What actually happens between a payment starting and a payment landing.
Six stages, every time. Not a sales pitch, the actual sequence a payment moves through, and where each of the five methods and the fraud check fit into it.
Setup
The recipient chooses a payment method in the Digital Wallet, ACH, RTP & FedNow, a check, or a prepaid card, once, up front. If nothing is chosen, the operator sets a default in the Console. This step happens one time, not on every payment.
Trigger
An event starts the clock: a payroll cycle runs, a claim is approved for disbursement, a settlement clears, or a billing date arrives. Nothing here waits on a person to remember to initiate a transfer manually.
Routing
The payment is assigned to a rail based on the method chosen in Setup and how time sensitive the trigger is. A scheduled, recurring payment routes over ACH by default. A payment explicitly marked urgent, and eligible on both ends, routes over RTP instead. Check and prepaid card are direct selections that bypass this logic entirely.
Screening
Before a payment clears, it is checked, not after. A flagged payment halts and surfaces immediately in the Operator Console, while every other payment in the same batch continues moving. Screening happens once per payment, not as a separate audit pass later.
Settlement
Funds actually move, on whichever rail was assigned. Timing depends on the method, seconds for FedNow, same day to next day for ACH, a print and mail cycle for a check, immediate load for a prepaid card.
Confirmation
The same status record updates for both the recipient and the operator at once. Nobody has to ask the other party whether it landed. A record is generated automatically, so there is no separate reconciliation report to assemble afterward.
How routing actually decides.
Two inputs, not a guess.
What the recipient chose
Set once in the Digital Wallet. This is the default unless the payment itself demands something different. A recipient who chose ACH stays on ACH for every routine, scheduled payment.
What the payment requires
Some payments are marked time sensitive at the point they are triggered, a same day disbursement need, for instance. Those override the standing choice and route to the fastest eligible rail, most often FedNow where the receiving bank supports it.
Each method, in more detail.
What each one actually requires to set up, and where its real limitations are.
| Method | Setup requires | Who can choose it | Real limitation | Settlement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01Direct deposit split | A linked payroll account on the recipient's side | Recipient, in the Wallet | Only applies to payroll linked payments, not one off disbursements | Automatic, every pay period |
| 02ACH transfer | A linked bank account, any account type | Recipient or operator default | Not same day for every transaction type, and not available on bank holidays | Same day to next day |
| 03Check cutting | A mailing address | Recipient, at any time, no approval needed | Bound by print and mail time, the one method not on a fixed digital timeline | Print and mail cycle |
| 04RTP & FedNow In development | A bank account at an RTP or FedNow participating institution on both ends | Assigned automatically when a payment is marked time sensitive and both banks are eligible | Not every bank participates yet, so this is not guaranteed to be available for every recipient | Seconds, 24/7 |
| 05Prepaid card In development | Identity verification only, no bank account | Recipient, specifically for those without a linked bank account | Loaded on the same schedule as any other method | Loaded on the same schedule as any other method |
What “real time visibility” actually means.
Not a marketing phrase, a specific set of facts both sides can see.
Want to see this against your actual volume?
Bring your current payment types and timelines. We will walk through exactly where each one lands in this sequence.