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Virtual Accounts (UK and Europe)

  • Introduction to Virtual Accounts
  • Managing your Virtual Account
  • Payment Confirmation
  • Payouts
  • Refunds
  • Account Sweeping
  • Add Virtual Accounts to your app
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Introduction to Virtual Accounts

Manage the entire lifecycle of a payment

Explore API

API Reference

View Virtual Account requests, responses, and example code

View Virtual Account API

Getting Started Guide

Learn how to add Virtual Accounts to your app

View guide

Virtual account functionality is currently supported only in Sandbox and Production.

Overview

Plaid's virtual account API allows you to collect domestic payments, initiate payouts and refunds, and streamline reconciliation processes. Virtual accounts provide granular control and visibility throughout the entire lifecycle of a payment. While Plaid’s Payment Initiation API handles account funding use cases, virtual accounts can be layered on top of Payment Initiation functionality to provide insight into the settlement status of all transactions, pay out to your merchants, allow end users to withdraw their funds, and issue refunds.

For example, if you have a brokerage app, you can use Payment Initiation for end users to fund their accounts. Payment Confirmation will inform you when your end users' payments have settled so you can release these funds for your end users to purchase equities. When your end users sell their equity purchases, you can use Payouts to let them cash out their earnings.

See the Add Virtual Accounts to your App guide to learn more about how to implement virtual accounts.

Testing Virtual Accounts

You can immediately start using virtual accounts in Sandbox. For Production access you will need to first request access by submitting a product access request Support ticket explaining your use case.

Next steps

To get started building with Virtual Accounts, see Add Virtual Accounts to your App.

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