UK card-acquirer settlement schedules

Settlement is the process of moving money from the customer's card-issuing bank to the merchant's nominated bank account, via the acquirer. Authorisation (the moment the card is approved at the till or checkout) and settlement (the moment the merchant actually has the funds) are separate events. Most UK acquirers settle T+1 (next business day) as standard.

Same-day settlement posts the day's card receipts to the merchant's bank account before the working day ends, typically by 4 to 8pm. Available from Dojo (default for hospitality and retail), Tide (to Tide Business accounts), Revolut (to Revolut Business), Tyl by NatWest (to NatWest business accounts). Often requires the merchant to bank with the acquirer or a partner.

T+1 (transaction date plus one business day) is the standard. Friday transactions settle Monday; Saturday and Sunday transactions also settle Monday unless the acquirer offers weekend posting. Most UK SMB acquirers (SumUp, Square, Zettle, Stripe established accounts) run T+1.

Acquirer fraud risk. A new merchant has no track record; the acquirer cannot tell legitimate from fraudulent. Stripe defaults to a 7-day rolling reserve for new UK merchants, dropping to 2-day or daily once the account is established (typically 30 to 90 days of clean trading). Square and Worldpay run similar new-account holds. High-risk verticals carry permanent reserves (5 to 10 percent of monthly volume).

A percentage of card volume the acquirer holds back from settlement to cover potential chargebacks. Standard for high-risk verticals: 5 to 10 percent of monthly volume held for 6 months on a rolling basis. Released after the chargeback window closes. Mainstream low-risk merchants do not typically have rolling reserves unless their chargeback ratio crosses a threshold.

Cashflow. A hospitality business doing £2,000 weekend takings on T+1 settlement waits until Tuesday for the money. On same-day, the Saturday takings land Saturday evening. For tight-margin trades the working-capital saving is meaningful: 1 to 3 days of card takings sitting in your account instead of in transit. For high-volume retailers, choosing daily versus weekly settlement is a £10,000 to £50,000 working-capital swing.

For most UK acquirers, no. Saturday and Sunday card transactions settle the next business day (Monday). For Dojo, Tide, Revolut and same-day-enabled acquirers, weekend transactions settle the same day. Bank holidays follow the same rule: not a business day, not a settlement day. UK bank holidays cluster in May and August, creating 3-day settlement gaps several times per year.

Yes for most acquirers, but with caveats. Stripe lets established merchants choose daily, weekly or monthly schedules from the dashboard. Adyen schedules are agreement-specific and require account-manager change. Dojo offers same-day, next-day or weekly on plan upgrade. Worldpay and Elavon typically lock the schedule to the merchant agreement; switching requires renegotiation.