Overview

This quickstart walks you through sending your first payout with Anton Payments. You will create a payee, attach a payment instrument, and send a payout -- all in a few minutes using the sandbox environment.

Before You Begin

You need:

An Anton Payments account with sandbox access
A sandbox API key (prefixed with ak_test_)

All examples in this guide use the sandbox environment (api.antonpayments.dev). No real money moves in sandbox.

Step 1: Get Your API Key

If you have not already, generate a sandbox API key in the merchant portal:

Log in to the merchant portal.
Go to Settings > API Keys.
Click Create Key and select the sandbox environment.

Test that your key works:

curl https://api.antonpayments.dev/v1/merchant \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_test_your_key_here"

If you get back your merchant profile, you are authenticated and ready to go.

Step 2: Create a Payee

Before you can send money, register the recipient. A payee stores the recipient identity and payment details.

Via the API:

curl https://api.antonpayments.dev/v1/payees \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_test_your_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: create-payee-jane-001" \
  -d '{
    "type": "individual",
    "first_name": "Jane",
    "last_name": "Smith",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "country": "GB",
    "currency": "GBP",
    "bank_account": {
      "account_number": "12345678",
      "sort_code": "123456"
    }
  }'

Via the portal: Navigate to Payees, click Add Payee, fill in the recipient details and bank information, then save.

Save the payee id from the response -- you need it in the next step.

Step 3: Send a Payout

Now send money to your payee. The payout goes through compliance screening and rail routing automatically.

Via the API:

curl https://api.antonpayments.dev/v1/payouts \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_test_your_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: payout-inv-1042" \
  -d '{
    "payee_id": "pye_cng3q8s6ek9kc5qg1h1g",
    "amount": "250.00",
    "currency": "GBP",
    "description": "Invoice #1042 payment",
    "reference": "INV-1042"
  }'

Via the portal: Navigate to Payouts, click New Payout, select the payee, enter the amount and currency, add a description and reference, then submit.

Always include an Idempotency-Key header when creating payouts via the API. This prevents duplicate payouts if your request is retried due to network issues.

Step 4: Track Your Payout

Your payout will move through these statuses:

created then pending_screening then processing then sent then completed

In sandbox, transitions happen in seconds. In production, they can take minutes to days depending on the corridor and rail.

Check status via the API:

curl https://api.antonpayments.dev/v1/payouts/pay_cng3q8s6ek9kc5qg1h2g \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_test_your_key_here"

Via the portal: Navigate to Payouts and click on the payout to see its current status and full history.

What is Next?

Now that you have sent your first payout, explore these next steps:

Set up webhooks for real-time payout notifications
Learn about the full payout lifecycle and all status transitions
Try batch payouts to send thousands of payments at once via CSV
Review the Going Live checklist to prepare for production

Your First Payout (Quickstart)