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Overview

Virtual accounts are virtual subledgers within one physical depository account that can be utilized in a variety of ways. Virtual Account Numbers (VANs) allow clients to provide a routing and account number that can be used to allow ACH transactions to and from a Dwolla Balance. The routing and account number is tied to a Dwolla Client’s Master Balance, or one of their Verified Customer’s balances. Virtual accounts hold no funds—they are simply a mechanism to route funds into a single Dwolla Balance. Dwolla’s Virtual Account Number feature performs two crucial functions:
  • Eliminate the need to deposit funds into an intermediary depository account before transferring funds in or out of your Dwolla Balance.
  • Keep transaction data separate and organized within the Dwolla Balance.
VANs are a premium feature and count toward a total Funding Source limit. For existing Dwolla clients, you will be required to implement additional requirements in order to be approved for production access. To learn more about pricing and enabling this feature, please contact Sales.
Send funds directly from a Virtual Account Number

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Items To Note

  • VANs cannot be used as a source or destination when calling the /transfers endpoint.
  • Users that are enabled for VANs will currently not have access to RTP or wire features.
  • Many virtual account numbers can route to a single Dwolla Balance. If you need to designate a portion of funds within a balance, reference the Labels API.
  • Dwolla has no transaction limit for externally initiated transfers.

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Interacting With Virtual Accounts

The Dwolla API supports methods for creating a VAN for a Verified Customer and creating a VAN for a Master Account, as well as retrieving routing details and removing a virtual account. Once a virtual account is created, a unique account and routing number pair will be available for use to create external transactions (reference example below). A virtual account will be represented as a Funding Source in the Dwolla API, however, it cannot be used when calling the Dwolla API to initiate transfers. Your Dwolla Balance is the only funding source you can use for transfers using the funds in that account within the Dwolla system, and you’ll only be able to use the VAN to initiate transfers affecting the funds in that account from a third party system. Upon creation of a virtual account as a Funding Source, it will immediately be available for use with a verified status. A VAN can be removed at any time via the API. A new VAN can be created in its place if needed.

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Example Routing Details Response:

{
  "_links": {
    "self": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/funding-sources/e6d68efb-c49b-43db-8867-e1ca58c6ee8c/ach-routing",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
      "resource-type": "ach-routing"
    },
    "funding-source": {
      "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/funding-sources/e6d68efb-c49b-43db-8867-e1ca58c6ee8c",
      "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
      "resource-type": "funding-source"
    }
  },
  "accountNumber": "9619991490430833",
  "routingNumber": "084106768"
}

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Tracking Virtual Account Transfers

Externally initiated transactions will be represented by transfers that are automatically created and available in the transaction listing endpoint when Dwolla is notified of the transaction by the ACH Network. Adding funds into a balance will be represented by a new transfer where the source is the VAN funding source and the destination is the Customer.

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Example Response Object

{
    "_links": {
        "self": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/transfers/c7149132-c552-ec11-813a-ebf9f1240ece",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "transfer"
        },
        "source": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/funding-sources/533e2de1-bc59-4301-a081-a431ef023fbd",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "customer"
        },
        "destination": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/af6eb65c-ab64-4510-8ce3-56076b6ab3a9",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "funding-source"
        }
    },
    "id": "c7149132-c552-ec11-813a-ebf9f1240ece",
    "status": "processed",
    "amount": {
        "value": "10.00",
        "currency": "USD"
    },
    "created": "2021-12-01T16:39:06.200Z"
}
Withdrawals from the Dwolla Balance will be represented by a new transfer where the source is the Customer and the destination is the VAN funding source.

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Example Response Object

{
    "_links": {
        "self": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/transfers/c7149132-c552-ec11-813a-ebf9f1240ece",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "transfer"
        },
        "source": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/af6eb65c-ab64-4510-8ce3-56076b6ab3a9",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "customer"
        },
        "destination": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/funding-sources/533e2de1-bc59-4301-a081-a431ef023fbd",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "funding-source"
        }
    },
    "id": "c7149132-c552-ec11-813a-ebf9f1240ece",
    "status": "processed",
    "amount": {
        "value": "10.00",
        "currency": "USD"
    },
    "created": "2021-12-01T16:39:06.200Z"
}
Each new transfer will trigger a bank_transfer_created or customer_bank_transfer_created . The creation webhooks will be triggered approximately 30 minutes prior to any completed webhook event of bank_transfer_completed or customer_bank_transfer_completed. Transfers will be created in a pending or failed status depending on whether the customer record or VAN has been deactivated, suspended, or removed. Additional details about an external transaction will be available when retrieving the transfer from the API. Either the source or the destination will be present in the object depending on the direction of the funds transfer.

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API Operations

Virtual Account Numbers integrate seamlessly with Dwolla’s existing funding source endpoints, requiring only VAN-specific parameters to enable external ACH routing capabilities. Each operation leverages the standard funding source architecture while providing unique account and routing numbers for external transaction processing.

Create VAN for Account

Create a Virtual Account Number for a Dwolla Master Account using the funding source endpoint with type set to virtual.

Create VAN for Customer

Create a Virtual Account Number for a Verified Customer using the customer funding source endpoint with type set to virtual.

Retrieve VAN Details

Retrieve VAN funding source details including ach-routing link for accessing unique account and routing numbers.

Remove VAN

Remove a Virtual Account Number by setting removed to true. A new VAN can be created if needed.

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Testing

Before deploying to production, validate your Virtual Account Number implementation using Dwolla’s Sandbox environment. The sandbox environment provides comprehensive simulation tools for external ACH transfers, failure scenarios, and edge cases to ensure your integration handles real-world payment flows reliably.

Test Virtual Account Numbers

Learn how to simulate VAN transfers and test failure scenarios in the Sandbox environment.