You're building a platform. The basic idea sounds simple: money comes in, and you route it to different accounts. But anyone who’s tried this knows that the reality is far more complex. Most payment systems were designed with rigid structures, built for simple transactions: one payment, one recipient (see our initial blog). This forces SaaS and marketplace platforms to spend time and resources adapting their business models to fit the payments system, rather than the other way around.
We will show you how we enable you to accelerate your business by giving you control of how you route funds over your platform. Instead of spending days at the end of the month paying invoices, you can speed up cash flows and move money quickly and smoothly.
Payments Redesigned for Flexibility
We do things a little differently from what you’re used to. Because we needed to make something that works for everyone, we built abstractions designed for the real-world complexity of platforms.
Here's what makes our approach different:
Every split is a payment. Any action you can do on a payment, you can also do on a split. They are the same in our system.
Fees can be set for every transaction. They flow upwards in the split tree. Each entity involved sees only the relevant portion of the transaction.
Nested splits allow you to allocate funds across multiple layers, reflecting real-world business structures.
No rigid account hierarchies. Every account is the same type, you determine its place in your network by how you configure and use it.
Flexible Routing in Action: The Food Court Example
Let's illustrate with a practical example from the hospitality vertical: a food court platform. This ecosystem involves multiple parties: the platform itself, food courts, individual food stands, and employees who earn tips.
The customer pays once.
Funds automatically flow through multiple nested splits:
A portion routed to the food court.
From the food court, allocations are made directly to food stands.
From the foodstands, tips are automatically directed to employees.
Fees are automatically collected and routed back to your platform, and from the food stands to the food court.
You can achieve all of this with just one integration and a single API call.
Bringing It All Together
The magic happens when you take this example, or one from your own industry, and apply the concepts we’ve discussed above.
Every split is a payment. You can refund each part of the split by acting directly on it. But you can also make it more flexible: did the burger not get served because of a mistake by the food court, let the food court fund the refund.
Fees can be set for every transaction. You can control the fees on each split, unlocking new methods of monetization for you and your clients. You can set the fee you charge the food court per transaction, but you can also allow the food court to determine what they charge the stands, at transaction time or any time later.
Nested splits. The fees are subtracted from the amount of the split. This means that each account sees both the gross and net amounts. The food stand will see the total amount of their order, and the fee they paid to the food court. This holds for every account, and of course is reflected in the reporting they receive.
No rigid account hierarchies. A food stand operates in multiple food courts? No problem. The same account can be dynamically connected across different split trees, enabling seamless scalability.
Support Any Business Model
Whether you operate in hospitality, ticketing, the beauty industry, or any other space, our nested splits and dynamic account structures adapt to your business logic, not the other way around. No longer do innovative models mean complicated workarounds or lost potential.
If you're exploring a new idea or struggling to make your current model work, Rootline gives you the flexibility and control you need. Accelerate your cash flow, eliminate end-of-month headaches, and refocus your energy on growth.
Ready to see how Rootline can unlock your platform’s potential? Let's talk.
Want to learn more?
Explore Rootline in more detail or speak to our team to see how it can support your platform.
