Overview

The Interlace platform supports both Bank as a Service (BaaS) and Partner Banking operating models. While the payment processing workflows are similar, there are important differences in how accounts are managed and validated. These differences are driven by the level of responsibility the Interlace platform has within each model.

System of Record

In the BaaS model, the Interlace platform serves as the System of Record (SoR) for customer accounts. As a result, it maintains complete account information and performs comprehensive account validation as part of payment processing.

In the Partner Banking model, the partner bank remains the System of Record. The Interlace platform processes payment instructions but does not maintain or validate the complete lifecycle of customer accounts.

Inbound Payment Processing

For inbound payments, both operating models first identify the destination using the configured account prefix.

BaaS

If a matching prefix is found, the Interlace platform also validates the complete account number to ensure the payment can be associated with a valid account. If no matching account is identified, the payment is flagged for operational review, and an exception case is created for the Operations team to investigate and resolve.

Partner Banking

Processing is limited to prefix matching. Since the partner bank maintains the account records, the Interlace platform does not attempt to validate the full account number or create account-related exceptions.

Outbound Payment Processing

BaaS

For outbound payments, the originating (fromAccount) account must exist as a valid account within the Interlace platform before the payment can be processed. If the account does not exist, the payment request is rejected.

Partner Banking

In the Partner Banking model, validation of the originating (fromAccount) account is not required because the originating account is maintained by the partner bank's systems. Consequently, the Interlace platform does not verify that the fromAccount exists within its environment before processing the payment.

However, the originating account's routing number (RTN) is validated to ensure it is a valid and allocated routing transit number. If the RTN is invalid or has not been allocated, the payment request is rejected.

Summary

The primary distinction between the two operating models is ownership of account data.

In the BaaS model, the Interlace platform is the System of Record, maintaining customer accounts and performing comprehensive account validation for both inbound and outbound payments.

In the Partner Banking model, the partner bank is the System of Record. The Interlace platform focuses on payment processing, performs prefix-based routing for inbound payments, validates routing numbers for outbound payments, and relies on the partner bank for account ownership and validation.