> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://circle-devdocs-test-ai-codegen-component.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Circle Payments Network

> Fast, cost-effective, and compliant global payments

Circle Payments Network (CPN) is a next-generation payment infrastructure
designed to reduce reliance on multiple intermediaries while enhancing
transparency, security, and speed. Using onchain primitives and built-in
compliance capabilities, CPN delivers near-instant cross-border settlement. CPN
allows participating financial institutions to rapidly expand their global
footprint with a single integration.

This developer documentation focuses on Originating Financial Institutions
(OFIs) who facilitate cross-border payments for their customers. OFIs interface
with ultimate senders initiating cross-border transactions, and act as the
onramp for fiat to crypto. Complementing this, Beneficiary Financial
Institutions (BFIs) receive stablecoins and act as the offramp into local fiat,
delivering funds to end recipients. CPN actively coordinates OFIs and BFIs to
deliver cross-border transactions with reduced costs and delays compared to
traditional systems. CPN is part of Circle's broader ecosystem of financial
products, designed to work with the USDC ecosystem to optimize your global
payment operations.

Before onboarding as an OFI, you should meet the following prerequisites for
CPN:

* Access to USDC liquidity
* A custodial solution for USDC and technical capability to interact with
  blockchains (sign and observe transactions)
* Established KYC and AML processes in place for your customers

<Note>
  **Note:** If you're a BFI or payout partner, Circle may reach out proactively
  as CPN grows.
</Note>

## Key features

* **Real-time FX quoting and locking**: CPN obtains competitive quotes from
  multiple providers instantly. FX rates are locked, which eliminates FX risk
  for both OFIs and their customers during the payment process.
* **Smart routing**: CPN selects the optimal BFI based on pricing and
  operational preferences defined by the OFI.
* **Stablecoin-powered transfers**: Payments are settled using USDC across
  [supported blockchains](/cpn/references/supported-blockchains) and exchanged
  to local fiat currencies for the receiver.
* **API integration**: CPN offers a comprehensive API suite, which allows for
  quick integration into existing systems. Features include real-time payment
  monitoring with webhooks, detailed developer documentation, and dedicated
  support to ensure a successful integration process.
* **End-to-end encryption**: Travel rule and beneficiary account data is
  encrypted by the OFI throughout the payment process and can only be decrypted
  by the designated BFI.
* **Ticketing support for payments, disputes, and reversals**: CPN allows
  integrated institutions to create and manage support tickets through the API.
  Circle handles routing and resolution of issues across the network.

<Note>
  **CPN White Paper**

  Read the
  [CPN White Paper](https://6778953.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/6778953/PDFs/Whitepapers/CPN_Whitepaper.pdf)
  to learn more about the motivation for creating CPN and its intended use
  cases.
</Note>

## Entities in CPN

The following entities are referenced in this documentation and make up the key
entities that allow CPN to perform cross-border transactions.

* **Senders** (external): Businesses or individuals initiating cross-border
  payments
* **Receivers** (external): Businesses or individuals receiving cross-border
  payments
* **Originating Financial Institutions (OFIs)**: Financial institutions that
  interface with senders, onramp fiat to USDC, and connect with BFIs through CPN
  for transfer and fiat offramp
* **Beneficiary Financial Institutions (BFIs)**: Financial institutions that
  receive USDC from OFIs through CPN and provide an offramp to local fiat
  currency
* **Circle Payments Network (CPN)**: Orchestration layer that aggregates
  financial institutions, vets participants, and facilitates money movement
  through onchain and offchain services.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/circle-devdocs-test-ai-codegen-component/zjwlouYM7ujBrWdY/cpn/images/cpn-overview.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=zjwlouYM7ujBrWdY&q=85&s=457cd85ed15e91b35565561f4c1cb752" width="1059" height="518" data-path="cpn/images/cpn-overview.png" />
</Frame>

## CPN workflow

The CPN workflow for OFIs consists of four major stages:

* Quote generation
* Payment creation
* Crypto transfer
* Payment management

The following is a generic example of how a payment in CPN is performed. In this
example, the OFI has a sender in the US. The sender already has an account and
completed KYC with the OFI. The sender wants to pay a receiver in Brazil. The
sender wants to pay with USD and the receiver wants to receive the payment in
Brazil Real (BRL). The following steps occur:

1. Quote generation

   * OFI requests a list of quotes for the payment (USDC to BRL) from CPN
   * CPN aggregates quotes from multiple BFIs
   * CPN returns a list of quotes to the OFI
   * OFI selects the best quote or asks the sender to select their preferred
     quote

2. Payment creation

   * Sender accepts the quote
   * OFI gets the requirements for travel rule data and beneficiary account
     information
   * OFI creates a payment request (USDC to BRL) in CPN
     * OFI collects and
       [encrypts](/cpn/howtos/encrypt-travel-rule-beneficiary-data) necessary
       payment details, such as travel rule data and beneficiary account
       information, and includes the encrypted data in the payment request.
   * BFI reviews the travel rule data (and may
     [request additional information](/cpn/concepts/integration-concepts#requests-for-information))
     and approves the payment request

3. Onchain transaction

   * OFI requests an onchain transaction object to transfer USDC to the
     destination address from CPN to sign
   * OFI signs the onchain transaction object and sends to CPN
   * CPN validates and broadcasts the transaction
   * CPN notifies the OFI and BFI when the onchain transaction is confirmed

4. Fiat settlement (no OFI action required)

   * BFI initiates fiat payment after the onchain transaction is confirmed
     (transfer BRL to receiver's bank account)
   * BFI notifies CPN when the fiat payment is initiated and complete
   * CPN notifies the OFI with the appropriate payment statuses

5. Payment management

   * OFI can query payment status at any time from the CPN API
   * CPN provides real-time status updates on the payment via webhooks
   * Payment history and reporting is available for reconciliation