Definition and scope
Partial Payments on the XRP Ledger addresses a distinct part of payments and transfers. Learn when a payment may deliver less than its Amount field and why integrations must inspect metadata.
XRPL payments range from direct XRP transfers to routed cross-currency delivery, escrows, checks, and payment channels. This collection focuses on what users and applications must verify before signing and what the validated ledger proves afterward. A payment workflow is complete only after a validated ledger proves the result. Service crediting and recovery remain off-ledger responsibilities.
How it works
The tfPartialPayment flag allows a Payment to deliver less than its Amount when paths or exchange rates cannot satisfy the full target. DeliverMin can set a floor, and metadata reports what actually arrived.
- tfPartialPayment: verify this field, object, or component against the cited protocol documentation.
- DeliverMin: verify this field, object, or component against the cited protocol documentation.
- delivered_amount: verify this field, object, or component against the cited protocol documentation.
- Amount: verify this field, object, or component against the cited protocol documentation.
Practical example and checks
An integration accepting partial payments checks the flag before signing, sets DeliverMin where appropriate, and credits only the validated delivered_amount rather than the requested Amount.
For production use, preserve the exact signed or queried data, record the network and validated ledger reference, and compare the result with the current primary documentation before changing off-ledger state.
Open the related live demo or evidence lab →Limits, risks, and common confusion
Reading Amount as the received value is a known integration vulnerability. Partial payment behavior is not a discount or refund mechanism; it is a transaction delivery option.
A payment workflow is complete only after a validated ledger proves the result. Service crediting and recovery remain off-ledger responsibilities.
Current network status
Enabled on XRPL Mainnet. The underlying protocol capability is available on XRPL Mainnet. Individual services can still impose additional rules, limits, or trust assumptions.
Status reviewed 2026-08-23. Amendment-dependent behavior must be rechecked against the network's live feature state before operational use.