plaid enables:
Instant confirmation and final settlement
Seamless bank authentication via Plaid Link
Reduced fraud and returns through built-in account verification, balance checks, and bank eligibility
A single integration to intelligently route payments across available rails
For merchants, instant bank payments mean getting paid faster, reducing payment failures, and eliminating the operational drag of reconciling delayed or returned ACH transactions, while also delivering a better customer experience. It’s a win for both sides of the transaction.
RfP in action: Carvana unlocks faster car delivery options
Carvana, an industry pioneer for buying and selling used cars online, and one of the first adopters of Plaid's RfP capabilities, is using real-time pay-ins to streamline vehicle purchases. With real-time payments, Carvana is speeding up traditional bank transfer steps and eliminating manual data entry, so customers can move from checkout to delivery even faster.
“At Carvana, we’re committed to delivering the fastest, easiest, and most customer-centric way to buy a car,” said Matt Dundas, vice president of finance at Carvana. “With real-time payments through Plaid and Cross River, we’re removing one more layer of friction, helping customers move through the process even faster and, in some cases, even schedule same-day delivery. It’s another important step in making car buying fun, fast, and fair.”
Built for scale and simplicity
With Plaid Instant Payments, you get a unified API and intelligent orchestration layer that enables optimization of each transaction for speed, cost, and coverage. Plaid’s Qualification API confirms whether a customer’s bank supports RfP and, if not, enables you to fall back to Same Day or standard ACH, based on your needs.
The next chapter in bank payments
RfP is unlocking instant pay-ins for a range of use cases: funding investment accounts, topping up wallets, repaying loans, and more. Combined with instant payouts, Plaid now powers real-time money movement in both directions—helping you meet rising consumer expectations for speed and security.
This is the future of bank payments. Come build with us.