How to Transfer SOL in a Solana Program

Your Solana Program can transfer lamports from one account to another without 'invoking' the System program. The fundamental rule is that your program can transfer lamports from any account owned by your program to any account at all.

The recipient account does not have to be an account owned by your program.

transfer-sol.rs

/// Transfers lamports from one account (must be program owned)
/// to another account. The recipient can by any account
fn transfer_service_fee_lamports(
    from_account: &AccountInfo,
    to_account: &AccountInfo,
    amount_of_lamports: u64,
) -> ProgramResult {
    // Does the from account have enough lamports to transfer?
    if **from_account.try_borrow_lamports()? < amount_of_lamports {
        return Err(CustomError::InsufficientFundsForTransaction.into());
    }
    // Debit from_account and credit to_account
    **from_account.try_borrow_mut_lamports()? -= amount_of_lamports;
    **to_account.try_borrow_mut_lamports()? += amount_of_lamports;
    Ok(())
}
 
/// Primary function handler associated with instruction sent
/// to your program
fn instruction_handler(accounts: &[AccountInfo]) -> ProgramResult {
    // Get the 'from' and 'to' accounts
    let account_info_iter = &mut accounts.iter();
    let from_account = next_account_info(account_info_iter)?;
    let to_service_account = next_account_info(account_info_iter)?;
 
    // Extract a service 'fee' of 5 lamports for performing this instruction
    transfer_service_fee_lamports(from_account, to_service_account, 5u64)?;
 
    // Perform the primary instruction
    // ... etc.
 
    Ok(())
}