Article Summary
This article explains how to pay bills using your River account and routing number, including eligibility, setup, and troubleshooting.
Eligible clients can use their River account details to pay bills like rent, credit cards, and utilities, or to move money from other financial platforms into or out of River.
When using your account for payments or transfers, you're in control of how funds are sourced. You can choose to use your cash balance only, or enable payments to draw from both your cash and bitcoin balances (with bitcoin automatically converted fee-free if needed).
Please note that before you are able to pay bills or make transfers from your River account, you need to verify your River account for enabling banking features. For more information, please see this Help Center article.
- How do I pay bills and transfer funds from my River account?
- How do I pay a bill?
- How do I transfer money to another platform?
- What happens when a bill payment or transfer occurs?
- Who is eligible to pay bills and make transfers using an account and routing number?
- What business types are eligible for paying bills and making transfers?
- Can business accounts set up direct deposits, pay bills or make transfers with an account and routing number?
- What settings are available for bill payments and transfers?
- How do I change my bill payment and transfer settings?
- Why did my transfer or bill payment fail?
- What balance is available for bill payments and transfers?
- How do I report a problem with a payment?
- How can I stop a future payment?
- How can I get push notifications for bill payments and transfers completed from my account?
How do I pay bills and transfer funds from my River account?
You can use your River account details to pay bills or move cash to other financial platforms. Your account details (routing number and account number) work like a traditional bank account when making payments or setting up transfers.
You can use your account details to:
- Pay rent, utilities, or mortgage payments
- Pay credit card bills
- Fund brokerage or payment apps
- Transfer money between financial institutions
- Simply enter your River account and routing numbers anywhere a bank account is accepted for payment or transfer
Before setting up bills and transfers, choose how payments and transfers are funded in your account settings, either on the River app or at river.com. Your account will default to only using your cash balance.
To learn where to find your account and routing details, please see this Help Center article.
How do I pay a bill?
- Log in to the website or app where you want to make a payment (for example, your credit card provider or utility company).
- Select the option to pay with a bank account.
- Enter your River routing and account number. If asked for the account type, select "Checking", and if asked for the bank name, use "Lead Bank."
- Some companies or financial accounts may send a micro-deposit and require you to verify it before you can use your River account for bill payments.
- The company will pull the payment directly from your River account.
How do I transfer money to another platform?
- Log in to the external platform.
- Select the option to add a bank account.
- Enter your River routing and account number. If asked for the account type, select "Checking", and if asked for the bank name, use "Lead Bank".
- Some companies or financial accounts may send a micro-deposit and require you to verify it before you can use your River account for bill transfers.
- Initiate the transfer.
What happens when a bill payment or transfer occurs?
Upcoming bills and transfers will be visible in your River account. Make sure you have enough available funds to avoid failed payments. Based on your settings, the transaction amount will be deducted only from your available cash balance or from both your cash and bitcoin balances at the time the transaction is due.
Who is eligible to pay bills and make transfers using an account and routing number?
The ability to pay bills and transfer money out of River using your account and routing number is available to verified clients with individual accounts and most business accounts who reside in a supported jurisdiction.
For this feature, business accounts that are not eligible are: IRA LLCs, IRA Trusts, and Solo 401(K)s.
To verify your River account for paying bills and making transfers, please see this Help Center article.
Please note that paying bills and transferring funds out of your River account is not available for the following states:
- Hawaii
- New Jersey
- Nevada
- New York
What business types are eligible for paying bills and making transfers?
The following business account types can access direct deposit, bill payments, and transfers at River:
- LLC
- Corporation
- Trust
- Partnership
- Non-Profit or 501(C)3
- Sole Proprietorship
The following business account types are not eligible for bill payments and transfers:
- IRA LLC
- IRA Trust
- Solo 401(K)
Can business accounts set up direct deposits, pay bills or make transfers with an account and routing number?
Eligible business accounts now have access to direct deposit and, in supported jurisdictions, bill payments and transfers using their account and routing numbers.
What settings are available for bill payments and transfers?
On River, you can choose to pay bills and make transfers with either your cash balance only or both your cash and bitcoin balances. You can also choose to disable this functionality from your account. This setting only applies to bill payments and transfers, and does not apply to outbound wires or withdrawals made using a linked bank account from River.
If using cash only:
- Payments and transfers will use your cash balance only. If there isn't enough cash available, the payment or transfer may fail. Paying bills and making transfers from your cash balance only does not create a taxable event. Your bitcoin balance would not be used. This is the default setting.
If using cash, then bitcoin:
- If your cash balance isn't sufficient, bitcoin will automatically be sold to cover the payment or transfer. Bitcoin sales are fee-free up to $30,000 per month per account title. This bitcoin sale will create a taxable event. If you do not have a sufficient total cash and bitcoin balance, your payment or transfer may fail.
- You can also choose to disable this functionality on your account entirely.
- You can change your settings to use your bitcoin balance or to disable/re-enable this functionality from your River app or on river.com.
If using bitcoin only:
- Payments and transfers will use your bitcoin balance only by automatically selling the amount needed in dollars. If there isn't enough bitcoin available, the payment or transfer may fail. Paying bills and making transfers from your bitcoin balance does create a taxable event. Your cash balance would not be used.
No matter which funding method you've selected, cash only, cash then bitcoin, or bitcoin only, we recommend keeping a small cash balance available. When linking your account, platforms may initiate a small debit to verify access, and having cash on hand ensures a successful process.
How do I change my bill payment and transfer settings?
You can change your settings to use which balance to source for bill payments and transfers or to disable/re-enable this functionality from your River app or on river.com.
To access your settings on your River app:
- Open the River app
- Go to your profile and settings by tapping the profile icon in the upper-left corner
- Tap "Bills & transfers"
- Update your settings
- Save your settings
To access your settings on river.com:
- Login to your account on river.com
- Click "Profile and Settings" in the bottom right navigation
- Click "Bills and transfers"
- Update your settings
- Save your settings
Why did my transfer or bill payment fail?
If your bill payment or transfer failed, it is usually due to one of a few common reasons. Below are the most frequent causes and what you can do next:
| Reason | What happened | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Identity verification required | Your identity must be verified before you can pay bills or make transfers. If you have not yet completed identity verification, the payment or transfer will fail. | Complete your identity verification, then retry the bill payment or transfer. Please see this Help Center article for further instructions. |
| Insufficient funds | There wasn't enough available in your account to cover the bill payment or transfer amount. | Add funds to your account, then contact the biller to retry the payment or initiate the transfer again. |
| The bill or transfer amount exceeded the $250,000 limit | Payments and transfers are limited to $250,000 per transaction. | Retry the payment with a smaller amount, if possible. |
| Bill payments and transfers are turned off | Payments and transfers are currently disabled in your account settings. When disabled, attempted payments won't appear in your activity list. | Re-enable bill payments and transfers in your account. If this option is not available to you, contact Client Services for help. |
| A stop payment was requested | The payment was declined because a stop payment was previously placed on the vendor. | If you'd like the payment to go through, you'll need to remove the stop payment request by contacting Client Services. |
If you're unsure why your payment failed, contact Client Services and we'll help you review the details.
What balance is available for bill payments and transfers?
The available balance depends on your bill payments and transfer settings.
Please note that your total cash and/or bitcoin balances will not always equal the balance you can use for bills and transfers. Ensure you have enough cash in your account to successfully complete your bill payment and transfers. To fund your account, see this Help Center article.
If you only use cash to source bill payments and transfers:
Your bill payments and transfers can be funded with your "Available to pay bills or transfer" cash balance.
You can find this information on your River app or on river.com. To find your "Available to pay bills or transfer" balance on your River app:
- Open the River app
- Go to the Cash tab
- Click on your balance
- Find "Available to pay bills or transfer" balance. This is the current balance available for bills, transfers and withdrawals.
If you use both cash then bitcoin to source bill payments and transfers:
Your bill payments and transfers can be funded with your "Available to pay bills or transfer" cash balance first, and then "Available to pay bills" bitcoin balance if cash is insufficient.
You can find this information on your River app or on river.com. To find your "Available to pay bills or transfer" balance on your River app:
- Open the River app
- Go to the Cash tab
- Click on your balance
- Find "Available to pay bills or transfer" balance.
This is the current balance available for bills, transfers and withdrawals.
To find your Available to pay and withdraw balance on your River app:
- Open the River app
- Go to the Bitcoin tab
- Click on your balance
- Find "Available to pay bills" balance.
This is the current balance available for bills and transfers.
How do I report a problem with a payment?
If you notice a bill payment or transfer you don't recognize, you can report it directly from your transaction history by selecting the transaction and tapping "Report a problem." From there, you will submit a claim by providing some additional details for the River team to review. If bitcoin was sold to complete the original transaction, any approved refund will be returned to you in USD.
Reporting a problem with a completed transaction:
- For individual clients, claims must be submitted within 60 days from the date of the completed transaction.
- For business clients, the deadline to submit claim is 10:59 PM ET the next business day from when the transaction was completed.
Reporting a problem with an upcoming transaction:
- Both individual and business clients can report a problem with an upcoming transaction. If it is reported in time, the funds will not be withdrawn from your account. Once your claim is submitted, the reported payment or transfer will fail.
In some cases, River may also issue you a new cash account number to help prevent future unauthorized payments, and you would need to update any linked direct deposits, wire instructions, or bill payments with the new account details.
How can I stop a future payment?
If you need to stop a future bill payment or transfer you do not see listed in your Upcoming section, contact Client Services as soon as possible.
We'll provide a stop payment request form for you to complete. This form collects the details we need to submit the request, such as:
- The company name (or payment identifier)
- The payment amount
- The scheduled date (or date range)
- Whether you want to stop a single payment or future recurring payments
Once we receive your completed form, we'll review your request and confirm whether the stop payment can be processed.
Please note that stop payment requests must be submitted at least 3 days before the payment begins processing. We may not be able to stop payments that are already in progress.
If you're unsure whether a payment can be stopped, contact Client Services and we'll help you review your options.
How can I get push notifications for bill payments and transfers completed from my account?
By default, you will not receive push notifications for completed bill payments and transfers. You can enable bill payment and transfer notifications for completed transactions in your River app settings.
To enable bill payment and transfer notifications:
- Tap your profile icon in the upper-left corner of the River app
- Scroll down to the "Settings" section
- Tap on "Notifications"
- Find "Bills & transfers" and enable the toggle
- Once turned on, you'll receive push notifications when a payment is completed
Notifications help you stay informed about account activity and quickly spot any unexpected transactions.