SFTP file exchange is the automated, high-volume alternative to uploading through the console, typically run by a mailhouse on a sender's behalf. See Uploading Mail for the simpler, manual console method, and Payreq Interface Specification for how SFTP fits alongside the API as the two integration methods.
Who this is for
This is technical reference material for a mailhouse's development team, or a sender's own technical/integration contact building an automated pipeline. If you upload documents yourself through the console, you don't need this article.
How it works, in general terms
Each mail run involves sending Payreq two kinds of file: a Contacts file (who your customers or employees are, so registrations can be matched) and a Bill or Payroll file (the documents themselves, an index plus the PDFs). Every file follows the same basic structure: one header row identifying the file, the data rows, and one trailer row confirming how many data rows there were.
The transmission process:
- Your system, or your mailhouse's, uploads the file to the Payreq SFTP server.
- Payreq picks up and processes the file.
- Payreq writes an acknowledgment file back to your SFTP location, showing whether that file's Job succeeded or errored.
- You or your mailhouse collect the acknowledgment to confirm the file processed as expected.
SFTP access (keys and connection details) is set up during onboarding, along with a test run to confirm everything's working before you rely on it for production files.
After the file lands
Once Payreq picks up a file, it's tracked the same way as a console upload, as a Job. See What are Jobs? and Understanding Job Statuses and Errors if a Job shows an Error status rather than completing.
Some integrations also use the Payreq API alongside SFTP: rather than waiting for Payreq to automatically pick up a new file, your system can submit a Job explicitly once the file has landed, then poll for its status.
Acknowledgment files and email notifications are two separate things
The acknowledgment file described above is sent back over SFTP for every file, every time, regardless of anyone's notification settings — it's the authoritative, machine-readable record of whether that Job succeeded or errored, and it's what an automated integration should check.
This is separate from the A job has failed email notification covered in Understanding Job Statuses and Errors. That's a per-user setting in the Payreq Delivery console, and it exists as a simple, human-readable fallback, useful so a person finds out quickly if a Job fails, even if nobody's watching the acknowledgment files that day. It doesn't replace the acknowledgment file, and turning it on or off has no effect on whether the acknowledgment file is sent.
File types and versions
Contacts, Bill, External, and Payroll files each have their own format and current interface version. See Payreq Interface Specification for that summary.
Getting the full technical reference
This overview doesn't reproduce the full field-by-field file specification (exact field names, formats, and validation rules for every record type). Payreq provides the current, complete specification directly to mailhouses and technical contacts as part of onboarding or when planning an integration change.
Contact your Payreq account or technical support directly to make sure we align with your needs and answer any implementation queries.
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