Natural launches Direct payment rails for AI agents

Natural launched Direct for general availability, introducing a product the fintech company says allows AI agents to send U.S.-dollar payments through ACH, domestic wire, the RTP network or FedNow.

The launch extends Natural’s agent-focused wallet beyond card payments to bank-payment rails. Natural says Direct is available to all Natural customers with a funded wallet. Mailed paper checks and international wires over SWIFT are listed as coming soon rather than currently available capabilities.

Natural says an agent can choose a rail at runtime based on the recipient, required speed and cost. ACH supports bank-to-bank transfers through a routed workflow, while RTP and FedNow support payments processed around the clock; domestic wire is the fourth available option described by Natural.

Natural says its existing per-agent limits and controls apply to Direct. The company says the product uses the same wallet, per-agent keys and limits as its other payment products, with observability that lets a business see its agents’ transactions across payment rails in one place.

The company’s service agreement describes different roles for each rail. It says Natural acts as a third-party sender for ACH and as an intermediary for RTP and FedNow. For wire transfers, Natural collects payment instructions and submits them to a financial institution for processing. Natural says it is not a bank and that wallet-account banking services are provided by Column N.A., a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The underlying networks have different settlement mechanics. The Federal Reserve describes FedNow as an interbank clearing and settlement service that processes transfers 24 hours a day, every day. The Clearing House says its RTP network makes funds available within seconds and provides final, irrevocable interbank settlement. Nacha’s account of ACH describes a workflow in which originating institutions submit entries to an ACH operator, which routes them to receiving institutions.

The announcement does not provide transaction volume, reliability data or independent live-agent testing.