Payouts

The Acquired.com Payouts solution allows you to send funds instantly to a customer's bank account using the Faster Payments Network. We offer a real-time service via API to let you know the outcome of sending funds immediately.

Create a payee

A payee is the beneficiary or recipient that receives the funds of your payout transaction. This API endpoint is used to create a payee resource and store the payee's bank details (sort code, account number, account name) for executing the payment.

All payee's must be stored against an existing customer_id, if the customer doesn't already exist you will need to create one first. (View our API reference customer documentationhere). Pass the customer_id within your POST request.

When you submit a request to create a payee, you will be returned a payee_id in the response. This payee_id can then be passed in the pay-out request.

See the below request example:

POST/customers/{customer_id}/payees

{
  "sort_code": "010203",
  "account_number": "12345678",
  "account_name": "MR E JOHNSON"
}

Example of a successful response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "payee_id": "4ebc5489-7b9f-4324-983e-07d4b2b00035"
}

Example of a 400 error response:

{
    "status": "error",
    "error_type": "validation",
    "title": "Your request parameters did not pass our validation.",
    "instance": "/v1/customers/payee",
    "invalid_parameters": [
        {
            "parameter": "sort_code",
            "reason": "sort_code format is invalid, should be ^[0-9]{1,6}$"
        }
    ]
}

Process a payout

You can initiate a payout to a recipient’s bank account using the /pay-out endpoint. This enables a faster payment from your Acquired-managed account.

There are two supported approaches to provide payee details:

Option 1: Payout using a payee_id

Use this method if you have already created and stored a payee resource.

POST /pay-out

{
  "transaction": {
    "order_id": "1f1f2a61-5b68-4725-a0ce-9560514ec00b",
    "amount": 15.02,
    "currency": "gbp"
  },
  "payment": {
    "payee_id": "4ebc5489-7b9f-4324-983e-07d4b2b00035",
    "reference": "Custom Ref 001"
  }
}

Option 2: Payout by providing payee details directly

Use this method to make a one-off payment without creating or storing a payee.

POST /pay-out

{
  "transaction": {
    "order_id": "1f1f2a61-5b68-4725-a0ce-9560514ec00b",
    "amount": 15.02,
    "currency": "gbp"
  },
  "payment": {
    "sort_code": "010203",
    "account_number": "12345678",
    "account_name": "MR E JOHNSON",
    "reference": "Custom Ref 001"
  },
  "webhook_url": "https://yourdomain.com/webhook"
}

Response

In both cases, the response will return a transaction_id and an initial status of pending. You can use this ID to track the transaction via webhook notifications.

{
  "status": "pending",
  "transaction_id": "bd3fbbcd-411e-4760-8a9f-7af420d26314"
}

Validation rules

Webhook notifications

Acquired.com will send status_update webhook notifications to the webhook_url passed in your payout request or configured in the Hub. This will contain detail of the current status of the payout as it transitions through the transaction lifecycle.

View our webhook documentation here.

Manual Payouts via Hub (Stored Payee)

In addition to sending payouts via the API, Acquired also allows you to manually trigger a payout through the Hub, using a previously saved payee_id. This can be helpful for finance or support teams who need to send one-off payments without writing code, but still benefit from our secure, validated payout processing flow.

1. Open the Customers tab in the Hub
2. Select a customer to view their details
3. Navigate to the Payees tab
4. Each stored Payee is listed in a table. Click on the ellipsis and select Make a payment to launch the payout modal.

Clicking Make a payment opens a pre-filled modal to initiate a payout. This flow is optimised for ease of use and accuracy:

• Payee Information:
  • Fields for Account Name, Account Number, and Sort Code are automatically populated from the stored payee_id.
  • These fields are disabled and uneditable, ensuring data consistency with what’s already saved.
• Select Account to Send From:
  • Since Payees are stored at the Company level, they can be paid from any of your MID accounts associated with that customer.
  • A required dropdown labeled “Select account to send payment from” is displayed at the top.
  • All eligible MIDs are listed in the format: **Account Name **(Current Balance)
  • The default MID will be pre-selected.
• Reference & Amount:
  • Amount – required, must be a valid positive number (validated).
  • Reference – also required. This is a short description the payee will see (e.g. “Invoice 1245”).
• 2FA Authentication:
  • As with all payout flows, a 2FA step is required to authorise the transaction. This ensures only permitted users can initiate real-money transfers.

Manual Payouts via Hub (No Stored Payee)

In addition to sending payments using previously saved Payees, users can make one-off payments directly through the Hub, without storing beneficiary details. This is ideal for scenarios where a payment needs to be sent quickly without the overhead of creating or managing a stored payee record.

1. Navigate to the Payees section in the Hub
2. Click + Make a Payment

A modal will open, similar to the existing “Make Payment” window, but with key differences:

• Account Name: required. Name of the person or business receiving the funds.
• Account Number: required. Must match UK format. Validated in real time.
• Sort Code: required. Valid UK 6-digit sort code.
• Reference: required. Displayed to the recipient.
• Amount: required. Positive number, validated.
• 2FA Code: required. One-time code must be entered to proceed.

Once the payment information is submitted and 2FA is confirmed, the transaction is processed immediately using the API.

Save Payee Details

📘

Coming soon!

Users have the option to save payee details when making a one-off payment through the Hub. A Save payee details for future use checkbox appears in the payment modal, allowing the user to enter a Customer Reference and/or Email. If selected, the system will first create a new Customer using the provided reference or email, then associate a new Payee with that Customer, and finally process the payment using the newly created payee_id.

If successful, the payment is completed and the payee is saved for future use, with a confirmation message and a link to view the new customer profile. If the Customer Reference already exists, the user is guided to use the existing profile instead.

Retrieve Payees

In addition to creating and paying payees, you can now retrieve all stored payee records associated with your company using the REST API.

The GET /v1/payees endpoint allows you to list every Payee that has been created against your company. This is helpful for platforms that need to display or manage previously saved beneficiaries for payouts, auditing, or customer service purposes.

This endpoint allows you to:

• List all stored Payees associated with your company
• Filter Payees by account name, account number, sort code, or status
• Filter by a specific customer_id
• Control pagination using offset and limit
• Specify which fields to return using the filter parameter

Example Response

• If no Payees exist, you will receive an empty data: [] array with total: 0
• All filtering is exact match, except for account_name which supports partial case-insensitive matches
• Use the filter parameter_ (e.g. filter=payee_id,account_name)_ to return only the fields you need

{
    "meta": {
        "count": 1,
        "offset": 0,
        "limit": 25,
        "total": 1,
        "links": [
            {
                "rel": "first",
                "href": "/v1/payees?offset=0",
                "title": "first page"
            }
        ]
    },
    "data": [
        {
            "payee_id": "88c8c15b-df46-4b1c-bb3d-58f40b7bb5c2",
            "customer_id": "ec13eabc-0092-4c91-8e52-4b23141b8df1",
            "account_name": "John Smith",
            "account_number": "12893283",
            "sort_code": "120011",
            "is_active": true,
            "created": "2024-11-22T14:45:00Z",
            "last_updated": "2025-06-01T12:01:00Z"
        }
    ]
}