Cross River Bank, a technology infrastructure provider for fintech firms and other institutions, announced on Monday the launch of its Request for Payment (RfP) program. This is designed to improve instant payment capabilities, streamline inbound money movement, and enhance funding agility across the Real-Time Payments network.
Plaid, a fintech solutions firm with offices in New York and San Francisco with an ongoing business relationship with Cross River, will be the first to implement the feature, unlocking instant purchases through its bank payments platform, Plaid Transfer.
Cross River, an early adopter of the RTP network, moves more than $1 billion monthly in real-time disbursements across RTP and FedNow platforms combined. The new RTP program addresses the need to accelerate inbound funding, which has depended on ACH and wire transfers and lagged behind outbound payments. Cross River will be one of the first financial institutions to support RfP on the RTP network, making for faster and more reliable pay-in options.
“The current reality of money movement is imbalanced—payments go out in seconds but pay-ins often take a day or more,” said Adam Goller, executive vice president and head of fintech banking at Cross River. “RfP is a smarter, more flexible way to receive incoming funds. It gives our partners greater control over timing, real-time visibility into each transaction, and reduces the need for overfunding or constant balance monitoring.”
The RfP solution was built on Cross River’s proprietary API-based banking core infrastructure, COS, and was developed with security, transparency, and compliance at its core. Each RfP is presented to the recipient by the receiving financial institution for explicit authorization, ensuring full control over every transaction. This adds a critical layer of security and trust, while improving the user experience on both ends of the exchange.
RfP allows businesses to send a secure, digital request for payment – enabling payers to authorize and send funds instantly with greater control. With RfP, businesses will be able to instantly fund digital wallets and accounts, reduce operational friction from delayed deposits, and improve customer experience with smooth, real-time pay-in options.
Plaid, the first to implement RfP functionality with Cross River, will enable real-time pay-ins for Carvana customers. This integration allows car buyers to complete purchases instantly and seamlessly.
“Instant payment rails unlock huge value for businesses and end customers by reducing friction, accelerating funding, and boosting conversion,” said Brian Dammeir, Global Head of Payments and Financial Management at Plaid.
