> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.ingopayments.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Search > Search the Ingo biller/payee database and retrieve the payee_id required for BillPay verify. ## OpenAPI ````yaml specs/ingopay-search-v11.yaml POST /gateway/search openapi: 3.0.3 info: title: IngoPay API — Search description: > Search the Ingo Money biller/payee database for support of a given customer account to be funded. The Search method allows a partner to search the biller database using a combination of search parameters. Multiple matches may be returned. Each result indicates whether the payee/biller is card based (`CA`) or not (`BP`) via the `account_type` field on each issuer. - An issuer returned with `account_type: CA` follows the **card** Verify and Process call sequence to tokenize and fund the account. - An issuer returned with `account_type: BP` follows the **BillPay** Verify and Process call sequence to tokenize and fund the account. The `payee_id` returned in the `issuers[]` array is required on the subsequent Verify and Process calls for `BP` account types. Always call Search first to identify and confirm the target biller before proceeding to Verify. **Retail participants:** `store_id`, `clerk_id`, and `terminal_id` are required when the client is configured as a retail participant. version: '11' contact: name: Ingo Money Developer Support url: https://developers.ingopayments.com servers: - url: https://payapi-sandbox.ingo.money description: Sandbox - url: https://payapi.ingo.money description: Production security: - HmacAuth: [] paths: /gateway/search: post: tags: - Search summary: Search for a biller or payee description: > Performs a biller/payee lookup for a given customer account number, optionally narrowed by payee name and remittance address. Returns matching issuers with transaction limits, card type, estimated posting information, and the `account_type` that determines which Verify and Process sequence to use. For retail participants, `store_id`, `clerk_id`, and `terminal_id` are required. operationId: gatewaySearch requestBody: required: true content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchRequest' example: participant_id: 12345 account_type: BP account: '12345678' payee_name: Anytown Utilities payee_city: Anytown payee_state: GA payee_zip: '00000' participant_unique_id1: PARTNER-REF-001 participant_unique_id2: PARTNER-REF-002 timestamp: 1586975609 version: 11 responses: '200': description: Search completed content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchResponse' examples: success: summary: Two matching billers found value: status: 100 client_message: Success data: count: 2 issuers: - payee_id: '123456' payee_name: Anytown Utilities payee_address: 100 Innovation Way payee_city: Anytown payee_state: GA payee_zip: '00000' min: '5.00' max: '2000.00' card_type: NA issuing_network: NA estimated_posting_time: Payment will post 04/17/2026 estimated_posting_date: 04/17/2026 account_type: BP - payee_id: '123457' payee_name: Anytown Utilities North payee_address: 100 Innovation Way payee_city: Anytown payee_state: GA payee_zip: '00000' min: '5.00' max: '2000.00' card_type: NA issuing_network: NA estimated_posting_time: Payment will post 04/17/2026 estimated_posting_date: 04/17/2026 account_type: BP request_timestamp: 1587050949 participant_unique_id1: PARTNER-REF-001 participant_unique_id2: PARTNER-REF-002 time: '1.8152' noBillerFound: summary: No eligible biller found for the account value: status: 700 client_message: >- Account not currently available for payment via Ingo Money Network data: request_timestamp: 1587050949 time: '0.8644' validationError: summary: Request validation failure value: status: 600 client_message: Account number validation error data: errors: account: Field is required time: '0.0121' components: schemas: SearchRequest: type: object required: - participant_id - account_type - account - participant_unique_id1 - timestamp - version description: > `store_id`, `clerk_id`, and `terminal_id` are required when the client is configured as a retail participant (retail flag enabled in client configuration). properties: participant_id: type: integer description: Unique participant identifier generated by Ingo. example: 12345 account_type: type: string minLength: 2 maxLength: 2 enum: - BP description: > For Bill Payment the value should be set to `BP`. Search is supported for the BillPay distribution only; results indicate per-issuer whether to continue with the card (`CA`) or BillPay (`BP`) Verify and Process sequence. example: BP account: type: string minLength: 1 maxLength: 255 description: Customer account number to search against. example: '12345678' amount: type: number format: float minimum: 0.01 nullable: true description: > Dollar amount of the intended disbursement. When provided, used to validate against biller transaction limits. example: 1010.5 payee_name: type: string maxLength: 255 nullable: true description: Name of payee (biller/issuer). example: Anytown Utilities payee_address1: type: string maxLength: 255 nullable: true description: Payee (biller/issuer) remittance address 1. example: 100 Innovation Way payee_address2: type: string maxLength: 255 nullable: true description: Payee (biller/issuer) remittance address 2. example: Suite 200 payee_city: type: string maxLength: 255 nullable: true description: Payee (biller/issuer) remittance city. example: Anytown payee_state: type: string minLength: 2 maxLength: 2 nullable: true pattern: >- ^(?:A[LKSZRAEP]|C[AOT]|D[EC]|F[LM]|G[AU]|HI|I[ADLN]|K[SY]|LA|M[ADEHINOPST]|N[CDEHJMVY]|O[HKR]|P[ARW]|RI|S[CD]|T[NX]|UT|V[AIT]|W[AIVY])$ description: > Payee (biller/issuer) remittance state (standard US postal abbreviation, uppercase). example: GA payee_zip: type: string maxLength: 10 nullable: true pattern: ^[0-9]{5}(?:-[0-9]{4})?$ description: > Payee (biller/issuer) remittance zip — 5 digit or 10 digit (xxxxx or xxxxx-xxxx). example: '00000' store_id: type: string maxLength: 255 nullable: true description: > Participant assigned store ID. Required when the client is configured as a retail participant (retail flag enabled in client configuration). example: STORE-001 clerk_id: type: string maxLength: 255 nullable: true description: > Participant assigned clerk ID. Required when the client is configured as a retail participant (retail flag enabled in client configuration). example: CLK-007 terminal_id: type: string maxLength: 255 nullable: true description: > Participant assigned terminal ID. Required when the client is configured as a retail participant (retail flag enabled in client configuration). example: TERM-042 participant_unique_id1: type: string minLength: 1 maxLength: 255 nullable: false description: > Participant provided unique transaction identifier. Echoed back on the response. example: PARTNER-REF-001 participant_unique_id2: type: string maxLength: 255 nullable: true description: > Optional second participant provided unique transaction identifier. Echoed back on the response only when supplied on the request. example: PARTNER-REF-002 timestamp: type: integer description: Unix timestamp of the request. example: 1586975609 version: type: integer description: 'API version of the request. Current version is: 11.' example: 11 SearchResponse: type: object properties: status: type: integer description: > Numeric code describing the status of the API request (for example, 100 = Success). See the API Status Codes reference for the full list. example: 100 client_message: type: string description: Text description associated with the status code. example: Success data: type: object description: Information about the results of the search. properties: count: type: integer description: Count of account issuers returned. example: 2 issuers: type: array description: > Array of issuers / payees matching the request criteria when the call is successful. items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Issuer' request_timestamp: type: integer description: Unix timestamp of the request. example: 1587050949 participant_unique_id1: type: string description: Echo of the participant provided value. example: PARTNER-REF-001 participant_unique_id2: type: string description: > Echo of the participant provided value. Returned only when supplied on the request. example: PARTNER-REF-002 errors: type: object description: >- Field-level validation errors. Present on validation failure only. additionalProperties: type: string time: type: string description: Time in seconds to complete the request. example: '1.8152' Issuer: type: object properties: payee_id: type: string description: > Unique Ingo assigned identifier for the payee. Required on the subsequent Verify and Process method calls for Bill Payment (`BP`) account_type payees. example: '123456' payee_name: type: string description: Name of payee (biller/issuer). example: Anytown Utilities payee_address: type: string nullable: true description: > Payee (biller/issuer) remittance address, if available. May be blank/empty. example: 100 Innovation Way payee_city: type: string nullable: true description: > Payee (biller/issuer) remittance city, if available. May be blank/empty. example: Anytown payee_state: type: string nullable: true description: > Payee (biller/issuer) remittance state, if available. May be blank/empty. example: GA payee_zip: type: string nullable: true description: > Payee (biller/issuer) remittance zip, if available. May be blank/empty. example: '00000' min: type: string description: Minimum payment amount accepted. example: '5.00' max: type: string description: Maximum payment amount accepted. example: '2000.00' card_type: type: string description: '"Debit", "Prepaid Debit", "Credit", or "NA".' example: NA issuing_network: type: string description: > If a card, the network of issuance — "Visa", "MasterCard", "American Express", etc. Can also be "NA". example: NA estimated_posting_time: type: string description: > Estimated posting time of the payment. Examples: "Your payment will post within 5 minutes." or "Your payment will post today's date." or "Your payment will post next business day's date." example: Payment will post 04/17/2026 estimated_posting_date: type: string description: Estimated posting date of the payment in MM/DD/YYYY format. example: 04/17/2026 account_type: type: string enum: - CA - BP description: > `CA` — use the card payee **Verify** and **Process** methods. `BP` — use the biller payee **Verify** and **Process** methods. example: BP securitySchemes: HmacAuth: type: http scheme: hmac-sha512 description: >- HMAC-SHA512 signed Authorization header. See the Authentication page for the complete signing guide. ````