---
title: Participant roles
slug: concepts/payments/instant-payments/participant-roles
description: Ultimate debtor and creditor fields identify the true party behind payments, giving banks clearer insight and improving accuracy in instant payment flows.
docTags: 
createdAt: 2025-04-20T07:24:29.180Z
---

## Ultimate debtor and creditor roles

Ultimate debtor and creditor roles provide receiving banks with greater transparency about the true originator or recipient of funds. These roles are essential when multiple parties are involved on either the sender (debtor) or receiver (creditor) side, clarifying which party is acting on behalf of another. This ensures precise and efficient transaction processing.

If the debtor or creditor account is a business account, then the ultimate debtor or creditor must also be a business account. 

The ultimate debtor and ultimate creditor information is provided in the [instant payments](docId\:dZy2COChKwicpi_0rKK2P)  API.

**Example flow**

- The *Sender *(end user) initiates payment through the Merchant’s app.
- The *Merchant *(Ultimate Debtor) facilitates the transaction on behalf of the Sender.
- *You *act as the Debtor, affiliated with Cross River.
- *Cross River* (Sending FI) manages and processes the transaction.
- The *Receiving FI* receives the funds on behalf of the final beneficiary.
- The *Receiver* (end beneficiary) collects the disbursement.

This diagram shows the fund flow variations involving Ultimate Debtors and Creditors.

![Instant payments ultimate debtors and creditors flow](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/Qt8sSSvJnFaDir3Z-GD2j-DXquPHx1tiP1bnw9De7vB-20250123-104224.png)