Settlement is the final stage of a payment transaction’s lifecycle — the point at which money actually moves from the cardholder’s issuing bank, through the card network and acquiring bank, into the merchant’s bank account. Although a customer may see a charge appear on their statement within seconds of a purchase, the underlying funds typically take one to three business days to settle, depending on the card network, the acquirer’s schedule, and the merchant’s agreement terms. Until settlement occurs, the transaction exists as a pending obligation rather than received revenue.
The settlement process begins after a transaction has been captured — that is, after the merchant has confirmed they want to collect the funds from an authorised payment. At the end of each business day, the acquirer or payment processor batches all captured transactions and submits them to the card networks for clearing. During clearing, the issuing bank transfers the transaction amount (minus interchange fees) to the acquiring bank, which then deposits the net amount into the merchant’s account. This batching cycle is why settlement is sometimes called “batch settlement.”
Settlement timing matters enormously for cash flow management. A business that processes high volumes but settles on a weekly cycle may face liquidity challenges, while one that settles daily can reinvest revenue faster. Settlement delays can also arise from risk holds, chargeback reserves, or compliance reviews — all of which tie up funds that the merchant has technically earned. For platforms managing payments on behalf of sub-merchants, the complexity multiplies, because each sub-merchant may have different settlement schedules, reserve requirements, and currency considerations.
Shuttle Global simplifies settlement complexity for platforms by acting as a unified payment layer across 40+ PSPs. Rather than reconciling settlement reports from multiple acquirers and processors independently, platforms using Shuttle’s Embedded Payments receive normalised transaction data and settlement reporting through a single integration. Whether payments originate from an online checkout, a Payment Link, or a Voice Checkout session, Shuttle ensures that settlement data flows back consistently — giving platforms the visibility they need to manage payouts to their own merchants without building bespoke reconciliation logic for every PSP they connect to.