Pay via Wire sends funds from a Passport Account to an external bank account over the domestic Wire network. Use it for urgent or high-value payments that need same-day settlement. You pay a third party saved as a Contact, a one-time recipient, or transfer to your own external account. For the full field list, jump to the Request reference.

Moving funds to your own bank account from a Passport Account you own is a transfer of your own money. See Transfer funds.

Common use cases

• Pay vendors, suppliers, or service providers urgently
• Send high-value payments requiring same-day settlement
• Disburse funds when ACH timing doesn't meet your needs
• Pay saved Contacts via wire

Make your first wire payout

The fastest way to see it work: pay a saved vendor (Contact) with the minimal fields below. The full set of options is in the Request reference.

POST /v1/customer/id/{id}/transaction

{
  "externalId": "wire-first-payout-001",
  "method": "WIRE",
  "amount": "10000.00",
  "purpose": "Vendor Payment",
  "source": { "account": { "externalId": "passport-account-001" } },
  "destination": {
    "contact": {
      "externalId": "vendor-contact-001",
      "externalAccount": { "externalId": "vendor-bank-001" }
    }
  }
}

You'll get back a transaction with status: SCHEDULED. Store the returned id and your externalId to track it and for follow-up actions.

Scenarios

Every wire payout follows the transaction lifecycle. The only thing that changes per scenario is the destination, so pick the one that matches the problem you're solving.

sequenceDiagram
    participant You as Your Application
    participant PCE as PCE
    participant Fed as Wire Network (Fedwire)
    participant Bank as Recipient Bank

    You->>PCE: POST /v1/customer/id/{id}/transaction (method: WIRE)
    PCE->>PCE: Validate balance + destination
    PCE-->>You: 201 Created (status: SCHEDULED)
    PCE->>Fed: Submit wire instruction — PROCESSING
    Fed->>Bank: Route funds to beneficiary
    Bank-->>Fed: Settlement confirmation
    Fed-->>PCE: Wire settled
    PCE-->>You: Webhook (status: COMPLETED)

Before you begin (all scenarios)

• The Passport Account you're paying from is active and has enough balance to cover the payout.

Each scenario below adds one requirement specific to its destination.

Scenario 1: Pay a vendor or contractor you pay regularly

(third-party recipient saved as a Contact)

Use this to pay a vendor, supplier, contractor, or partner you'll pay again. Save their bank details once as a Contact, then reference the contact on every payout.

You'll also need: the recipient saved as a Contact with a linked external bank account.

Request

POST /v1/customer/id/{id}/transaction

{
  "externalId": "wire-contact-001",
  "method": "WIRE",
  "type": "REGULAR",
  "amount": "7500.00",
  "purpose": "Supplier Payment",
  "source": { "account": { "externalId": "passport-account-001" } },
  "destination": {
    "contact": {
      "externalId": "supplier-contact-001",
      "externalAccount": { "externalId": "supplier-bank-001" }
    }
  },
  "processingDetail": { 
    "processingMode": "SAME_DAY",
    "memo": "Invoice INV-2026-0471"
  }
}

Response

{
  "resourceName": "transaction",
  "url": "/v1/customer/id/4225975/transaction/id/230491550",
  "id": 230491550,
  "externalId": "wire-contact-001",
  "status": "SCHEDULED",
  "statusDate": "06/29/2026 14:20:55",
  "amount": 7500,
  "method": "WIRE",
  "purpose": "Supplier Payment",
  "type": "REGULAR",
  "transactionClass": "SEND",
  "statusReason": "On User Request",
  "source": {
    "account": { "resourceName": "account", "id": 9915272, "url": "/v1/customer/id/4225975/account/id/9915272" }
  },
  "destination": {
    "contact": { "resourceName": "contact", "id": 4019600, "url": "/v1/customer/id/4225975/contact/id/4019600" }
  }
}

Scenario 2: Make a one-time wire payout to a new recipient

(bank details passed inline, nothing saved)

Use this for a one-off wire payment when you don't want to save the recipient. You pass the bank details directly in the request.

You'll also need: the recipient's holderName, routingNumber, and accountNumber, verified.

Request

POST /v1/customer/id/{id}/transaction

{
  "externalId": "wire-onetime-001",
  "method": "WIRE",
  "type": "REGULAR",
  "amount": "5000.00",
  "purpose": "One-time Vendor Payment",
  "source": { "account": { "externalId": "passport-account-001" } },
  "destination": {
    "externalAccount": {
      "holderName": "John Smith",
      "accountNumber": "123456789012",
      "routingNumber": "021000089",
      "type": "CHECKING",
      "holderType": "CONSUMER"
    }
  },
  "processingDetail": { 
    "processingMode": "SAME_DAY",
    "memo": "Consulting fee"
  }
}

Response

{
  "resourceName": "transaction",
  "url": "/v1/customer/id/4225975/transaction/id/230491561",
  "id": 230491561,
  "externalId": "wire-onetime-001",
  "status": "SCHEDULED",
  "statusDate": "06/29/2026 15:10:30",
  "amount": 5000,
  "method": "WIRE",
  "purpose": "One-time Vendor Payment",
  "type": "REGULAR",
  "transactionClass": "SEND",
  "statusReason": "On User Request",
  "source": {
    "account": { "resourceName": "account", "id": 9915272, "url": "/v1/customer/id/4225975/account/id/9915272" }
  },
  "destination": {
    "externalAccount": { "resourceName": "externalAccount", "id": 4019508, "url": "/v1/customer/id/4225975/externalAccount/id/4019508" }
  }
}

Scenario 3: Transfer to your own external bank account

(pre-linked External Account you own)

Use this to move funds from your Passport Account to your own bank account outside the system. You reference a pre-linked External Account.

You'll also need: the destination bank account linked as an External Account.

Request

POST /v1/customer/id/{id}/transaction

{
  "externalId": "wire-prelinked-001",
  "method": "WIRE",
  "type": "REGULAR",
  "amount": "10000.00",
  "purpose": "Funds Transfer",
  "source": { "account": { "externalId": "passport-account-001" } },
  "destination": {
    "externalAccount": { "externalId": "my-external-bank-001" }
  },
  "processingDetail": { "processingMode": "SAME_DAY" }
}

Response

{
  "resourceName": "transaction",
  "url": "/v1/customer/id/4225975/transaction/id/230491572",
  "id": 230491572,
  "externalId": "wire-prelinked-001",
  "status": "SCHEDULED",
  "statusDate": "06/29/2026 16:05:00",
  "amount": 10000,
  "method": "WIRE",
  "purpose": "Funds Transfer",
  "type": "REGULAR",
  "transactionClass": "SEND",
  "statusReason": "On User Request",
  "source": {
    "account": { "resourceName": "account", "id": 9915272, "url": "/v1/customer/id/4225975/account/id/9915272" }
  },
  "destination": {
    "externalAccount": { "resourceName": "externalAccount", "id": 4019510, "url": "/v1/customer/id/4225975/externalAccount/id/4019510" }
  }
}

Track the transaction

Subscribe to webhooks or GET the transaction to follow it to settlement. The statuses, the webhook payload, and the event types all live in Transaction lifecycle.

Request reference

The complete set of fields for the create-transaction request. Scenarios above use subsets of these.

Core parameters

Destination types

The destination object takes one of three shapes, matching the scenarios above.

Saved Contact (pay a third party you've saved, Scenario 1)

Inline bank details (one-time payout, nothing saved, Scenario 2)

Pre-linked External Account (your own bank account, Scenario 3)

Processing detail

Optional as a whole, but certain fields may be required depending on your program's configuration.

Validation

The prerequisites above are the validations, and PCE enforces them when you submit. A submission is checked synchronously; if a check fails, the request returns an error and no transaction is created. Submission checks:

• Required fields are present and correctly formatted.
• The source Passport Account is active and has enough balance to cover the payout.
• The destination resolves (a saved Contact, valid one-time bank details, or a pre-linked External Account).

Other conditions can only be judged once the payout is in flight, such as an inactive or blocked account, a compliance hold, or a bank rejection. These surface after creation as PENDING or FAILED; see Transaction lifecycle. For error codes, see Error Codes and Messages.

Statuses

Pay via Wire uses the shared transaction lifecycle. See it for every status, the reasons, and how to track a transaction.

If a wire payout fails

A wire payout moves to FAILED when the wire network rejects the instruction or the receiving bank cannot process it. A PENDING payout is on hold because the source or destination account is inactive or blocked. In both cases, resolve the underlying issue and submit a new payout. For the specific error codes, see Transactions Error codes.

Go live

The shared pre-production checklist (production credentials, webhook subscription and signature validation, idempotency, and sandbox testing) is in Getting Started. Specific to paying via Wire, also confirm:

• Same-day wire cutoff times are verified for your program.
• Recipient bank details (routing and account numbers) are validated before submission.

Best practices

General practices (set a unique externalId, subscribe to webhooks, test in sandbox) are in Getting Started. Specific to paying via Wire:

Next steps

See also

• Save Payees as Contacts: save vendors for faster repeat payouts
• Transfer funds: move money to an account you own
• Pay via ACH: lower-cost payouts with next-day settlement
• Pay via International Wire: cross-border wire payouts
• Error Codes and Messages: resolve a failed payout