Card Acquiring & POS Reconciliation: Match Settlements to Bank Deposits
If you accept card payments — whether online or at the point of sale — your bank deposits rarely match your transaction totals. Here's how to reconcile them automatically.
The Card Settlement Problem
When a customer taps their card at your POS terminal or pays online, the money doesn't land in your bank account immediately — and it certainly doesn't arrive as the exact amount charged.
Payment processors like Stripe, Square, Worldpay, and Adyen batch transactions together, deduct fees, hold reserves, and settle on their own schedule. The result?
- A £3,247.89 bank deposit that represents 47 individual card transactions
- Processing fees deducted before settlement (1.4% + 20p per transaction)
- Settlement delays of 1–7 business days depending on the processor
- Chargebacks and refunds subtracted from future payouts
- Multiple currencies consolidated into a single GBP/USD/EUR deposit
The gap: Your POS says you took £3,500 in sales. Your bank shows £3,247.89. Without proper reconciliation, that £252.11 difference (£238 in fees + £14.11 chargeback) goes unexplained.
What Is Card Acquiring Reconciliation?
Card acquiring reconciliation is the process of matching three data sources:
- Your transaction records — what your POS or e-commerce platform says you sold
- Your processor's settlement reports — what Stripe, Square, or Worldpay says they'll pay you
- Your bank statement — what actually arrived in your account
When all three match, you have a clean reconciliation. When they don't, you need to investigate the differences — missing transactions, fee discrepancies, timing differences, or errors.
Supported Payment Processors
BankStatementMatcher automatically detects the payment processor from your uploaded data and adjusts matching logic accordingly. We support:
How Settlement Matching Works
Unlike simple transaction matching, card settlement reconciliation requires understanding settlement timing. Here's what BankStatementMatcher does:
We identify Stripe, Square, Worldpay, etc. from column headers and transaction patterns in your uploaded file.
Stripe settles T+2, Worldpay T+3, SumUp T+1. We shift dates automatically to align transactions with expected bank deposit dates.
Processors batch transactions into daily payouts. We aggregate your individual transactions into expected settlement amounts.
We break down processing fees, interchange, scheme fees, and net settlement amounts so you can verify the exact deposit.
The calculated net settlement is matched against your bank statement deposits, accounting for timing windows and rounding.
Fee Analysis & Transparency
One of the biggest pain points is understanding where your money goes. BankStatementMatcher provides a full fee breakdown for every settlement period:
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross sales (47 transactions) | £3,500.00 |
| Processing fees (1.4% + 20p) | −£58.40 |
| Interchange fees | −£126.00 |
| Scheme fees | −£53.60 |
| Chargeback | −£14.11 |
| Net settlement (bank deposit) | £3,247.89 |
Full transparency: Every penny is accounted for. No more mystery deductions.
Transaction Classification
Not all card transactions are equal. BankStatementMatcher automatically classifies each transaction so you can see the full picture:
- Sales: Standard card payments from customers
- Refunds: Returned transactions that reduce your settlement
- Chargebacks: Disputed transactions with associated fees
- Adjustments: Processor corrections, reserve releases, or manual credits
- Fees: Monthly fees, PCI compliance charges, terminal rentals
POS vs Online: Different Challenges
🏪 In-Store POS
- Chip & PIN, contactless, Apple/Google Pay
- Terminal batches close at end of day
- Tips may be added post-authorisation
- Split payments across multiple cards
💻 Online Payments
- Stripe, PayPal, Adyen gateways
- Authorise now, capture later
- Currency conversion spread
- 3D Secure surcharges on some processors
BankStatementMatcher handles both seamlessly. Upload your POS settlement report and your bank statement, and we handle the rest.
Start Reconciling Card Settlements
Upload your card processor's settlement report alongside your bank statement. BankStatementMatcher will match them automatically, flag discrepancies, and give you a complete fee breakdown.