Channels

A payment channel represents a persistent way to collect from a payer into a beneficiary's account.

Where a collection is a single payment request that expires, a channel is a standing arrangement. It stays open, and the payer can send funds through it repeatedly without a new link being generated each time. Each payment received through a channel is recorded as its own transaction.

Use a channel for an ongoing payer relationship — a recurring supplier, a marketplace seller collecting from the same buyer, a customer topping up a balance.

• A channel routes to an account using its account_id.
• The partners involved are the payer and the beneficiary.
• Each payment through the channel produces a transaction.
• Channel lifecycle changes emit CHANNEL_CREATED and CHANNEL_ARCHIVED webhook events.

You can't close a channel yourself. Ripple closes a partner's channels automatically if the partner fails compliance screening. Each channel's status changes to CLOSED, and Ripple sends a CHANNEL_ARCHIVED webhook event for each one.

• Create a channel: Generate a new payment channel between a beneficiary and payer.
• List channels: Retrieve a list of all channels, which can be filtered by id, payer_id, or beneficiary_id.
• Get channel details: View the full details and current status of a single channel.