Hubtel Explains Hourly Merchant Payment Settlement Times

In Short

Hubtel says merchant payment settlement happens every hour.

What Happened

Hubtel published a product update explaining its settlement times for merchants in Ghana. Settlement is the step where a customer payment becomes usable money in a merchant’s Hubtel account.

Hubtel says customer debits show up instantly. This means the buyer’s Mobile Money, card, or bank transfer is confirmed right away and appears on the merchant dashboard.

But the merchant’s available balance is credited on an hourly cycle. Hubtel says payments move into the merchant’s Hubtel account within the hour, not after one or more days.

The company also says settlement runs every day. That includes weekends and public holidays.

Hubtel highlighted two related terms merchants may see. A payout is money sent from the Hubtel account to someone else, like a supplier or employee. A sweep is moving funds from the Hubtel account to the merchant’s own bank account or Mobile Money wallet.

On sweeps, Hubtel shared performance data from 124,163 sweeps observed over a 46-day period. It says funds arrived at the destination account in about 33 seconds on average, and 94% of sweeps completed in under a minute.

Why It Matters

For many businesses, “debit confirmed” and “funds available” are not the same thing. Hubtel is trying to reduce that gap with hourly settlement. This can help with cash flow, especially for SMEs that need to restock quickly or pay staff and suppliers soon after sales.

Hourly settlement can also make reconciliation easier. Reconciliation is matching each sale to the money received, like balancing a till against a bank statement. Continuous settlement means merchants see funds land throughout the day instead of in a delayed batch.

The update also sets clearer expectations for support teams and operators. If a merchant sees an instant debit notification but does not see a balance credit yet, Hubtel’s answer is that settlement will complete on the next hourly run.