Real-Time Payments
Instant Settlements via Next-Gen Real-Time Payment Rails
Access real-time payment rails around the world through a single integration. Payments settle in seconds — not hours, not days — with instant confirmation.
Real-Time Payments
Access real-time payment rails around the world through a single integration. Payments settle in seconds — not hours, not days — with instant confirmation.
The Problem
Domestic payments in India, Brazil, Thailand, and the Philippines settle in seconds. But the moment money crosses a border, it falls back into the correspondent banking system — batch processing, cut-off times, and multi-day settlement windows.
Meridian bridges the gap. We connect your institution directly to real-time payment infrastructure in high-growth markets — so your cross-border payments settle as fast as domestic ones.
How It Works
Submit a payment instruction via API or the Transaction Banking Portal — specifying the recipient, amount, and destination market.
Meridian automatically routes to the fastest available real-time rail in the destination country — UPI, InstaPay, PromptPay, PIX, Faster Payments, or SEPA Instant.
The payment clears and settles on the local real-time rail in seconds — not hours, not days. No batching, no cut-off times.
Real-time confirmation is returned via webhook or API response the moment funds are credited to the recipient’s account.
Key Features
Access real-time payment rails across Southeast Asia, Latin America, Europe, and beyond — UPI, InstaPay, PromptPay, PIX, Faster Payments, SEPA Instant, and more.
Real-time rails don’t sleep. Meridian processes payments around the clock — no banking hours, no weekend delays, no holiday cut-offs.
Funds arrive in the recipient’s account within seconds. No T+1, no end-of-day batch. Settlement is immediate and irrevocable.
Meridian selects the optimal real-time rail per transaction based on availability, cost, and speed — with automatic fallback to the next best option.
One API endpoint covers every real-time rail. No per-country integrations, no rail-specific formatting. Meridian normalizes the complexity.
Webhook and API-based confirmation the moment funds are credited. No polling, no status ambiguity — you know when the payment lands.
Technical Details
Controls & Compliance
Every payment is screened against OFAC, UN, EU, and local sanctions lists before reaching the real-time rail.
Automated rules-based monitoring for unusual patterns, velocity anomalies, and high-risk corridors in real time.
Formatted reports for local financial intelligence units and cross-border reporting obligations per market.
Real-time payments are final. Meridian confirms settlement status in real time so your records are always up to date.
Every payment is logged with timestamps, rail selection, FX rates applied, and compliance check results.
Integration
A single API call handles rail selection, FX conversion, compliance screening, and settlement — regardless of the destination country or payment scheme.
Don't want to integrate via API? The Meridian Transaction Banking Portal provides the same real-time payment capabilities through a browser-based interface — no development resources required.
View API documentationcurl -X POST https://api.meridian.com/v1/payments/real-time \
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"amount": 50000,
"source_currency": "USD",
"destination_currency": "PHP",
"rail": "auto",
"recipient": {
"name": "Maria Santos",
"account_number": "0012345678",
"bank_code": "BPI",
"country": "PH"
},
"reference": "INV-2025-00391"
}'
Rail Coverage
Meridian maintains direct connections to real-time payment infrastructure in the markets where speed matters most — high-growth economies where traditional settlement delays are the biggest barrier to commerce.
Coverage is expanding continuously. Each integration is purpose-built and maintained to meet local scheme requirements and maximize delivery speed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Meridian connects to real-time payment rails across multiple regions including UPI (India), InstaPay (Philippines), PromptPay (Thailand), PIX (Brazil), Faster Payments (UK), SEPA Instant (Europe), and additional local instant payment schemes. Coverage is expanding continuously.
Payments settle in seconds on the destination rail. Unlike traditional correspondent banking which operates on T+1 or T+2, real-time rails provide immediate, irrevocable settlement. Meridian returns confirmation as soon as the recipient’s account is credited.
Yes. Real-time payment rails operate around the clock, including weekends and holidays. Meridian processes payments 24/7/365 with no cut-off times or batching delays.
When the source currency differs from the destination currency, Meridian performs automatic FX conversion at competitive wholesale rates before routing to the local real-time rail. The recipient receives the full local currency amount instantly.
Yes. Meridian supports batch real-time payments via the API or the Transaction Banking Portal. Each payment in the batch is routed individually to the real-time rail for instant settlement, with per-payment status tracking and confirmation.
Every real-time payment is screened against sanctions lists and monitored for suspicious activity in real time. Meridian handles regulatory reporting for each destination market and maintains full audit trails. Compliance checks are performed before funds are released to the real-time rail.
No. Real-time payments can be initiated and tracked through the Meridian Transaction Banking Portal without any technical integration. The portal supports single payments, batch uploads, and full reporting.
Meridian’s smart routing automatically detects rail availability and falls back to the next fastest option. You receive a notification if a payment is rerouted, and the system retries the primary rail once it’s back online.
Talk to our team about your corridors and volumes. We'll show you how quickly you can go live with real-time payments across high-growth markets.