Payout

Payout versus settlement

The two words are often swapped but name different steps. Settlement is the interbank movement - funds clearing through the card schemes from issuing banks to the acquirer. The payout is the last mile: the transfer that puts money in the merchant's own bank account. In a direct merchant-account model the distinction nearly collapses, because the acquirer settles to the merchant directly; in facilitation and aggregation models the provider receives settlement first and pays merchants out on a defined schedule.

What arrives, and when

Payouts are typically net: from gross takings, the provider deducts its fees, refunds issued, chargebacks debited and any rolling reserve, and pays the remainder. Schedules commonly run daily or weekly, with cut-off times deciding which transactions make each run - and weekends and public holidays stretching the calendar. Merchants accepting multiple methods should note that cards, instant EFT and vouchers can reach the payout at different speeds, so one day's sales rarely arrive as one neat credit.

Questions to ask any provider

Get the payout terms in writing: frequency, cut-off time, day count from transaction to bank, any minimum payout amount, whether a reserve applies, and how a negative balance - a heavy refund day, say - is handled. Every payout should come with an itemised statement that reconciles to the cent. That is the standard LekkaPay applies across both its merchant account and facilitation models.