# Corridors and destinations

Understand how destination, currency, access, and local requirements define a cross-border payment route.

Product: Payment API
Guides follow API reference 0.1.0 and event reference 0.1.0.
Canonical page: https://docs.axiym.io/payment-api/concepts/corridors

A **corridor** defines a payment route by its funding currency, destination
country, and destination currency.

It is more specific than a destination country: the same destination can have
different corridors depending on the currencies.

For example, **USD to PHP in the Philippines** is one corridor.

Change the destination or currency and the requirements may change
substantially.

## Why corridors matter

Access varies

Corridor access is resolved from your partner agreement and can vary by
destination and currency.

Party data varies

One destination may require a local clearing code, another additional
recipient identification, and another a different address or bank format.

Compliance varies

Local regulation, banking rules, payment-network requirements, transaction
purpose, and supporting evidence can differ between corridors. Every
payment is still reviewed against the applicable controls.

Limits and availability vary

Minimum and maximum amounts and operational availability are resolved for
the specific route.

For this reason, an integration should not treat every payout as the same
request with a different country code. The corridor determines whether the
route can be used and which information must be collected before the payment is
submitted.

## Corridor requirements

Alongside the information required for every payment, a corridor can impose
additional requirements or restrictions, such as:

* recipient or business identification;
* local bank, clearing, or routing codes;
* country-specific value formats and validation patterns;
* required address components;
* permitted account or relationship types;
* additional supporting evidence or compliance information; and
* minimum and maximum payment amounts.

Information that is optional for one destination may therefore be required for
another. Corridor availability, complete payment data, and payment approval
are separate checks.

See [Payment details](/payment-api/concepts/payment-details) for the information in
a payment and how Axiym handles your existing data.

## Discover available corridors

The corridor endpoints identify the routes available to you and their
applicable limits and requirements. Follow
[Discover corridors](/payment-api/integration-guide/discover-corridors) to
retrieve this information in your application.

You can also explore destination requirements in the
[Country Playbook](/payment-api/tools/country-playbook).