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The Payment On Hold / questions
the questions, answered

Questions about a payout that has not arrived

The twelve questions a reader most often asks about a payment the operator has held, refused or reclaimed, each answered in a short paragraph.

Desk spec
questions
12
stops
380
released
260
closed
120
mean stop
8.7 d
reversed
22
the stateWhat the request is doing. Of 1,800 sampled requests, 1,421 were paid without ever stopping, 380 were held at least once, 260 of those were released and 120 were closed without payment.
the groundThe recorded reason a payment stopped. Across the 380 stops: a document gap 148, a source-of-funds query 96, a rail or name mismatch 61, an alleged term breach 49 and a dependency not settled 26.
the retentionThe one outcome that costs money permanently. Of 742,500.00 requested, 693,412.50 was paid, 41,147.30 returned to balances and 7,940.20 retained, at a mean 214.60 per reclaimed request.
Direct answer

The twelve questions below cover the whole desk: what a hold means, the five grounds a payment stops on, how long each ground lasts, what closes a stop, what is returned against what is kept, how an appeal reverses a closed request, and what the account shows while the money is reserved.

is my money gone? No, held money is reserved and still shows in the total balance.
how long? A weighted mean 8.7 days, a median 6, and nine in ten inside 34 days.
what can be kept? In the sample 7,940.20 of 742,500.00 requested, or 1.1%.
can it be reversed? Yes: 22 of 76 appeals reversed, 29.0%.
who decides? An automated rule for 231 of 380 stops, a human for the rest.
what closes it? An asked-for item in 244 of 260 released cases.
What to do first when a payout stops
  • Identify the state: queued, held, refused or reclaimed.
  • Find the recorded ground, because it sets the clock and the clause.
  • Supply exactly the item asked for, if one was asked for.
  • Check the balance twice, because a reservation reduces only the available figure.
  • Diarise the appeal window if the request was closed rather than held.
The four statesthe first answer in fullThe groundsthe second answer in fullThe appealthe fourth answer in fullLegal and risk warningthe limits of every answer on this desk

The questions, in full

q01

Does a held payout mean the operator has refused to pay?

No. A hold is a deferred decision with an open question, not a refusal. Of 380 sampled stops, 260 were held and then released and only 120 were closed without payment, so the majority of stops ended in a payment.

q02

Why was my payout stopped in the first place?

One ground is recorded as deciding the stop. Across the sample it was a document gap 148 times, a source-of-funds query 96, a rail or name mismatch 61, an alleged term breach 49 and an unsettled dependency 26, and the ground decides the clock.

q03

How long does a stopped payout last?

A weighted mean of 8.7 days across 380 stops, with a median of 6 days for a released request and nine requests in ten resolved within 34 days. Fourteen of 1,800 requests sat past ninety days.

q04

Is the money still in my account while it is held?

It is reserved rather than removed. The total balance still includes it and the available balance excludes it, so the gap between the two figures is the money in flight. A return lifts the reservation with no credit, because nothing ever left.

q05

What documents will the operator ask for?

The six items asked for most often were a photo identity document 122 times, a proof of address 96, a source-of-funds document 88, a bank statement 74, a liveness check 61 and a written explanation 39. A released request needed a mean 1.8 of them.

q06

Can the operator keep my money?

It can retain part of a request, and in the sample it did so in 37 of 1,800 requests. The 7,940.20 retained was 1.1% of the 742,500.00 requested, of which 3,559.40 was bonus-derived and 4,380.80 real money.

q07

What is the difference between a return and a retention?

A return puts the whole amount back into the balance, which happened for 83 closed requests. A retention keeps part of it, which happened for 37. A return costs only time; a retention costs money, and it is the state an appeal can unwind.

q08

Is an appeal worth making?

In the sample, of 120 closed requests 76 were appealed and 22 were reversed and paid, so 29.0% of appeals succeeded and 18.3% of all closed requests were reversed. A reversal took a mean 3.1 days from the appeal.

q09

Who actually decides to stop a payment?

An automated rule recorded 231 of the 380 stops, a payments analyst 96 and a compliance review 53. The automated route released 81.4% of what it stopped in a mean 5.4 days, against 28.3% in 19.6 days for a compliance review.

q10

Which clause is usually cited against a stopped payment?

The verification clause, in 244 of 380 stops, followed by the payment-name clause 61, the bonus clause 49 and the settlement clause 26. Together the verification grounds account for 64.2% of all stops.

q11

What does a stopped payment look like in the ledger?

One pending line that reserves the amount, which becomes a debit if the payment is released or a return if the request is closed. Of 380 pending lines, 260 became a debit, 120 a return, and the median line sat six days.

q12

Does a longer stop mean a worse outcome?

Not directly. The longest ground, an alleged term breach at a mean 22.4 days, released 46.9% of what it stopped, and the compliance route took 19.6 days and released 28.3%, while the shortest ground released everything. Length and outcome move together in direction, not in a fixed ratio.