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Step 4: Initiating a Transfer #

Identify Source and Destination For Transfer #

Since you are utilizing a receive funds flow, you will need to ensure that you know who the funds are going to.

  • Source - Your Customer’s Bank Funding Source
  • Destination - Your Dwolla Master Account Bank Funding Source

Step 4A: Initiate a Transfer #

To initiate a transfer, we will need to specify the source and destination funding source URLs in the _links parameter.

Request Parameters

ParameterRequiredTypeDescription
_linksyesobjectA _links JSON object describing the desired source and destination of a transfer. Reference the Source and Destination object to learn more about possible values for source and destination.
amountyesobjectAn amount JSON object. Reference the amount JSON object to learn more.

Request and response (view schema in ‘raw’)

Raw
POST https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/transfers
Accept: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Content-Type: application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json
Authorization: Bearer pBA9fVDBEyYZCEsLf/wKehyh1RTpzjUj5KzIRfDi0wKTii7DqY
Idempotency-Key: 19051a62-3403-11e6-ac61-9e71128cae77

{
   "_links": {
       "source": {
           "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/funding-sources/707177c3-bf15-4e7e-b37c-55c3898d9bf4"
       },
       "destination": {
           "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/funding-sources/AB443D36-3757-44C1-A1B4-29727FB3111C"
       }
   },
   "amount": {
       "currency": "USD",
       "value": "10.00"
    },
}

...

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Location: https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/transfers/74c9129b-d14a-e511-80da-0aa34a9b2388

When the transfer is created, you will receive a 201 HTTP response with an empty response body. You can refer to the Location header to retrieve a link to the created Transfer resource. All bank transactions that are sourced from a bank or that are going to a bank will have an initial status of pending. We recommend storing the full Transfer URL for future use, as it will be needed for correlating transfer update webhooks that are triggered for the user in the Dwolla system.

Step 4B: Handle Webhooks #

A single API call to create a payment transfer can trigger several transfer-related webhook events. The number of webhooks and type of webhook events can vary depending on the Customer type(s) involved in the transfer, as well as the source and destination for the funds transfer. For more information on which webhooks will be fired for a given section of a transfer, refer to our Developer Resource Article.

Step 4C: Simulate Payment Processing #

To simulate payment ACH processing in the Dwolla Sandbox environment, navigate to the Sandbox Dashboard. From here, you will want to click the “Process Bank Transfers” button on the top of the screen. Your Sandbox transfer will be moved out of a pending status and moved to a processed status.

process bank transfers

Production payment processing timing

While ACHfunds transfer processing can be simulated at any time in the sandbox, behavior will vary in production depending on what transfer clearing options you specify. Refer to our developer resource article to learn more on transfer timing in production.

Step 4D: Verify Status of Transfer #

Since ACH transactions in production can take a few days to complete, webhooks are an efficient way to notify you of when a transfer is completed and processed to a destination funding source. However, if you want to verify the status of a transfer at any given point in time, you can make a call to the API to retrieve the transfer by its unique id.

javascript
{
    "_links": {
        "source": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/accounts/30a6cb55-1754-4948-b431-ebe48288ef25",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "account"
        },
        "funding-transfer": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/transfers/6fdd095c-afd7-e811-8111-bec1f96924ed",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "transfer"
        },
        "destination-funding-source": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/funding-sources/AB443D36-3757-44C1-A1B4-29727FB3111C",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "funding-source"
        },
        "self": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/transfers/74c9129b-d14a-e511-80da-0aa34a9b2388",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "transfer"
        },
        "source-funding-source": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/funding-sources/707177c3-bf15-4e7e-b37c-55c3898d9bf4",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "funding-source"
        },
        "destination": {
            "href": "https://api-sandbox.dwolla.com/customers/4e988dba-0a1e-4591-ad04-eab3613e2f83",
            "type": "application/vnd.dwolla.v1.hal+json",
            "resource-type": "customer"
        }
    },
    "id": "74c9129b-d14a-e511-80da-0aa34a9b2388",
    "status": "processed",
    "amount": {
        "value": "10.00",
        "currency": "USD"
    }
}
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All funds transfers made using the Dwolla Platform are performed by a financial institution partner, and any funds held in a Dwolla Balance are held by a financial institution partner. Learn more about our financial institution partners.