Move money externally

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'Idempotency-Key: <idempotency-key>' \
  --data '
{
  "source_account_id": "<string>",
  "destination_account_id": "<string>",
  "amount": 123,
  "description": "<string>"
}
'

import requests

url = "https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer"

payload = {
    "source_account_id": "<string>",
    "destination_account_id": "<string>",
    "amount": 123,
    "description": "<string>"
}
headers = {
    "Idempotency-Key": "<idempotency-key>",
    "Authorization": "Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)

const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Idempotency-Key': '<idempotency-key>',
    Authorization: 'Bearer <token>',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    source_account_id: '<string>',
    destination_account_id: '<string>',
    amount: 123,
    description: '<string>'
  })
};

fetch('https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
    'source_account_id' => '<string>',
    'destination_account_id' => '<string>',
    'amount' => 123,
    'description' => '<string>'
  ]),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Authorization: Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type: application/json",
    "Idempotency-Key: <idempotency-key>"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"strings"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer"

	payload := strings.NewReader("{\n  \"source_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"destination_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"amount\": 123,\n  \"description\": \"<string>\"\n}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

	req.Header.Add("Idempotency-Key", "<idempotency-key>")
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer")
  .header("Idempotency-Key", "<idempotency-key>")
  .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"source_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"destination_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"amount\": 123,\n  \"description\": \"<string>\"\n}")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Idempotency-Key"] = '<idempotency-key>'
request["Authorization"] = 'Bearer <token>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"source_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"destination_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"amount\": 123,\n  \"description\": \"<string>\"\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "id": "ach_transfer_Lk7nQx4mVp9bRt3d",
  "account_id": "account_Rv4nBt8xKw2pMh6s",
  "external_account_id": "external_account_Bx5nTm8hKw3pVd7c",
  "amount": 150000,
  "status": "submitted",
  "statement_descriptor": "Acme payroll",
  "transaction_id": null,
  "settled_at": null,
  "submission": {
    "submitted_at": "2026-03-15T14:30:00Z",
    "expected_funds_settlement_at": "2026-03-17T14:30:00Z"
  },
  "return": null
}

POST

ach-transfer

Move money externally

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'Idempotency-Key: <idempotency-key>' \
  --data '
{
  "source_account_id": "<string>",
  "destination_account_id": "<string>",
  "amount": 123,
  "description": "<string>"
}
'

import requests

url = "https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer"

payload = {
    "source_account_id": "<string>",
    "destination_account_id": "<string>",
    "amount": 123,
    "description": "<string>"
}
headers = {
    "Idempotency-Key": "<idempotency-key>",
    "Authorization": "Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)

const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Idempotency-Key': '<idempotency-key>',
    Authorization: 'Bearer <token>',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    source_account_id: '<string>',
    destination_account_id: '<string>',
    amount: 123,
    description: '<string>'
  })
};

fetch('https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
    'source_account_id' => '<string>',
    'destination_account_id' => '<string>',
    'amount' => 123,
    'description' => '<string>'
  ]),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Authorization: Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type: application/json",
    "Idempotency-Key: <idempotency-key>"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"strings"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer"

	payload := strings.NewReader("{\n  \"source_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"destination_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"amount\": 123,\n  \"description\": \"<string>\"\n}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

	req.Header.Add("Idempotency-Key", "<idempotency-key>")
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer")
  .header("Idempotency-Key", "<idempotency-key>")
  .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"source_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"destination_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"amount\": 123,\n  \"description\": \"<string>\"\n}")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.getlemma.com/v0/ach-transfer")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Idempotency-Key"] = '<idempotency-key>'
request["Authorization"] = 'Bearer <token>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"source_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"destination_account_id\": \"<string>\",\n  \"amount\": 123,\n  \"description\": \"<string>\"\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "id": "ach_transfer_Lk7nQx4mVp9bRt3d",
  "account_id": "account_Rv4nBt8xKw2pMh6s",
  "external_account_id": "external_account_Bx5nTm8hKw3pVd7c",
  "amount": 150000,
  "status": "submitted",
  "statement_descriptor": "Acme payroll",
  "transaction_id": null,
  "settled_at": null,
  "submission": {
    "submitted_at": "2026-03-15T14:30:00Z",
    "expected_funds_settlement_at": "2026-03-17T14:30:00Z"
  },
  "return": null
}

Creates a transfer from a Lemma account to a saved recipient — an external bank account registered in Lemma. External transfers are sent via ACH and typically settle within 1-2 business days.

Transfers over $100,000 are held for manual review by the Lemma team as a security measure to protect your accounts in the event of a compromised API key. Need higher limits? Contact us.

Headers

string

required

A key that lets you safely retry the request without sending the same ACH transfer more than once. See Idempotency.

Request body

string

required

The ID of the Lemma account to send money from.

string

required

The ID of a saved recipient. You cannot send money to an arbitrary bank account — it must be a pre-registered recipient belonging to your provider.

integer

required

The amount to transfer in cents. Must be greater than zero.

string

A description for the transfer. Appears on the sender’s transaction history.

Response

Returns the created ACH transfer object.

string

Unique identifier for the ACH transfer.

string

The Lemma account the transfer moves money from or to.

string | null

The external account on the other side of the transfer.

integer

The transfer amount in cents. A positive amount indicates a credit transfer pushing funds to the receiving account. A negative amount indicates a debit transfer pulling funds from the receiving account (an ACH pull).

string

Current status of the ACH transfer.

Show possible values

pending — in flight.
submitted — sent to the ACH network. When the Federal Reserve settles the transfer, the status stays submitted and settled_at is populated.
canceled — we canceled the transfer after holding it for manual review.
rejected — the ACH network rejected the transfer.
returned — the transfer was returned.

string

The statement descriptor shown to the counterparty.

string | null

The settled transaction, once the transfer posts.

string | null

ISO 8601 timestamp of when the transfer settled.

object | null

Submission details, once the transfer reaches the ACH network.

Show Submission object

string

ISO 8601 timestamp of when the transfer was submitted to the ACH network.

string | null

ISO 8601 timestamp of when the funds are expected to settle.

object | null

Return details, if the transfer was returned.

Show Return object

string

The raw ACH return reason code.

string | null

The transaction created when the transfer was returned.

{
  "id": "ach_transfer_Lk7nQx4mVp9bRt3d",
  "account_id": "account_Rv4nBt8xKw2pMh6s",
  "external_account_id": "external_account_Bx5nTm8hKw3pVd7c",
  "amount": 150000,
  "status": "submitted",
  "statement_descriptor": "Acme payroll",
  "transaction_id": null,
  "settled_at": null,
  "submission": {
    "submitted_at": "2026-03-15T14:30:00Z",
    "expected_funds_settlement_at": "2026-03-17T14:30:00Z"
  },
  "return": null
}

⌘I

Getting started

Concepts

Entities

Bank Accounts

Lockbox

Check deposits

Remittances

Transactions

External accounts

Book transfers

Cards

ACH transfers

Move money externally

Headers

Request body

Response

​Headers

​Request body

​Response

Headers

Request body

Response