Route Management

Payment routes are the paths that payments take from your account to recipient accounts. Pooler automatically selects optimal routes, but understanding route management helps you optimize costs and processing times.

What are Payment Routes?

Payment routes are the payment networks and channels used to transfer funds. Different routes have different characteristics:

Processing Speed - How fast payments are processed
Cost - Fees associated with the route
Reliability - Success rate of the route
Coverage - Countries and banks supported

Route Types

Local Routes

Routes for payments within the same country:

Route Type	Speed	Cost	Coverage	Use Case
NIP (Nigeria Instant Payment)	Instant to minutes	Low	Nigerian banks	Local Nigerian transfers
Local Bank Transfers	Minutes to hours	Low to medium	Local banks	Standard local transfers
Mobile Money	Instant to minutes	Low	Mobile money networks	Mobile money transfers

Cross-Border Routes

Routes for international payments:

Route Type	Speed	Cost	Coverage	Use Case
SWIFT	1-5 business days	Medium to high	Global	International wire transfers
Regional Networks	Hours to days	Medium	Regional (e.g., SEPA, ACH)	Regional transfers
Corridor-Specific Routes	Varies by corridor	Optimized for specific corridors	Specific country pairs	High-volume corridors

Route Selection

Automatic Route Selection

Pooler automatically selects the best route based on: Factors Considered:

Destination - Recipient country and bank
Amount - Payment amount (some routes have minimums/maximums)
Currency - Source and destination currencies
Speed Requirements - Processing time needs
Cost Optimization - Balance between speed and cost
Route Availability - Current route status and capacity

Route Selection Algorithm

Identify Available Routes

Determine all routes that can handle the payment based on destination, currency, and amount.

Filter by Requirements

Filter routes based on:

Speed requirements
Cost constraints
Route availability

Score Routes

Score each route based on:

Cost (lower is better)
Speed (faster is better)
Reliability (higher success rate is better)

Select Optimal Route

Select the route with the best score for the payment.

Route Optimization

Cost Optimization

Optimize routes for cost:

Route Comparison - Compare costs across available routes
Bulk Routing - Use cost-effective routes for bulk payments
Time-Based Routing - Use cheaper routes when speed isn’t critical

Speed Optimization

Optimize routes for speed:

Priority Routes - Use fastest routes for urgent payments
Route Selection - Prefer instant/same-day routes
Time-Based Selection - Consider processing times when selecting routes

Balanced Optimization

Balance cost and speed:

Tiered Routing - Use fast routes for small amounts, cost-effective for large
Business Rules - Apply business-specific routing rules
Dynamic Selection - Adjust based on current conditions

Route Information

Getting Route Information

Route information is included in payment quotes:

const quote = await poolerClient.post('/payments/initiate', paymentData);
const routeInfo = quote.data.data.route;

console.log('Route:', routeInfo.name);
console.log('Estimated Time:', routeInfo.estimated_time);
console.log('Route Fee:', routeInfo.fee);

Route Details

Route information includes:

Field	Description
Route Name	Identifier for the route
Estimated Time	Expected processing time
Route Fee	Fee for using this route
Route Type	Local or cross-border
Currency Support	Supported currencies