The following procedure applies to card-based payment methods. Please be aware that the settlement process for certain APMs (Alternative Payment Methods) may deviate from the below. For this reason, it is important that you read the relevant documentation when adding APMs to your solution.
Once a transaction has been authorised, the funds are then reserved against the customer’s account for 7 days. (This is extended to 31 days for pre-authorisations)
The instruction to transfer the funds is scheduled daily when we submit a batch of all pending transactions to your acquirer.
This process is called settlement and is outlined below:
- The initial phase of the settlement process occurs when we submit a file to your acquirer. The file contains all transactions that are in status ‘pending settlement’, and this occurs daily.
- When your acquirer has received the settlement file, they commence the process of physically settling the money into your nominated bank account. The time frame of this payment differs between banks and is not determined by Trust Payments. If reserved funds are not settled, they are released back onto the customer’s card. We recommend that you regularly sign in to Portal to check the status of your payments.
Settle status
Settle status 0 – Pending settlement
Transaction that has been authorised by card issuer for payment.
- Settles automatically.
- Can be updated or cancelled.
- Does not currently require action from the merchant.
- May be suspended by future Internal Fraud Checks and Duplicate checks, if enabled.
Settle status 1 – Pending settlement (manual override)
Transaction that has been authorised by card issuer for payment.
- Settles automatically.
- Can be updated or cancelled.
- Does not require further action from the merchant.
- Bypasses Internal Fraud Checks and Duplicate Checks, if enabled.
Settle status 10 – Settling
Details of this transaction have been sent to the acquiring bank for settlement.
This settle status is assigned and managed by Trust Payments. Card payment requests submitted with this status will result in an error response with error code 60025 (Invalid Request)
- Does not require further action from the merchant.
- Settles automatically.
- Cannot be updated or cancelled.
Settle status 100 – Settled
From the perspective of the gateway, the transaction has been settled.
When a transaction has settled in the gateway, this indicates that the funds have been batched and sent to the acquirer for clearing. This settle status alone does not guarantee that funds have been transferred to the merchant's bank account. If you use our acquiring services, you can confirm the transfer of funds by checking the Merchant Payment Advice report, either via RAM Tool or Portal.
For card payments, this settle status is assigned and managed by Trust Payments. Card payment requests submitted with this status will result in an error response with error code 30000 (Invalid Field)
- Does not require further action from the merchant.
- Cannot be updated or cancelled.
- Can be refunded (unless all funds have already been refunded).
Settle status 2 – Suspended
Transaction has been suspended and will not settle without action from the merchant.
- Transactions can be suspended by merchants to prevent settlement, allowing for manual investigation.
- Transactions can be suspended by Trust Payments if Internal Fraud Checks or Duplicate Checks (if enabled) raise an issue.
- If left in a suspended state for 7 days after the authorisation date, the transaction will be cancelled automatically (updated to settle status ‘3’). This limit is extended to 31 days for pre-authorisations.
- The merchant can update transactions in settle status ‘2’ to the following states:
‘0’ – Allows settlement to occur, providing the transaction passes Internal Fraud Checks.
‘1’ – Allows settlement to occur, bypassing Internal Fraud Checks.
‘3’ – Manually cancels the transaction.
Settle status 3 – Cancelled
Transaction has been cancelled and will not settle.
- This can be due to an error or due to the transaction being declined.
- If a transaction is left in a suspended state (settle status ‘2’) for 7 days after the authorisation date, the transaction will be cancelled automatically. This limit is extended to 31 days for pre-authorisations.
- Merchants can also manually update transactions to settle status to ‘3’ to cancel them.
- Cancelled transactions cannot be updated.
Deferred settlement
All authorised and pending transactions are assigned a settle due date. By default, the value assigned is the same as the date the transaction was processed, meaning settlement will be processed in the next batch (typically the following day). But a different date can be specified in the payment request in order to defer settlement until a later time.
Configuration
You will need to include the optional field settleduedate with the date specified in YYYY-MM-DD format. Settlement for this transaction will be processed on the date specified.
Updates
Prior to settlement, you can update a transaction’s settle due date by either using Portal or processing a TRANSACTIONUPDATE request using our Webservices API.
Additional considerations
- Pre-authorisations cannot be deferred beyond 31 days. Final authorisations cannot be deferred beyond 7 days. Our system will automatically cancel transactions that have been pending for longer than these allowed timeframes.
- Transactions cannot be settled if the settle status is set to “2” (Suspended) or “3” (Cancelled). If a transaction is updated to be settle status “0” or “1”, settlement will be attempted on the settleduedate, providing not too much time has elapsed since transaction was originally authorised (see last point).
- Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) are often subject to different requirements in terms of settlement deferral. Please refer to documentation for specific APMs for further information.
