Direct XRP Payments

The basis of any financial system is transferring value. The quickest and simplest method on the XRP Ledger is a direct XRP payment from one account to another. Unlike other payment methods that require multiple transactions to complete, a direct XRP payment executes in one transaction with no intermediaries, and typically completes in 8 seconds or less. You can only make direct payments when XRP is the currency sent and received.

Direct XRP Payment Lifecycle

1. The sender creates a Payment transaction, which defines the parameters of the payment. The transaction is a direct XRP payment if XRP is the currency sent and received.

2. Transaction processing checks the parameters and circumstances of the transaction; if any check fails, the payment fails.

   • All fields are formatted correctly.
   • The sending address is a funded account in the XRP Ledger.
   • All provided signatures are valid for the sending address.
   • The destination address is different than the sending address.
   • The sender has a high enough XRP balance to send the payment.

3. Transaction processing checks the receiving address; if any check fails, the payment fails.

   • If the receiving address is funded, the engine makes additional checks based on their settings, such as Deposit Authorization.
   • If the receiving address isn't funded, it checks if the payment will deliver enough XRP to meet the minimum account reserve requirement. If the reserve is met, a new account is created for the address and its starting balance is the amount received.

4. The ledger debits and credits the corresponding accounts.

   Note: The sender is also debited the XRP transaction cost.

See Also

• Tutorials:
  • Send XRP (Interactive Tutorial)
  • Monitor Incoming Payments with WebSocket
• References:
  • Payment transaction
  • Transaction Results
  • account_info method - for checking XRP balances