---
title: "Create payment recipient"
method: POST
path: "/payment_initiation/recipient/create"
tags: ["plaid"]
---

# Create payment recipient

`POST /payment_initiation/recipient/create`

Create a payment recipient for payment initiation.  The recipient must be in Europe, within a country that is a member of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) or a non-Eurozone country [supported](https://support.plaid.com/hc/en-us/articles/27895826947735-What-Plaid-products-are-supported-in-each-country-and-region) by Plaid. For a standing order (recurring) payment, the recipient must be in the UK.

It is recommended to use `bacs` in the UK and `iban` in EU.

The endpoint is idempotent: if a developer has already made a request with the same payment details, Plaid will return the same `recipient_id`.

## Request body

- PaymentInitiationRecipientCreateRequest — PaymentInitiationRecipientCreateRequest defines the request schema for `/payment_initiation/recipient/create`
  - `client_id` string — Your Plaid API `client_id`. The `client_id` is required and may be provided either in the `PLAID-CLIENT-ID` header or as part of a request body.
  - `secret` string — Your Plaid API `secret`. The `secret` is required and may be provided either in the `PLAID-SECRET` header or as part of a request body.
  - `name` string, required — The name of the recipient. We recommend using strings of length 18 or less and avoid special characters to ensure compatibility with all institutions.
  - `iban` string, nullable — The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) for the recipient. If Bacs data is not provided, an IBAN is required.
  - `bacs` RecipientBACSNullable, nullable — The account number and sort code of the recipient's account.
    - `account` string — The account number of the account. Maximum of 10 characters.
    - `sort_code` string — The 6-character sort code of the account.
  - `address` PaymentInitiationAddress, nullable — The optional address of the payment recipient's bank account. Required by most institutions outside of the UK.
    - `street` string[], required — An array of length 1-2 representing the street address where the recipient is located. Maximum of 70 characters.
    - `city` string, required — The city where the recipient is located. Maximum of 35 characters.
    - `postal_code` string, required — The postal code where the recipient is located. Maximum of 16 characters.
    - `country` string, required — The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code where the recipient is located.

## Response `200`

OK

- PaymentInitiationRecipientCreateResponse — PaymentInitiationRecipientCreateResponse defines the response schema for `/payment_initiation/recipient/create`
  - `recipient_id` string, required — A unique ID identifying the recipient
  - `request_id` string, required — A unique identifier for the request, which can be used for troubleshooting. This identifier, like all Plaid identifiers, is case sensitive.

## Other responses

- `default` — Error response

## Changes

> 52 revisions in range; 1 could not be searched.

- **2026-07-22** `a1bbca018160` — 13 warning
  - added the new `ASSETS_ERROR` enum value to the `error_type` response property for the response status `default`
  - added the new `CRA_MONITORING_ERROR` enum value to the `error_type` response property for the response status `default`
  - added the new `CREDIT_PROFILE_REPORT_ERROR` enum value to the `error_type` response property for the response status `default`
  - added the new `ENCOMPASS_ERROR` enum value to the `error_type` response property for the response status `default`
  - …9 more
- **2026-06-25** `80d23bfdc2e5` — 1 warning
  - added the new `IDEMPOTENCY_ERROR` enum value to the `error_type` response property for the response status `default`
- **2026-06-10** `fb8c3f188d8b` — 1 warning
  - added the new `BASE_REPORT_ERROR` enum value to the `error_type` response property for the response status `default`
- **2025-12-11** `465584b48c99` — 2 info
  - added the optional property `provided_account_subtypes` to the response with the `default` status
  - added the optional property `required_account_subtypes` to the response with the `default` status
- **2025-11-19** `4abee1c56929` — 1 info
  - removed the `IDENTITY_ERROR` enum value from the `error_type` response property for the response status `default`

[Change history](https://skmtc.dev/plaid/apis/the-plaid-api/changes/payment_initiation/recipient/create/post.md)

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/plaid/apis/the-plaid-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/plaid/apis/the-plaid-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-production.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/plaid/the-plaid-api/revisions/e536704a333f/schema)