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# Payments

Natural supports payments via direct transfer or payment claims, executed by a user or an agent. Direct transfers are useful when both originating and receiving parties are both on platform, while payment claims are useful when the receiving party is not yet on platform. This abstraction is taken care of behind the scenes. Payments can be managed via SDKs, APIs, and Dashboard.

## Direct transfer

You can make a payment request with the recipient's email, phone number, or `partyId` as the unique identifier. If the party exists on platform, Natural will execute a direct transfer from the originator's wallet to the recipient's wallet. If not, Natural will send a payment claim.

## Payment claims

When a payment request is created with a party that isn't on platform, Natural creates a claim link and sends an email or SMS message with a claim link to the recipient. The recipient can then onboard onto Natural and claim their funds. They will need to be KYB/KYC'd according to our [compliance](/guides/overview/compliance) program before they can withdraw funds from their Natural wallet.

A claim link stays valid until the recipient redeems it.

## Best practices

### Clear recipient and amount

Always include a full identifier for a recipient (email, phone number, or `partyId`) so Natural can properly route transactions. Use exact decimal amounts (e.g. \$123.45). All transactions are currently executed in U.S. Dollars.

### Include descriptive messages

Use clear descriptions so recipients know who sent payment and why. Include details like invoice numbers and what the payment covers (e.g., "Invoice #12345 — Raw materials for Q1 2026"). These messages will be included in both email/SMS copies as well as in product. Natural may also be able to help developers detect anomalous transactions with detailed enough messages.

### Follow up on unredeemed claims

If a recipient hasn't redeemed a claim, follow up with them or work with your customer on whether to reissue the payment with a fresh claim link.

## Related concepts

* [Parties](/guides/concepts/parties) — Entities sending and receiving payments
* [Agents](/guides/concepts/agents) — Autonomous agents executing payments

> Send and receive money via direct transfers or payment claims