Settlement Timing
- Standard credit card settlement is T+2, meaning sale day plus 2 business days. Debit is T+1 to T+2. ACH is T+1 to T+3, depending on same-day or standard.
- Batch cutoff times vary by processor, typically 8 PM to midnight ET. Sales after the cutoff push your deposit a business day later.
- Instant funding exists and it costs real money. Square charges 1.95% per transfer, Stripe 1.5% in the US and 1% in Canada and the EU, PayPal 1.50% on Instant Transfer. All verified against the vendor's own page on 2026-08-02. Two days of float is worth about 0.04% at an 8% cost of capital, so the fee is 25 to 50 times what you're buying.
- Reserve funds sit outside the normal settlement timeline. They're released 90-180 days after collection, per your processor agreement.
Knowing when the money actually lands is what keeps cash flow from surprising you.
Standard Timelines by Payment Type
| Payment Type | Clearing | Settlement | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visa/Mastercard Credit | Overnight | T+1 to T+2 | T+2 to T+3 |
| Debit (PIN and signature) | Overnight | T+1 | T+1 to T+2 |
| American Express | Overnight | T+2 to T+3 | T+3 or later |
| Discover | Overnight | T+1 to T+2 | T+2 to T+3 |
| ACH/Bank Transfer | T+1 batch | T+1 to T+2 | T+1 to T+3 |
| Wire Transfer | Same day | Same day | Same day |
T = Transaction date. All times are business days.
Batch Cutoffs
Your processor has a daily cutoff. Transactions after it miss that day's batch. It's the most misunderstood part of settlement timing.
Processing Day Cutoffs
| Processor Type | Typical Cutoff | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional (TSYS, Fiserv) | 9-11pm Eastern | Fixed, rarely flexible |
| Modern PSP (Stripe, Square) | Varies by region | Often configurable |
| Bank-based | 5-7pm local time | Aligned with banking day |
Always check your own processor's documentation. Missing the cutoff by a minute pushes funding back a full business day.
How Cutoff Affects Your Funding
| Scenario | Your Sale | Cutoff | Your Batch | Settlement | Deposit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before cutoff | Mon 4pm | 5pm | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday |
| After cutoff | Mon 6pm | 5pm | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| Friday late | Fri 8pm | 5pm (Mon) | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday |
| Weekend | Sat 2pm | 5pm (Mon) | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday |
Friday afternoon sales after cutoff don't settle until Tuesday, on Monday's batch. They fund Wednesday. That's 5 days from sale to deposit.
Setting Optimal Batch Time
| Business Type | Recommended Batch Time |
|---|---|
| Retail (closes 9pm) | 10pm (right after close) |
| Restaurant (closes 11pm) | Midnight or 1am |
| E-commerce (24/7) | Align with processor cutoff |
| B2B (business hours) | End of business day |
Auto-batch vs manual batch:
- Auto-batch: set it and forget it. Consistent timing.
- Manual batch: flexible, and open to human error.
Recommendation: use auto-batch. Go manual only if you have a real operational reason.
Weekend and Holiday Impact
Interbank settlement and funding don't move on weekends or bank holidays. So things pile up:
- Friday transactions batch Friday night, settle Monday, fund Tuesday or Wednesday.
- Saturday and Sunday transactions batch Monday night, settle Tuesday, fund Wednesday.
- Holiday weekend with 3 days off: transactions might not fund until Thursday.
Do $10,000/day in card sales and a holiday weekend delays $30,000+ of funding.
Bank Holiday Impact
| Holiday | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Federal Reserve holiday | No interbank settlement |
| Banking holiday | Deposits delayed |
| Network holiday | Clearing delayed |
Fed holidays (US): New Year's Day, MLK Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas.
Each holiday adds a day to your funding timeline.
Under $1K/day, settlement timing is academic. T+1 versus T+2 is one day's float on a small number. Don't pay extra for speed unless you have a real cash flow emergency. Published instant payout fees run 1% to 1.95%, and the table below has them.
When timing actually matters: when your daily volume sits close to your daily expenses. Deposit $2K/day against $1.5K/day of payroll and rent, and a one-day delay creates real pressure. See cash flow forecasting for planning around this.
Same-Day and Instant Funding
Most processors sell accelerated funding now:
| Funding Type | Timing | Typical Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | T+2 to T+3 | Included in normal fees |
| Next-day | T+1 | Often included, or small fee |
| Same-day | Same business day | Varies, not published by most processors |
| Instant | Minutes | 1% to 1.95%, see below |
Published Instant Payout Fees
Verified against each vendor's own page on 2026-08-02.
| Provider | Instant payout fee | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square | 1.95% per transfer | Funds move "24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a 1.95% fee per transfer". No minimum stated | squareup.com help centre |
| Stripe | 1.5% for US, AU, NZ, AE. 1% for CA, EU, UK, SG, NO, HK, MY | Minimum $0.50, maximum $9,999 per payout | docs.stripe.com |
| PayPal | Instant Transfer to bank 1.50%, $0.50 minimum. Standard Payout 2% capped at $1.00 | These are two different products, so check which one applies to you. The cap matters: Standard Payout never exceeds $1.00, while Instant Transfer keeps scaling | paypal.com |
| Braintree, Helcim, Stax, Shopify Payments, Adyen, Moneris, Clover, Toast, Lightspeed, Checkout.com | Not published | Ask before you rely on it | See processor comparison |
Two corrections. Square's fee is 1.95%, not 1.5%. That's the highest published instant payout rate on this list. And Stripe's US rate is 1.5%, not 1%. The 1% figure is Stripe's Canadian rate, and it had been mislabelled as US across this site.
Watch the caps. PayPal's Standard Payout is 2% but stops at $1.00. Instant Transfer is 1.50% with no published cap. On a $1,000 movement, one costs $1.00 and the other costs $15.00. Stripe caps the fee indirectly, by capping the payout itself at $9,999. Square publishes no cap at all, so a $20,000 instant transfer costs $390.
Same-Day Requirements
- Batch before an early cutoff (often 10am-11am)
- Be in good standing with the processor
- Have a verified bank account with recent deposit history
- Meet minimum transaction amounts
When Instant Funding Makes Sense
Good candidates:
- High-velocity businesses with tight cash flow
- Businesses with net-30 or net-60 supplier terms
- Event-based businesses (concerts, festivals)
- Businesses in cash-flow crunch
When it doesn't make sense:
- On a $100,000 day, Stripe's US fee of 1.5% is $1,500 and Square's 1.95% is $1,950. Is two days early worth that? Two days of float on $100,000 at an 8% cost of capital is about $44. You'd pay 35 to 45 times the value of the money you're accelerating.
- Instant funding is emergency cash at emergency prices. Using it every week? The problem is working capital, not settlement timing.
Push ACH Reconciliation
Paying out by push (ACH credit, same-day ACH, real-time payments)? Reconciliation gets harder than card settlement.
Why Push ACH is Different
| Card Settlement | Push ACH |
|---|---|
| Processor handles funds flow | You initiate outbound payments |
| Fees deducted automatically | Fees may be separate |
| One deposit = one batch | Each payout is separate |
| Chargebacks handled by processor | Returns come back to you |
Return Window Reality
| Return Type | Timeframe | Common Codes |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative (R01-R04) | 2 business days | NSF, closed account, invalid account |
| Unauthorized (R05, R07, R10) | 2-60 business days | Consumer disputes |
| Late returns (R31-R33) | Up to 60 days | Dishonored by recipient |
See ACH Return Codes for the complete list.
Push ACH Best Practices
- Track every payout uniquely. Assign an internal ID that maps to the ACH trace number.
- Build return matching logic. When returns arrive, match them to the original payout by trace number.
- Hold reserve against returns. On high-risk payouts, hold funds 3-5 business days before marking "complete."
- Reconcile daily. Payouts initiated versus debited, returns received versus original payouts.
- Flag stale unreconciled items. Any payout over 5 days old without confirmation needs a look.
ACH reconciliation is harder than card reconciliation. Moving from card-only to ACH payouts? Budget 2-3x the operational effort.
Next Steps
- Reconciliation - Match your books to deposits
- Holds and Reserves - Why funds get held
- Payout Strategy - Optimize your funding
See Also
- Bank Transfers - ACH timing details
- Real-Time Payments - RTP and FedNow
- Time Frames - Response deadlines