From payment to predictable payouts

Consumers expect payments to happen in seconds, whether online or in-store.  But for merchants, what happens next matters just as much.

Cash visibility, liquidity planning, and operational efficiency depend not only on how quickly funds move, but also on knowing when they will arrive. And that expectation is changing how merchant payout models are designed.   

That's why ING and Opens in a new tabPinDirect, a provider of payment solutions and merchant transaction processing services, worked together to bring Instant Payments to merchant payouts. The result is a solution that enables merchants to access funds from card transactions every day of the year, with greater speed and certainty.

In modern retail, speed is not just about moving money faster. It is about providing certainty sooner.

Merchants want to know as early as possible whether their point-of-sale transactions have been accepted, and whether settlement will follow as expected. Without that certainty, they face challenges such as:

• Planning cash and liquidity effectively
• Maintaining visibility over incoming funds
• Managing weekends, holidays and peak trading periods

The challenge for ING and PinDirect was simple: to provide merchants with fast, predictable, and transparent payouts without compromising operational reliability.

Applying Instant Payments to merchant payouts is not as straightforward as it sounds.

Instant payment rails were originally designed for individual transactions. However, merchant payouts often involve large batches. Delivering these payouts at speed and scale requires robust processes and reliable execution.

Through close collaboration, ING and PinDirect have shown that this can work in practice.

Previously, merchants had to wait until Monday to receive funds from Friday and weekend transactions. Today, they can receive their daily card turnover every morning, seven days a week, including public holidays.

Using ING's Instant Payments functionality in InsideBusiness, PinDirect can process payout batches within seconds and provide immediate confirmation. This enables merchants to benefit from:

• Predictable settlement of transactions
• Early-morning access to funds
• Greater visibility of incoming cash flows
• Improved cash flow and liquidity planning

The result is simple: merchants know exactly when funds will arrive and can access them every day of the year.

Delivering this solution required close collaboration between ING and PinDirect.

By combining ING's Instant Payments infrastructure with PinDirect's expertise in merchant payouts, the two organisations transformed merchant payouts.

Looking for more information? Read more about Opens in a new tabInstant payments or visit our FAQs section on Instant Payments.