What notifications exist for merchants when utilizing an instant payment rail?

Note: This article applies to business merchants only, not personal consumers.

Merchants using an instant payment rail, such as RTP, must pre-fund a bank account to cover the payout transactions. As these transactions occur and balances fluctuate, automated notifications are sent to merchants when the balance dips below predefined thresholds.

There are two types of notifications: Warning and Critical

• Warning Messages: Warning messages are sent to specified recipients to notify merchants the instant payment (IP) balance in the For Benefit Of (FBO) account has fallen below a set threshold. Warnings are sent when there are still sufficient funds in the account to continue processing, but have reached an initial low balance threshold.
• Critical Messages: Critical messages are sent to specified recipients when the instant payment (IP) balance in the For Benefit Of (FBO) account has fallen below a set threshold. Critical messages are sent when the balance is low enough that there is a risk that transactions may not be processed.

To resolve these situations, merchants must wire funds to the account to increase the balance above the balance thresholds.