Paying to be funded sooner, and whether it is worth it.
Faster funding is your provider advancing money before settlement completes, and they price the risk accordingly. For a business with a thin cash position it can be genuinely valuable. For most, it is paying for a day that changes nothing.
What this page settles.
Three questions, in the order most people ask them.
What the options actually are
Standard funding credits your account one to two business days after settlement. That is the normal arrangement and what most merchants are on.
Next-day funding credits the next business day. For a merchant currently on two days, it buys one.
Same-day funding moves it further forward, subject to a cut-off — and the cut-off is the part worth reading, because it is frequently earlier in the day than the phrase implies. Sales after it fund on the normal timetable.
All three sit on top of the same three-step process: your batch closes, your processor submits, your bank credits. Acceleration compresses the middle step and sometimes advances money before the last one has completed.
Weekends generally do not move, because the banking system does not settle on non-business days.
Why it costs something
Because your provider is advancing you money before settlement completes.
Standard timing exists because that is how long the underlying movement takes. To get money to you sooner, the provider fronts it. If something later reverses — a batch is pulled back, a transaction is reversed — they are exposed.
That is a genuine risk and it is priced, usually as a flat monthly fee, a per-transaction charge, or a slightly higher rate. None of those is unreasonable. What matters is whether you are buying something you will use.
It also means the arrangement is conditional. Accelerated funding can be withdrawn if your dispute rate rises or your volume pattern changes, and that is worth knowing before you build a cash flow around it.
When it is genuinely worth it
One test, and it is not “is faster better”.
Would having the money a day earlier change a decision you make?
Yes, plausibly: payroll falls on a day when cash is tight; you pay suppliers on delivery and your float is thin; your weekend takings fund Monday’s stock; you are growing fast and working capital is the constraint.
No, honestly: your balance comfortably covers a week of outgoings; your costs are monthly and predictable; the money sits in the account for a fortnight regardless.
For the second group, accelerated funding is a fee for a date on a bank statement. For the first, it can be worth considerably more than it costs, and the arithmetic is about avoided overdraft interest and avoided late payment rather than about the fee itself.
What to check before signing up
- What exactly is the fee — monthly, per transaction, or built into the rate?
- What is the cut-off for same-day, in your time zone?
- Is there a cap per day or per month, and what happens above it?
- What happens at weekends and holidays?
- Under what circumstances can it be withdrawn, and how much notice?
- Does my bank post it immediately, or hold it until the next business day anyway? This one catches people — a provider can send funds early and a slow bank can absorb the gain entirely.
That last question is worth asking your bank rather than your processor.
The cheaper thing to try first
Before paying for acceleration, check whether you are giving away a day for free.
If your terminal auto-batches after your processor’s cut-off, every single day’s takings go into the next cycle. Moving the auto-batch earlier gains you a day permanently, costs nothing, and takes one phone call. How to check.
We have seen merchants quoted for next-day funding who were simply batching at 11pm against a 10pm cut-off. Fixing that gave them the same day back for nothing.
Check the free version first. If you still want the paid one afterwards, at least you are buying a real day rather than one you had already thrown away.
What we charge
Interchange + 0.50% + 10¢ in person, interchange + 0.75% + 25¢ keyed, with no contract and no monthly fee.
We will tell you your standard timetable in writing at the start, and check your batch time against the cut-off before anybody mentions paying for acceleration. If faster funding genuinely suits your cash position we will price it plainly; if it does not, we will say so.
While we are on the subject
Is same-day funding really same day?
Usually it means funds reach you on the same business day as settlement, subject to a cut-off that is often earlier in the day than merchants expect. Read the cut-off before valuing it.
Does it work at weekends?
Generally not, because the underlying banking system does not settle on non-business days. Some providers offer weekend funding as a separate product; most do not.
Is there a limit?
Often. Accelerated funding may be capped per day or per month, with anything above it funding normally. Ask what happens on your busiest day.
Can it be withdrawn?
Yes. It is a risk-based arrangement and a provider can remove it, typically if your dispute rate rises or your volume pattern changes sharply.