Card Settlement Services
The post-authorization lifecycle: how and when money actually moves between issuers and acquirers across Visa, Mastercard, and domestic schemes.
Settlement Cycle Comparison
| Attribute | Visa | Mastercard | BankAxept | Dankort | Cartes Bancaires | girocard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearing system | BASE II (VisaNet) | GCMS (Global Clearing Management System) | Bits AS (processing by Nets/Nexi) | Nets (Nexi) | STET (Systemes Technologiques d'Echange et de Traitement) | GICC (girocard Interbank Communication Channel) |
| Standard domestic settlement | D+0 or D+1 for USD/EUR/GBP. D+1 standard. | D+0 or D+1 for USD/EUR/GBP. D+1 standard. | D+1 | D+1 | D+1 | D+1 |
| Cross-border settlement | D+1 for USD, EUR, GBP. D+2 for other currencies | D+1 for USD, EUR, GBP. D+2 for most others | N/A (domestic only) | N/A (domestic only) | D+1 (EUR zone) | N/A (domestic only) |
| Settlement currencies | ~26 currencies for net settlement | ~48 settlement currencies | NOK only | DKK only | EUR only | EUR only |
| Settlement bank (primary) | JPMorgan Chase (USD), various per region | Various per region | Norges Bank (NBO) | Danmarks Nationalbank | Banque de France / ECB (T2) | Deutsche Bundesbank / ECB (T2) |
| Clearing cutoff (acquirer submission) | ~06:00 UTC (EUR), varies by currency | ~06:00 UTC, varies by currency | ~16:00 CET | ~16:00 CET | Aligned with STET cycles | Aligned with GICC cycles |
| Settlement frequency | Daily (business days) | Daily (business days) | Daily | Daily | Daily | Daily |
| Net or gross | Net (multilateral netting across all members) | Net (multilateral netting) | Net | Net | Net | Net |
| D+0 (same-day) available? | Yes - D+0 for USD/EUR/GBP if submitted before early cutoff | Yes - D+0 for USD/EUR/GBP if submitted before early cutoff | No | No | No | No |
| Weekend/holiday settlement | No (business days only). USDC stablecoin pilot enables 7-day settlement. | No (business days only) | No | No | No | No |
| Stablecoin settlement | Yes - USDC on Solana/Ethereum (pilot, expanding 2026) | Exploring via MTN (Multi-Token Network) | No | No | No | No |
Settlement Timeline
Typical cross-border card transaction lifecycle. Click each step to expand details. Data flow Money flow
Clearing Cut-off Times by Currency
Standard European region clearing file submission deadlines. Exact times vary by acquirer agreement.
| Currency | Cutoff (UTC) | Settlement |
|---|---|---|
| USD | 06:00 | D+0 / D+1 |
| EUR | 06:00 | D+0 / D+1 |
| GBP | 06:00 | D+0 / D+1 |
| CHF | 06:00 | D+1 |
| SEK | 06:00 | D+1 |
| NOK | 06:00 | D+1 |
| DKK | 06:00 | D+1 |
| PLN | 06:00 | D+2 |
| Other | 06:00 | D+2 |
| Currency | Cutoff (UTC) | Settlement |
|---|---|---|
| USD | 06:00 | D+0 / D+1 |
| EUR | 06:00 | D+0 / D+1 |
| GBP | 06:00 | D+0 / D+1 |
| CHF | 06:00 | D+1 |
| SEK | 06:00 | D+1 |
| NOK | 06:00 | D+1 |
| DKK | 06:00 | D+1 |
| Other major | Varies | D+1 / D+2 |
Visa’s clearing and settlement file format. Contains transaction records (TC = Transaction Component) submitted by acquirers. BASE II is the processing system.
Integrated Processing Message. Mastercard’s clearing file format. Contains First Presentments (original charges), Second Presentments (chargebacks), and fee collections.
Alternative name for the Visa clearing file delivered to members. Sometimes used interchangeably with TC33.
Merchant Fee Calculator
See how the transaction amount gets split between interchange, scheme fees, and acquirer markup.