Concepts
Before you start integrating with the Acclaim API, it helps to understand the core ideas that shape how payments and money movement work in the platform. These concepts describe the objects you’ll work with and the ways they connect.
Acclaim is organized around three core functional areas: Collect, Disburse, and Treasury. These map directly to the major money movement flows inside insurance operations.
Collect
The Collect domain handles inbound payments such as premiums, deductibles, and fees from policyholders or partner organizations. It includes tools to request, receive, and tokenize payment information.
Payers
A payer represents the entity responsible for originating or funding an inbound payment. A payer typically is a policyholder or client. Payers are used to ensure accurate attribution, reporting, and reconciliation of incoming funds.
Payment Requests
A Payment Request is an instruction to collect money from a payer.
Common use cases include:
- Premium collection
- Deductible collection
- Policy or administrative fees
A payment request includes:
- The payer
- The amount and currency
- A status lifecycle such as:
RequiresPaymentMethod,Processing,Succeeded,Failed - An associated payment once the funds have been captured
When paid, funds settle through the processor that processed the payment.
Tokenization Requests
A Tokenization Request allows a payer to securely provide payment information, such as a card or bank account, without your system handling sensitive data.
Token characteristics:
- Collected through a secure Acclaim-hosted interface
- Returned as a reusable payment method token
- Can be used for future payment requests or recurring billing
- Significantly reduces PCI/PII exposure
Disburse
The Disburse domain covers outbound payments: agent commissions, member reimbursements, provider payments, and vendor bill payments.
Payees
A payee is anyone you need to pay — agents, brokers, providers, or members.
- Payees store payment details securely, so you don’t have to handle sensitive banking information yourself.
- Each payee can have multiple payout methods (e.g., bank account, card, digital wallet).
Payouts
A payout transfers funds from one of your accounts to a payee.
- Each payout has an amount, currency, and a destination (linked to a payee).
- Payouts can generate payout links, letting you send a secure payment link to the recipient for them to choose how they want to be paid.
Payout Batches
A payout batch is a group of payouts processed together.
- Useful for commissions or recurring disbursements.
- Batches let you track success and failure across many payments at once.
Treasury
The Treasury domain manages where funds live and how they move — including treasury accounts, ledgering, settlement accounts, virtual accounts, and internal transfers.
Accounts
A treasury account is an account that can hold funds and send or receive money. Treasury accounts are the foundation of how Acclaim tracks and moves value.
- You can create one or many accounts for operational needs. For example, separate accounts for collecting premium, paying commissions, and paying claims.
- Accounts always have a balance denominated in a single currency.
- You can transfer funds between accounts.
Settlement Accounts
A settlement account is an external bank or treasury account that connects your organization to the outside financial system.
- It can fund your accounts — pulling money into your treasury account so you can make payouts.
- It can withdraw from accounts — letting you return unused funds or move balances back to your external bank account.
- Each organization typically links one or more settlement accounts, depending on currency or operational needs.
Virtual Accounts
A virtual account is a unique, system-generated bank account number created in a specific country and currency for the purpose of automatically reconciling incoming funds into your Acclaim treasury accounts.
Virtual accounts make it easier to fund accounts from an external bank account, partners, or insurers in their local markets. Each virtual account is tied to a single Acclaim treasury account and reflects inbound transfers in real time once funds are received. Funds added via virtual accounts are available on a faster timeframe than funds added via a settlement account.
How It All Fits Together
Think of it like this:
- Collect: Payment requests or tokenization requests collect funds from payers.
- Treasury: Inbound funds settle into treasury accounts via virtual accounts; treasury tools manage balances and movement amongst first-party and third-party account holders.
- Disburse: Funds in accounts are used for payouts to payees.
Updated 4 days ago
With the fundamentals covered, you’re ready to start integrating. The next guide walks you through sending your first payout and handling the events it generates.