Automate Fund Transfers with Automation Rules

Overview

Automation Rules enable you to automate fund movements without manual intervention. Instead of initiating each transaction manually, you can define rules that automatically convert and transfer funds based on triggers you configure.

Automation Rules are particularly useful for:

Scheduled transfers: Set up recurring transactions (daily, weekly, monthly) to automatically move funds on a schedule. Perfect for regular cash-outs or treasury management.
Threshold-based sweeps: Automatically trigger transactions when an account balance reaches a specified amount. Ideal for maintaining optimal wallet balances or automated offramping.

Prerequisites

Before creating automation rules, you must have:

Created a customer: Use the Customers API to create either an individual or business customer. The customer does not need to be ACTIVE (verified) to set up automation rules.
Created payment accounts: Set up both source and destination payment accounts via the Payment Accounts API. You'll need:
- A source payment account (where funds come from) - this must be a Fern crypto wallet
- A destination payment account (where funds go to) - this can be an external bank account, Fern crypto wallet, or external crypto wallet
Payment account IDs: Have the paymentAccountId values ready for both your source and destination accounts. You'll need these when creating the automation rule.

For guidance on creating payment accounts, see:

Create Fern wallets for crypto wallets

Step-by-step guide

Create an automation rule

Create an automation rule using the Automation Rules API. You'll need to specify:

name: A descriptive name for your rule
customerId: The customer who owns this automation rule
transactionTemplate: Configuration for the transactions this rule will create
trigger: Conditions that will execute this rule

Sample request for a threshold-based rule:

{
  "name": "Auto sweep USDC to USD when balance reaches $5000",
  "customerId": "4d0b92ee-b48f-471f-8825-61761c0c6eb7",
  "transactionTemplate": {
    "source": {
      "sourcePaymentAccountId": "238e98ce-2305-57e0-83f1-c3286e7db76c",
      "sourcePaymentMethod": "ETHEREUM",
      "sourceCurrency": "USDC"
    },
    "destination": {
      "destinationPaymentAccountId": "8f3a21bc-7609-48d2-9c42-1e5d8a9f2c7e",
      "destinationPaymentMethod": "ACH",
      "destinationCurrency": "USD"
    },
    "amount": {
      "type": "FLAT",
      "value": "5000"
    },
    "developerFee": {
      "developerFeeType": "USD",
      "developerFeeAmount": "5.00"
    }
  },
  "trigger": {
    "type": "THRESHOLD_BASED",
    "thresholdAmount": "5000"
  }
}

Sample request for a time-based rule:

{
  "name": "Weekly USDC to EUR conversion",
  "customerId": "4d0b92ee-b48f-471f-8825-61761c0c6eb7",
  "transactionTemplate": {
    "source": {
      "sourcePaymentAccountId": "238e98ce-2305-57e0-83f1-c3286e7db76c",
      "sourcePaymentMethod": "ETHEREUM",
      "sourceCurrency": "USDC"
    },
    "destination": {
      "destinationPaymentAccountId": "8f3a21bc-7609-48d2-9c42-1e5d8a9f2c7e",
      "destinationPaymentMethod": "SEPA",
      "destinationCurrency": "EUR"
    },
    "amount": {
      "type": "PCT",
      "value": "100"
    }
  },
  "trigger": {
    "type": "TIME_BASED",
    "cronSchedule": "0 0 * * 1"
  }
}

Sample response:

{
  "id": "rule_abc123",
  "name": "Auto sweep USDC to USD when balance reaches $5000",
  "customerId": "4d0b92ee-b48f-471f-8825-61761c0c6eb7",
  "transactionTemplate": {
    "source": {
      "sourcePaymentAccountId": "238e98ce-2305-57e0-83f1-c3286e7db76c",
      "sourcePaymentMethod": "ETHEREUM",
      "sourceCurrency": {
        "label": "USDC",
        "chain": "ETHEREUM",
        "contractAddress": "0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48",
        "currencyDecimals": 6
      }
    },
    "destination": {
      "destinationPaymentAccountId": "8f3a21bc-7609-48d2-9c42-1e5d8a9f2c7e",
      "destinationPaymentMethod": "ACH",
      "destinationCurrency": {
        "label": "USD"
      }
    },
    "amount": {
      "type": "FLAT",
      "value": "5000"
    }
  },
  "trigger": {
    "type": "THRESHOLD_BASED",
    "thresholdAmount": "5000"
  },
  "createdAt": "2025-10-06T14:23:45.123Z"
}

List automation rules

Retrieve all automation rules for a customer or filter by source payment account.

Sample request:

GET /automation-rules?customerId=4d0b92ee-b48f-471f-8825-61761c0c6eb7

You can also filter by a specific source payment account:

GET /automation-rules?customerId=4d0b92ee-b48f-471f-8825-61761c0c6eb7&sourcePaymentAccountId=238e98ce-2305-57e0-83f1-c3286e7db76c

Get a specific automation rule

Retrieve details about a specific automation rule by its ID using the Automation Rules API GET endpoint.

Sample request:

GET /automation-rules/rule_abc123

Update an automation rule

Modify an existing automation rule to change its configuration. You must provide the complete rule configuration in the update request.

Only the destination parameters, developer fee and amount fields can be updated.

Sample request:

{
  "id": "rule_abc123",
  "name": "Updated - increased threshold to $10,000",
  "customerId": "4d0b92ee-b48f-471f-8825-61761c0c6eb7",
  "transactionTemplate": {
    "source": {
      "sourcePaymentAccountId": "238e98ce-2305-57e0-83f1-c3286e7db76c",
      "sourcePaymentMethod": "ETHEREUM",
      "sourceCurrency": "USDC"
    },
    "destination": {
      "destinationPaymentAccountId": "8f3a21bc-7609-48d2-9c42-1e5d8a9f2c7e",
      "destinationPaymentMethod": "ACH",
      "destinationCurrency": "USD"
    },
    "amount": {
      "type": "FLAT",
      "value": "10000"
    }
  },
  "trigger": {
    "type": "THRESHOLD_BASED",
    "thresholdAmount": "10000"
  }
}

Delete an automation rule

Remove an automation rule when it's no longer needed using the DELETE endpoint.

Sample request:

DELETE /automation-rules/rule_abc123

Understanding automation rule components

Transaction template

The transaction template defines what transaction will be executed when the rule triggers. It includes:

Source: The payment account and currency funds will come from
Destination: The payment account and currency funds will go to
Amount: How much to transfer (flat amount or percentage of balance)
Developer fee (optional): Additional fees you want to charge

Amount types

FLAT: Transfer a specific fixed amount

{
  "type": "FLAT",
  "value": "1000"
}

PCT: Transfer a percentage of the account balance (0-100)

{
  "type": "PCT",
  "value": "50"
}

Trigger types

THRESHOLD_BASED: Executes when the source account balance reaches or exceeds the specified amount

{
  "type": "THRESHOLD_BASED",
  "thresholdAmount": "5000"
}

TIME_BASED: Executes on a schedule defined by a cron expression

{
  "type": "TIME_BASED",
  "cronSchedule": "0 0 * * *"
}

Common cron schedule examples

0 0 * * * - Daily at midnight UTC
0 0 * * 1 - Every Monday at midnight UTC
0 12 * * * - Daily at noon UTC
0 0 1 * * - First day of every month at midnight UTC
0 9 * * 1-5 - Weekdays at 9 AM UTC
*/15 * * * * - Every 15 minutes

Developer fees

You can optionally charge additional fees on top of Fern's standard fees. The developerFee object should be of the following form using the SOURCE_CURRENCY type:

SOURCE_CURRENCY: Charge a fee in the source currency

{
  "developerFeeType": "SOURCE_CURRENCY",
  "developerFeeAmount": "10.00"
}

Best practices

Start with clear naming conventions: Use descriptive names that indicate the purpose, frequency, or trigger condition of each rule. This makes management easier as you scale.
Consider time zones: Cron schedules use UTC time. Factor this in when setting up time-based rules to match your business operations.
Plan for currency conversion: Remember that transactions may involve currency conversion with associated fees. Review the exchange rates and fees using the Exchange Rates API before setting up rules.

Last updated 6 days ago