Understand Settlement and Fees

This page explains how card payments move from your customers to your bank account, how and when fees are applied, and what to expect on your bank statement. It is intended for finance, accounting, and operations teams who need to understand timing, amounts, and fee structures for reconciliation and close. Use this together with Money and Reporting Overview for the end-to-end flow, and Reporting and Reconciliation Guide when you are ready to match settlement activity to your reports and bank deposits.

How settlement works

Settlement is the process of moving money from your customers' card-issuing banks, through the card networks, to Braintree and then to your bank account. Braintree uses a pass-through payout model, so funds are disbursed as they are received from the card schemes, and the exact timing can vary by brand (for example, American Express may follow a different schedule than Visa or Mastercard). Captured transactions are automatically batched and submitted for settlement at the end of each business day; no additional action is required from you.

What "settlement" means: Money moving from card networks to you

Braintree operates on a pass-through payout model, where settled funds are disbursed to merchants as they are received from the card schemes. The settlement timeline can vary by card scheme. (Amex may differ from Visa/Mastercard)

Captured transactions are automatically batched and submitted for settlement without requiring merchant action

Settlement models

Braintree supports different settlement fee models that change how and when fees are deducted from your deposits.

Under Standard Settlement, fees are assessed in aggregate on the third business day of the following month, which appears as separate fee debits in your bank account.
Under Net Settlement, fees are calculated and deducted daily from each settlement batch before funds are deposited, so you receive a single net amount per disbursement. Merchants using Net Settlement must use the Disbursement Fee Report (DFR) for transaction-level fee and settlement detail; see the Reporting and Reconciliation Guide and Reports and Analytics Guide for more information on working with this report.

Settlement process

Use this section to see, at a high level, how your authorized card transactions are grouped into daily settlement batches and how those batches turn into deposits in your bank account.

Braintree creates settlement batches automatically at the end of each business day.
Each batch includes that day's authorized transactions across all channels, including online and in-store.
Once batched, transactions are submitted to the relevant card networks for settlement.
Funds move from the card-issuing banks, through the card networks, to Braintree, and then to your designated bank account.

Use these reports to see how daily settlement activity turns into the deposits you see in your bank account:

The Settlement Batch Summary report shows which transactions are in each settlement batch.
The Disbursement Summary shows the disbursements that reach your bank account.
Both reports are documented in more detail in the Reports and Analytics Guide.

Understanding fees

Fees are applied differently depending on whether you use Standard Settlement or Net Settlement.

Under Standard Settlement, Braintree aggregates fees and typically debits your bank account on the third business day of the following month, using separate debits for Braintree gateway fees and for interchange and assessment fees charged by the card networks.
Under Net Settlement, fees are calculated and deducted from each batch's gross settlement amount on a daily basis before funds are disbursed to your bank account.

Fee amounts vary by card type, transaction type, and your pricing agreement with Braintree.

For a detailed, transaction-level view of fees and how they roll up to each disbursement, use the Disbursement Fee Report (DFR).
For aggregate monthly views of total fees and net activity, use your Monthly Statement as described in the Reports and Analytics Guide.

Timing variations

You may see differences in when settled funds appear in your bank account.

Settlement timing can vary by card brand, with American Express sometimes following different schedules than Visa or Mastercard.
Weekend and bank-holiday schedules affect settlement, since batches and bank credits are based on business days rather than calendar days.
International card transactions can settle on different timelines depending on the country of issuance and network rules.

If you need more detail on how these timing differences appear in your reports and disbursements, see the Reporting and Reconciliation Guide for daily workflows and the Money and Reporting Overview for the end-to-end money movement lifecycle.

Reconciliation considerations

When reconciling, plan to match what you see in your bank account back to Braintree settlement and fee data.

Use the Disbursement Fee Report (DFR) for transaction-level settlement and fee details, especially if you are on Net Settlement.
Use the Settlement Batch Summary report to see which transactions are included in each batch and how they contribute to expected settlement totals.
Use the Disbursement Summary to match specific disbursements to deposits in your bank account.

Merchants on Net Settlement often have simpler daily reconciliation because fees are already deducted from each deposit, reducing the need to account for separate monthly fee debits. For a broader explanation of Braintree's settlement behavior beyond in-store, you can also refer to the core Braintree settlement documentation from the main developer documentation site.