GLOBAL PAYMENTS KNOWLEDGEISO 20022 / SWIFT / SEPA / MT / MX
PAYMENTSSIGNAL

The interactive academy for the standards, messages, and rails that move money.

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The RTP Network (instant, final, prefunded)

Riya sends USD 250.00 to Arjun in the middle of the night and he can spend it at once. RTP, operated by The Clearing House, runs every day of the year, only pushes money, and is final the moment it settles — no one can recall it.

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Contributor Shubham Mathure

STEP 1 / 7MESSAGE

Riya instructs Bank Alfa to pay Arjun

Riya (sender) → Bank Alfa (sender bank)

Riya tells her bank to send USD 250.00 to Arjun right now, at night. RTP is push-only: money only moves because the sender chooses to send it — you cannot pull funds from someone else's account.

Step 1 of 7: Riya instructs Bank Alfa to pay Arjun

  1. 01Message
    Riya instructs Bank Alfa to pay ArjunRiya (sender) → Bank Alfa (sender bank)
  2. 02Message
    Bank Alfa submits the credit transfer to RTPBank Alfa (sender bank) → RTP (The Clearing House)
  3. 03Message
    RTP checks the position and asks Nordbank to confirmRTP (The Clearing House) → Nordbank (receiver bank)
  4. 04Message
    Nordbank confirms it will make funds availableNordbank (receiver bank) → RTP (The Clearing House)
  5. 05Settlement
    RTP settles in the prefunded joint account at the Fed NYBank Alfa (sender bank) → Nordbank (receiver bank)
  6. 06Posting
    Bank Alfa debits RiyaBank Alfa (sender bank)
  7. 07Posting
    Nordbank credits Arjun immediatelyNordbank (receiver bank)
MESSAGECLEARING OBLIGATIONSETTLEMENTPOSTING
Full step-by-step text (works without JavaScript)
  1. 01Message
    Riya instructs Bank Alfa to pay ArjunRiya (sender) → Bank Alfa (sender bank)

    Riya tells her bank to send USD 250.00 to Arjun right now, at night. RTP is push-only: money only moves because the sender chooses to send it — you cannot pull funds from someone else's account.

  2. 02Message
    Bank Alfa submits the credit transfer to RTPBank Alfa (sender bank) → RTP (The Clearing House)

    Bank Alfa screens and validates the payment, then submits an RTP credit transfer to the network. RTP is open 24/7/365, so there is no cut-off to wait for — the request is processed the moment it arrives.

  3. 03Message
    RTP checks the position and asks Nordbank to confirmRTP (The Clearing House) → Nordbank (receiver bank)

    RTP uses Bank Alfa's balance in the prefunded joint account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and asks Nordbank whether it will make the funds available to Arjun. Banks must keep that prefunded balance topped up for this to work.

  4. 04Message
    Nordbank confirms it will make funds availableNordbank (receiver bank) → RTP (The Clearing House)

    Nordbank answers that it will credit Arjun immediately. A receiving institution on RTP must make the money available to the recipient right away, not hold it for later.

  5. 05Settlement
    RTP settles in the prefunded joint account at the Fed NYBank Alfa (sender bank) → Nordbank (receiver bank)

    On the positive confirmation, RTP settles by adjusting the two banks' positions inside the prefunded joint master account that participants hold at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This settlement is final and irrevocable.

    • DR Bank Alfa position in the RTP prefunded joint account (Fed NY) — USD 250.00
    • CR Nordbank position in the RTP prefunded joint account (Fed NY) — USD 250.00
  6. 06Posting
    Bank Alfa debits RiyaBank Alfa (sender bank)

    Bank Alfa books the debit on its own ledger against Riya's account. The interbank money already moved in the prefunded joint account; this posting reflects it on the customer's balance.

    • DR Riya's account at Bank Alfa — USD 250.00
  7. 07Posting
    Nordbank credits Arjun immediatelyNordbank (receiver bank)

    Nordbank makes the USD 250.00 available to Arjun straight away, so he can spend it that same night. Because settlement was final and irrevocable, this payment cannot be recalled by Riya or Bank Alfa.

    • CR Arjun's account at Nordbank — USD 250.00

What this simplifies: One sender bank, one receiver bank, and a single instant payment; the real RTP network coordinates many participants continuously and manages each bank's prefunded balance at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York throughout the day.

LEARN THE CONCEPTS BEHIND THIS FLOW

Sources for this flow2
  1. Official requirement

    RTP (Real-Time Payments) Network ↗ — The Clearing House

    Describes the RTP network operated by The Clearing House since 2017: 24/7/365 instant, push-only credit transfers that are final and irrevocable, settled in a prefunded joint account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, with funds made available to the recipient immediately. · Checked 2026-07-14

    RTP is push-only and prefunded; settlement is final and irrevocable, and payments cannot be recalled once submitted.

  2. Simplified educational illustration

    Payments Signal editorial teaching models — Payments Signal

    This site's own simplified teaching models. · Checked 2026-07-12

    What this simplifies: Fictional customers and banks with a small illustrative amount; the confirmation and settlement handshake is shown as single steps. Real RTP messaging, prefunding management, and return-request timelines are more detailed.

    Used wherever diagrams, scenarios, figures, or example values are didactic constructions rather than sourced facts; every such use carries a simplifications disclosure. All people, companies, banks, and list entries in examples are fictional.