--- title: "Payment Processing Life Cycle and Timelines" slug: "payment-processing-life-cycle-and-timelines" updated: 2026-02-26T01:02:07Z published: 2026-02-26T01:02:07Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://resource.payrix.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Payment Processing Life Cycle and Timelines This article explains the life cycle of card and eCheck payments, detailing each stage from authorization to capture, settlement, and funding. It also describes the key timelines for processing, including windows for capturing authorized transactions and reversing or refunding a transaction. ## Life Cycle and Timeline Overview When a sale or authorization transaction is executed on the Payrix Pro platform, it receives an *Approved* status shortly after the payment is accepted. Unless reversed, the transaction is subsequently captured in the merchant’s daily settlement batch, changing the status to *Captured*. Upon the completion of this settlement process, the transaction is updated to *Settled*, signifying that the funds have been successfully processed and deposited into the merchant’s account. The following diagram depicts the transaction capture and settlement timeline. For more information on the different types of transactions and their statuses, see [Transaction Types and Statuses](/v1/docs/transactions-types-and-statuses). [Embedded content](https://lucid.app/documents/embedded/43aa62e7-be2f-4d27-a72a-7e1fbbad644c) ### Batch Close At 9:30 PM Eastern Time (ET), the merchant’s daily settlement batch is closed, initiating settlement and updating approved Sale transaction statuses to *Captured* and eCheck Sale transactions to *Approved* by 10:00 PM ET. ### Funding The following table describes how funding occurs in two phases: > [!WARNING] > **Important!** > > Unless uniquely enabled for a US-based account, the deposit of captured and settled funds occurs only on business days and doesn’t occur on weekends or holidays. For timelines that apply to Canadian merchants, see [Canada Payment Processing Standards and Requirements](/v1/docs/canada-payment-processing-standards-requirements). | Phase | Time (Eastern Time) | Business Day | Description | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Disbursement | 7:00 PM ET | The business day after batch close | Captured funds settle and begin disbursement to the merchant, minus fees, for payout to an external bank account. | | Deposit and Transaction Settlement | 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM ET | The business day after disbursement | Settled funds are deposited to the merchant’s account balance and each transaction included in the batch updates its status to *Settled*. | For example, if a batch closes on Monday, the funds are disbursed at 7:00 PM ET on Tuesday and then deposited to the merchant’s account by 10:00 AM ET on Wednesday. ## Card Payment Processing When a card payment (a Sale transaction) is initially submitted to the platform, the details are immediately sent to the issuer for authorization. This includes fund availability, address verification service (AVS), and CVV results. After the issuer authorizes the transaction, the status in Payrix Pro changes to *Approved*. If the issuer declines the authorization, the payment status changes to *Failed*. This process varies slightly if the merchant is processing payments using an external terminal device. Depending on your portfolio's Risk setting configuration, if the transaction returns AVS Unavailable/Mismatch or CVV Unavailable/Mismatch, the payment may be reversed and is reflected with a *Failed* status in Payrix Pro. If this occurs, you see a Related Transaction entry offsetting the original payment amount (Reverse Authorization), which prevents the transaction from settling, and no funds are sent by the issuer. After a card transaction is approved, it is included in the merchant’s daily batch to be *Captured* and then *Settled*, and for the funds to become available to them in their Payrix Pro available balance. ### Daily Batching A **daily batch** refers to any payments processed by a merchant between their last batch close and the current batch close. A Merchant’s daily *approved*transactions are all sent simultaneously at the end of the business day to the processing bank to be *captured*and *settled*. This means finalizing all batched transactions and exchanging funds between the cardholder’s bank and the platform (acquirer) for the corresponding merchant to receive a disbursement of those funds to their Available Balance. The following tables describes the batch cutoff times for card payments each business day: | Daily Batch | Cutoff Time (Eastern Time) | Upon Batch Submission | | --- | --- | --- | | First batch | 7:00 PM ET | Transactions processed between 9:31 PM ET the previous day through 7 PM ET on the current day change from *Approved* to *Captured*. | | Second batch | 9:30 PM ET | Transactions processed between 7:01 PM and 9:30 PM change from *Approved* to *Captured*. | Regardless of which of these two batches a transaction is a part of, they will all be *settled*by the processing bank at the same time. This generally occurs approximately 30 minutes after the second daily batch closes. ### Transaction Reversal or Refund Merchants can reverse or refund a transaction depending on its status: - If a transaction is *approved*, the merchant can reverse it by *canceling*or *voiding* the transaction (sometimes called a *Reverse Auth*). See [Reverse Transaction](/v1/docs/transactions-types-and-statuses#reverse-transaction) to learn more. - If a transaction is *captured*, it must be *refunded* in order to reverse the funds back to the cardholder. See [Refund Transaction](/v1/docs/transactions-types-and-statuses#refund-transaction) to learn more. ### Transaction Funds Added to Available Balance Funds collected from a card payment are added to the Merchant’s Payrix Pro *Available Balance* at approximately 10 PM ET on the same evening that the transaction was submitted. Any payment submitted between 9:31 PM ET of the previous day and 9:30 PM ET on the current day is present in the Available Balance at 10 PM ET of the current day. ## eCheck Payment Processing An eCheck transaction takes three to five business days to process and is dependent on the customer’s bank (an RDFI or issuing bank). Like card payments, eCheck transactions immediately update to *Approved* status after they are successfully submitted to Payrix Pro. Unlike card transactions, eCheck transactions reach the *Capture* and *Settled* statuses on the day *after* they reach an *Approved* status. For example, if an eCheck payment is *approved*on Monday, it is *captured*and *settled*with Tuesday’s batch of transactions. eCheck transactions also differ from card payments as the *Settled* status *does not* mean that an eCheck was funded or has been added to the Merchant’s Available Balance to be disbursed to their bank account. ### Transaction Reversal or Refund If an eCheck payment fails, such as due to insufficient funds or incorrect bank account information, the transaction status changes to *returned.*Because an eCheck payment is *captured* and *settled*prior to the transaction being funded, an eCheck status can change to *returned* even after it was *captured* and *settled*. - If a transaction is *approved*, the merchant can reverse it by *canceling*or *voiding* the transaction (sometimes called a *Reverse Auth*). See [Reverse Transaction](/v1/docs/transactions-types-and-statuses#reverse-transaction) to learn more. - If a transaction is *captured*, it must be *refunded* in order to reverse the funds back to the cardholder. See [Refund Transaction](/v1/docs/transactions-types-and-statuses#refund-transaction) to learn more. The reversal or refund is reflected in the merchant’s balance **within two business days** of the date the return was issued by the bank. ### Transaction Funds Added to Available Balance Funds collected from an eCheck payment are added to the Merchant’s Available Balance within three to five business days. Once funded by the issuing bank, the eCheck funds are disbursed to the merchant’s bank account as part of their next scheduled withdrawal. Any payment submitted between 9:31 PM ET of the previous day and 9:30 PM ET on the current day is present in the Available Balance at 10 PM ET of the current day. ## Transaction Capture Windows When accepting credit card and eCheck payments, there is a limited time frame to capture funds through transaction authorizations provided by card brand issuers and banking institutions. The following sections outline the limitations of this time-sensitive process. ### Credit Card Capture Time Limit Authorized credit card payments provide varying timeframes for capturing transaction funds. Each card brand issuer has its own time limit to use the valid authorization: - **American Express (Amex):** 7 days - **Diners Club:** 7 days - **Discover:** 30 days - **Mastercard:** 7 days - **Visa:** 30 days ### eCheck Capture Time Limit Although NACHA does not specify a particular time frame, most processors and banks consider eCheck payment authorizations valid for a period of **up to 30 days**, unless stated otherwise. ### Expired Authorizations When an *Approved* transaction’s authorization expires, it must be reauthorized to obtain a new authorization code through a new transaction. > [!WARNING] > **Important!** > > Expired authorizations do not trigger automatic transaction reversals. The transaction persists and remains *Approved* even after the expiration time frame has passed. To revoke this approval, you must process a reverse transaction. See [Reverse and Refund Payments](/v1/docs/reverse-and-refund-payments) for more information. ### Customer Funds Return Process If the authorized transaction funds are not captured, a reverse transaction must be processed, where the pending charge shown on the customer’s account statement are removed and the authorization revoked. The process of a captured merchant transaction being settled and the amount of the settled transaction being deposited into the merchant’s available balance (minus fees and profit shares). A PayFac-as-a-service platform. Software companies can act as payment facilitators without taking on the associated risks, compliance burdens, and investment. An entity that can process transactions and has been onboarded through a Payrix Pro partner. The final stage of batch processing, where transaction funds are successfully processed and deposited from the acquiring bank and its processor to the merchant’s Available Balance for withdrawal to their bank account. A group of captured transactions that are processed collectively by the acquiring bank for streamlined clearing and settlement of funds. The process of placing funds on hold with a customer's bank to verify the availability of the amount required for a transaction. The verification of a cardholder’s billing address in a transaction against the issuing bank’s address information for the cardholder. AVS is primarily used as a fraud prevention tool for eCommerce transactions. The movement of funds between a customer (cardholder or eCheck account holder) and a merchant to purchase a good or service. The balance of an entity account recorded on the Payrix Pro platform identifying the total balance of the entity’s platform-hosted account balance. The process when the Payrix Pro platform sends an ACH transfer to an entity’s (merchant or partner) bank account. A disbursement happens when an entity schedules a withdrawal (payout) from its Available Balance. The process of transferring funds from a customer's bank to a merchant's account after a transaction has been authorized.