How a card payment actually settles: from tap to bank account

A card payment looks instant. Your customer taps or clicks, and a second later they see a confirmation. Behind that second, at least five parties are involved, and the money itself takes longer to move than the approval does.

This guide walks through each step, so you know what the statuses in your dashboard mean and when to expect your money.

The parties involved#

Every card payment passes through the same cast:

• The cardholder, your customer.
• The issuer, the bank that gave your customer their card.
• The card network, such as Visa or Mastercard, which connects issuers and acquirers.
• The acquirer, the bank or payment institution that accepts payments on your behalf.
• The payment provider, which is HansaPay. We handle the acquiring relationship, risk checks and your balance.

Step 1: authorisation#

When your customer pays, HansaPay sends an authorisation request through the card network to the issuer. The issuer checks that the card is valid, the funds are available, and the transaction doesn't look fraudulent. It replies with an approval or a decline.

This all happens in well under two seconds. An approval is a promise, not money. The funds are reserved on the customer's card, but nothing has moved yet.

Step 2: clearing#

At the end of each processing day, approved transactions are submitted to the card networks in a batch. The networks work out what each issuer owes each acquirer, net of interchange fees. This is clearing.

Step 3: settlement#

The networks then move the money. Issuers pay the networks, and the networks pay acquirers. HansaPay receives the funds for your payments and credits your balance, net of our fee.

Settlement is described relative to the transaction day, so a schedule of five days after the transaction is written T+5. That is the HansaPay baseline. Your own schedule is set when your account is approved, based on your industry and risk profile, and you can see it in the dashboard.

authorisation

< 2 sec

baseline settlement to your balance

T+5

withdrawal currencies

135+

Step 4: payout#

Once funds are on your balance they are yours to withdraw. You can send them to a bank account in the same currency, convert first with the rate shown before you confirm, or settle in USDT.

Where things can go wrong#

A few things can interrupt this flow:

1. Declines. The issuer can refuse the authorisation, most often for insufficient funds or suspected fraud.
2. Refunds. If you refund a payment, the amount is deducted from your balance and returned to the card.
3. Disputes. A customer can ask their bank to reverse a payment. If the dispute succeeds, it becomes a chargeback, and the funds are taken back from your balance. You can respond with evidence from the dashboard.

Understanding these steps makes reconciliation much easier. Every movement in your HansaPay balance maps to one of them, and the ledger export records which.