Settlement timing is a cash-flow decision, not a technical one. Standard next-day payout is free; instant settlement carries a published percentage. Both are switched on and off by you.
What happens between "pay" and "paid"
A card payment passes through four states. Knowing which one a transaction is in answers most "where is my money" questions before you need to ask anyone.
Authorised
The issuer has reserved the funds on the customer card. Nothing has moved yet, and an authorisation expires if it is never captured.
Captured
You have confirmed the sale. For most merchants this happens automatically at the moment of payment; ship-later businesses often capture on dispatch.
Settled
The scheme has moved the funds to us and the transaction is in your settlement batch, net of fees.
Paid out
The batch has left for your bank account on your payout schedule.
Authorised is not sold
A customer whose card shows a pending charge on an authorisation you never captured has not paid you, and the hold will drop off by itself. Capture, or release it deliberately.
Payout schedules
| Option | Money arrives | Cost | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next business day | The business day after settlement | Free | Most merchants. Predictable and free. |
| Instant settlement | Within minutes of the sale | Published percentage | Tight cash cycles, or weekend trading peaks. |
| Weekly | One batch per week | Free | Low volume, or simpler bookkeeping. |
| Monthly | One batch per month | Free | Businesses that reconcile monthly and hold reserves. |
Weekends and public holidays shift a next-day payout to the next business day. Instant settlement is unaffected by either.
Do the arithmetic on instant
Instant settlement costs a percentage of everything you rush, every day. If the only reason is comfort rather than a real funding gap, next-day is free and the difference is pure margin.
Multi-currency settlement
- Accept in the customer currency and settle in yours, converting at the published rate and margin.
- Or hold balances in the trading currencies and settle in each, which avoids converting revenue you are only going to spend again.
- The conversion rate and margin are shown on every settlement report, not summarised into one net figure.
- Holding several currencies changes when you carry exchange risk, not whether you do. Where the exposure is material, hedge it deliberately.
Reconciling settlement
A payout is a net figure. It will almost never equal a day of gross takings, and that is normal rather than an error.
| Line in the report | What it is |
|---|---|
| Gross sales | Everything captured in the batch, before anything is taken off. |
| Refunds | Refunds issued in the period, deducted from this batch. |
| Transaction fees | The processing cost of the batch, itemised by payment type. |
| Chargebacks and reversals | Cases raised in the period, and any refunded chargeback fees. |
| Adjustments | Corrections, and any reserve applied or released. |
| Net payout | What actually lands in your bank account. |
- Every batch carries a reference that appears on your bank statement, so a payout can always be traced to its report.
- Reports export as CSV, and the same data is available over the API for automatic reconciliation.
- Reconcile the batch against the report first. Only compare against your till or store totals afterwards.
Reserves and held funds
Occasionally a payout is delayed or a reserve is applied. We would rather explain the reasons in advance than surprise you with them.
- A sudden change in profile
- A large jump in volume or ticket size against your history triggers a review. Telling us before a campaign launches usually prevents it entirely.
- Elevated dispute rate
- A rolling reserve may be applied where chargebacks rise above scheme thresholds, and released as the rate recovers.
- Goods or services delivered later
- Businesses taking payment well before delivery may carry a reserve, because the risk sits with us until the customer is served.
- Outstanding verification
- Payouts pause where identity or ownership information is incomplete. This is a legal obligation on us, not a preference.
You will be told why
Where a payout is held we tell you the reason, what would release it, and who is handling it. If you disagree, the complaints process is open to you.
Documents you may also need
Merchant Pricing & Fees
What accepting payments costs: transaction rates, settlement options, hardware, chargebacks and the fees other providers leave until the contract.
Merchant ServicesRisk, Fraud & Chargebacks
How transactions are screened, what a chargeback actually is, how to defend one, and the handful of habits that prevent most of them.
Merchant ServicesPayment Terminals
Card machines for the counter, the table and the road: what each one does, what it costs, and how quickly it arrives.
This document was last updated on 1 August 2026. We publish the current version here at all times; superseded versions are available on request.
If anything on this page is unclear, write to us and we will explain it.