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LILPE

MarketNorth America

Payments in North America: Cards, ACH and new instant rails

Cards dominate checkout, ACH moves most bank payments, and two instant rails, RTP and FedNow, now run alongside it in the US. Canada pairs Interac with a modernised payment infrastructure that is still being built out.
Talk to sales Payment methods
Currencies
USD · CAD
Key rails
ACH Network · RTP network · FedNow Service
Availability
Confirmed at onboarding

Local payment ecosystem

How North America pays

Most online checkouts in the US and Canada are card payments, with digital wallets layered on top. Bank rails carry payroll, bills and business payments: ACH in batches, and RTP and FedNow for payments that need to land in seconds. Instant rails are still growing in reach, so a payout strategy usually keeps ACH as the fallback.
  • ACH for payroll and bills
  • RTP since 2017, FedNow since 2023
  • Interac in Canada

Payment methods and rails

The rails behind everyday payments

Facts below come from the central banks and scheme operators that run them; numbers in brackets point to the sources at the end of the page.
Payment rails in North America
Rail or methodTypeWhereWhat to know
ACH NetworkBank transfers and debitsUSGoverned by Nacha; carries Direct Deposit and Direct Payments, settling same day or in one to two days.[1]
RTP networkInstant paymentsUSLaunched by The Clearing House on 14 November 2017, the first new US core payments system in decades.[2]
FedNow ServiceInstant paymentsUSThe Federal Reserve's instant payment service went live on 20 July 2023.[3]
Interac e-TransferAccount-to-accountCanadaInterac was selected to provide the exchange layer of the Real-Time Rail, Canada's real-time system still under development.[4]
LynxHigh-value paymentsCanadaCanada's high-value payment system, which replaced the Large Value Transfer System in 2021.[5]

Rails described as they operate in the market. Which methods LILPE connects for your business is confirmed during onboarding.

Currency

  • USDUS dollar
  • CADCanadian dollar

Settlement

Settlement options for this market, including currency and destination account, are confirmed during onboarding. Nothing on this page claims a specific settlement option.

Routing considerations

Orchestrating payments in North America

An orchestration layer sends each payment to an eligible provider by your rules and recent performance. In this market, these are the decisions that usually matter.
  1. Customer in North AmericaLocal methods and cards
  2. LILPEOne API and dashboard
  3. Routing engineRules, health, cost
  4. ProvidersServing North America, as connected
  5. Local railsACH Network, RTP network
Illustrative flow. Which providers and rails are connected for your business is confirmed during onboarding.

  • Card authorisation rates

    Rank acquirers by recent approval rate for each card type; route around one that's declining more than usual.

  • Instant vs batch

    Send time-sensitive payouts on an instant rail where the receiving bank is reachable; fall back to ACH where it isn't.

  • Cost by method

    Card, ACH and instant transfers price very differently; set rules by amount and urgency rather than one default.

Merchant use cases

Who sells and pays in North America

  • Selling to US and Canadian customers

    Card-first checkout with the providers that serve the market.

  • Paying contractors and sellers

    Bank payouts with instant rails where reachable and ACH as the fallback.

  • SaaS billing

    Recurring card and bank-debit collection with clear retry rules.

Integration approach

Add a market without a new integration

Your code talks to LILPE once. Markets, providers and methods are added behind that integration, where available.
  1. 01

    Tell us your markets

    Where you sell, the methods customers expect and your volumes.

  2. 02

    Providers confirmed

    We confirm which providers, methods and settlement options are available for your business.

  3. 03

    Integrate once

    One request pattern and one webhook stream, tested in the sandbox.

  4. 04

    Go live, then expand

    Adding or switching a provider needs no change to your code.

Availability and settlement options are confirmed during onboarding.

LILPE Global Presence

Local business addresses in North America

The coworking / business centers where LILPE holds a local business address. These are not LILPE offices. To reach the team, use the contact page.

Coworking / Business Center Locations

  • Local Business Address

    Coworking / Business Center

    Premier Workspaces, Midtown Manhattan

    Country
    United States
    City
    New York
    Complete address
    521 5th Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10175
    Postal code
    10175
    Official website
    premierworkspaces.com(opens in a new tab)

    Not a LILPE office. Address checked on the operator's website on 7 October 2026.

  • Local Business Address

    Coworking / Business Center

    The Professional Centre

    Country
    Canada
    City
    Toronto
    Complete address
    120 Adelaide Street West, Suite 2500, Toronto, Ontario M5H 1T1
    Postal code
    M5H 1T1
    Official website
    theprofessionalcentre.com(opens in a new tab)

    Not a LILPE office. Address checked on the operator's website on 7 October 2026.

A coworking / business center location is a local business address, not a LILPE office. It doesn't indicate a local licence or that LILPE services are available in North America. Availability and settlement options are confirmed during onboarding.

FAQ

North America questions

Is LILPE live in North America?

Which markets, providers and payment methods are available for your business is confirmed during onboarding. This page explains how payments work in North America and how an orchestration layer fits; it isn't a list of live LILPE connections.

What's the difference between RTP and FedNow?

Both are US instant payment systems. RTP is operated by The Clearing House and launched in 2017; FedNow is operated by the Federal Reserve and went live in July 2023. Banks choose which to join.

Can LILPE settle in this market's currency?

Settlement options, including currency and destination account, are confirmed during onboarding. LILPE's global collection pages describe settlement in INR to an Indian account through cross-border providers; nothing on this page claims other settlement options.

Sources

  1. [1]Nacha — How ACH payments work
  2. [2]The Clearing House — First new core payments system in the U.S. in more than 40 years initiates first live payments (14 Nov 2017)
  3. [3]Federal Reserve Financial Services — FedNow Service is now live (20 Jul 2023)
  4. [4]Interac — Payments Canada selects Interac Corp. as exchange solution provider for the Real-Time Rail
  5. [5]Payments Canada — The payment industry in Canada

Researched 7 October 2026. Market facts describe the payment systems, not LILPE's connections.

Expanding into North America?

Tell us where you sell and which providers you use today. We'll confirm what's available and show you the setup on LILPE.

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