External Accounts & Recipients

Quick Reference

I want to...	Use this API
Add my customer's own bank account for withdrawals	External Accounts
Pay a vendor/supplier	Recipients
Pay an employee/contractor	Recipients
Send money to any third party	Recipients

Side-by-Side Comparison

Aspect	External Accounts	Recipients
Purpose	Customer withdraws to SELF	Customer pays OTHERS
Account Owner	Customer themselves	Third-party (vendor, employee, etc.)
Data Structure	Flat (accounts only)	Hierarchical (recipient → accounts)
Name Validation	Must match customer's company name	Must match recipient's name
Use Case	"Send money to my own bank"	"Pay my vendor/employee"
Typical Flow	Add account → Withdraw	Create recipient → Add account → Payout

FAQ

Q1: Can I use External Accounts API for paying third parties?

No. External Accounts are strictly for the customer's own accounts. The validation requires the account holder name to match the customer's registered company name. Use Recipients API for third-party payments.

Q2: What's the relationship type for Recipients?

Common values:

VENDOR - Supplier of goods/services
EMPLOYEE - Internal employee
CONTRACTOR - External contractor
SUPPLIER - Material/goods supplier
OTHER - Other business relationship

Q3: Can a Recipient have multiple bank accounts?

Yes. Each Recipient can have multiple bank accounts (e.g., one for Wire, one for ACH). This is useful when the same payee accepts different payment methods.

Q4: What happens if I already added vendor accounts via External Accounts?

Those accounts will likely fail during payout due to compliance checks. You should:

Create the vendors as Recipients
Add their bank accounts under the Recipients API
Delete the incorrectly added External Accounts