Shopify Payments: payout schedule, holds and reserves

What Shopify Payments is and how a payout reaches you

Shopify Payments is Shopify's own payment provider, so you skip setting up a third-party payment provider or merchant account. When a customer pays for an order, the funds are transferred to the payout bank account that you set up with Shopify Payments. That payout account can be a checking account that meets your country's bank account requirements, or a Shopify Balance account.

Three things decide when the money lands: the payout schedule you choose, the settlement time on your account, and your bank. Settlement time is the time between when a customer's payment is captured and when those funds are available to be paid out to your bank account, and Shopify says the minimum depends on your region, your risk level and the payment method used. After Shopify sends a payout, banks need about 1-3 business days to move the funds into your account.

Card rates and the fee for using a third-party payment provider are in the Shopify pricing guide linked at the end of this page.

Shopify payout schedule: daily, weekly or monthly

You choose how often payouts are sent in your Shopify Payments settings. Shopify offers a daily, weekly or monthly payout schedule, and there is no extra charge to switch between payout schedules. For merchants in Japan the choice is weekly or monthly only, with no daily payouts, and the schedule options might be different for stores with active Shopify Capital or Shopify Credit.

The schedule sets how often payouts go out, and the settlement time sets how soon a sale can be included in one. Shopify's payouts page for Canada states that choosing a daily, weekly or monthly schedule does not change the per-transaction settlement time. These rules decide which day a sale is paid out:

• Settlement time counts business days only; weekends and holidays do not count toward settlement time.
• Weekend sales: payments captured on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are grouped and sent together as one payout. Shopify records the capture time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), so a sale made close to midnight in your time zone can count toward a different day.
• Monthly payouts set for a date that a short month does not have are sent on the final day of that month.
• If you change the schedule, pending payouts are delayed until the next payout date on the new schedule.
• In the United States, some payouts can arrive sooner than the scheduled date, and more than one payout can arrive in a day.
• With a Shopify Balance account as the payout account, payouts can arrive within 1 business day from the transaction processing date. For new merchants this can take up to 5 business days in some cases.

Shopify payout times by country

Shopify's payout timing page lists a minimum settlement time and a minimum payout amount for selected countries. The table shows eight of them. Your bank's processing time comes on top of the settlement time.

When a payout is below the minimum amount, payouts stay pending until more funds are available to pay out. Payments by ACH Direct Debit can take up to 4 business days to settle. Accounts that Shopify deems higher risk can be put on a custom payout schedule of 5 to 20 business days.

Example: a US store on a daily schedule that has reached the minimum settlement time of 3 business days. A sale captured on a Monday is paid out on Thursday and reaches the account about 1-3 business days later. Sales captured on that week's Friday, Saturday and Sunday go out together as one payout.

Why the first Shopify payout takes longer, and how to avoid extra delays

Shopify's pages for the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom say settlement time is longer when you begin receiving payouts, then it can decrease to the regional minimum as you reliably fulfill orders on time. A first payout can also wait on setup steps. These are the ones Shopify names.

1. Use a supported payout account

   Shopify notes that a savings account is an example of an unsupported account type. In Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, the bank account must also accept withdrawals, or payouts fail.

2. Finish the Shopify Payments setup

   Shopify says payouts are delayed until the setup is complete, for example until a bank account is added. It also says payouts might be placed on hold until your information and documents can be verified, so answer document requests in the admin as soon as they appear.

3. Turn on two-step authentication

   Shopify states that payouts might be placed on hold until two-step authentication is turned on for the store. Turn it on before the first sale.

4. Check your business and tax details

   Shopify's payout timing page says financial regulations require Shopify to verify tax identification numbers and other business details, and that a payout hold might apply when there are issues with your business information or tax identification numbers.

Payout holds: what triggers them and how to clear one

Shopify says that during a payout hold you can keep working on the store, but you cannot receive payouts until the reason for the hold is resolved, and that in most cases customers can still check out while payouts are on hold. It gives these as possible reasons for an account hold: information requirements, incorrect bank account details and issues with product eligibility.

Shopify also lists events that can lead to an account review: chargeback disputes, compliance checks, customer complaints, high-risk orders, fraud or compliance investigations by financial partners, fulfillment issues, and onboarding that needs more documentation. These events pause or stop payouts too:

• Bank account changes: if you switch the payout account to a new external bank account, payouts are temporarily paused for 3-5 business days while Shopify verifies it. Shopify notes that a payout already in transit still goes to the old bank account.
• Failed payouts: Shopify warns that a failed payout can lead to an immediate payout hold, or to a hold after several failures in a row.
• Legal notices: if a creditor sends one, the payment processor is legally required to place a hold on your payout account for the amount specified in the notice. To resolve it, contact your creditor directly, because Shopify can't remove this type of hold.

To clear a hold, Shopify says to provide the information Shopify requested and reply directly to Shopify's email. Shopify also says only the store owner can resolve a hold.

Shopify Payments reserves: what they are and what triggers one

Shopify defines a reserve as a temporary hold on a portion, or in some cases the full amount, of your Shopify Payments transactions for a specified period. A reserve works differently from a hold: Shopify says a reserve generally does not stop you from accepting payments unless Shopify tells you otherwise, and the terms are sent by email.

Shopify describes two kinds: a fixed amount reserve, for example $1000.00 USD reserved for 120 days, and a percentage-based reserve, for example a 10% reserve for 120 days, with the other 90% paid out as usual. Both examples come from the help center and are not standard terms.

Shopify names these signals in its reserve risk assessment:

• Disputes: elevated chargeback activity.
• Returns: an increased refund rate.
• Billing: businesses with extended billing cycles, such as annual subscriptions.
• Delivery: extended delivery timelines, such as event organizers, custom orders and pre-orders.
• Sales volume: significant volume surges.

In a payout's transactions, a negative reserve transaction is the part of a payout placed in reserve, which reduces the amount you receive.

Before a reserve ends, the account is reviewed to decide whether to keep, reduce or raise the reserve. When it ends, remaining reserve funds no longer needed for refunds or disputes are returned in full, and it might take several business days for those funds to be paid out. To appeal a reserve that allows it, reply to the email with the reserve terms within the time it states. Other reserves are removed automatically after you meet the requirements listed in the reserve email.

How refunds and chargebacks change a payout

Shopify says refunds and chargebacks can settle faster than charges and reduce your payout amount, so a payout can be smaller than the sales it covers.

When a customer's bank opens a chargeback, Shopify says the disputed amount and the chargeback fee are withdrawn immediately, and the amount is deducted from your next available payout. The chargeback fee is $15 USD in the United States, $15 CAD or $15 USD in Canada and £10 GBP in the United Kingdom. If you win the dispute, the disputed amount and the chargeback fee are returned.

If the balance cannot cover a chargeback or refund, the result depends on the country. In the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and several other countries, the balance is debited from your bank account, outside your regular payout schedule. In the remaining countries, the amount is deducted from your future payouts until it is fully covered.

How to read a Shopify payout

Each payout in the admin opens to a details page with a breakdown of the charges, refunds, adjustments and reserves. The transactions table shows the total fees for each payout and pending transaction, which you can export to a CSV file. In that export, the Net column is the transaction amount minus the fee.

Treat upcoming payouts as a forecast: Shopify says pending payout amounts and payout dates are estimates that can change because of refunds, chargebacks, reserves, adjustments or processing updates. For a longer period, the Shopify Payments activity report gives a breakdown of transactions, fees and payouts for a chosen date range and currency.

If a Deposited payout has not reached your account after the bank's processing time of about 1-3 business days, Shopify suggests you give your bank the payout's transfer reference number.

Where Nation fits

Questions about Shopify Payments and payouts