Why might authorisation, posting and settlement times differ?¶
Authorisation, posting and settlement are different stages, so their timestamps may legitimately differ.
Avoid this assumption: A payment should have one correct time across every record.
Authorisation is the decision that allows the payment to proceed. It may happen when the customer presents a card, submits a transfer or approves a payment.
Posting is when the transaction appears as an entry in an account or statement system. That may happen immediately or later.
Settlement is when the institutions involved complete the financial transfer between them. This may occur after authorisation and posting.
For example, a card payment can be authorised on Friday, posted to the customer account later and settled with the merchant after the weekend.
International payments, batch processing, weekends, public holidays, currency conversion and provider cut-off times can add further delay.
A transaction may also move backward. An authorisation can expire, reverse or be adjusted before settlement.
Different parties may record the same payment according to their own role. The payer’s bank, merchant, processor and receiving bank may each show a different valid timestamp.
This matters when reconstructing events. A customer may have acted at the authorisation stage, while the statement records posting and the merchant records settlement.
Preserve all available timestamps and their labels. Record the source and time zone for each one.
Ask providers to explain what each field represents and whether linked records exist.
Do not treat a later posting date as proof that the payment was initiated later. Do not treat an early authorisation as proof that the recipient had already received the funds.
Where a precise sequence matters, use provider system records rather than relying only on customer-facing statements.
Operational takeaway¶
Build payment timelines around distinct authorisation, posting and settlement events instead of assuming every record should show the same time.