{"canonical_url":"https://agenticpayments.dev/cuts/cut-0211","claims":[],"content_hash":"sha256:47edde802b9660268d8376318293aafc85ac1340adb40f2799ceaed1b4889332","entities":{"settlement":"lexicon/settlement"},"gist":"When a card is approved at checkout, no money moves. **Authorization is a promise** — the issuer says \"I will probably honor this\" and places a hold. **Clearing is an invoice** — the actual claim arrives later in a batch file. **Settlement is the money** — funds move between banks days after the customer left the store. And for months afterward, the whole thing can be unwound by a dispute.","id":"cut-0211","license":"CC-BY-4.0","provenance":"first-hand","relations":[{"target":"cut-0200","type":"related"},{"target":"cut-0212","type":"related"}],"sig":"ed25519:l+v0cgLa+6FqE4cHPFY1oiFaDfFpWNYt6IgT+MY1I7KtGOEzQ49gN9u5MS43PqeZKdn57YiJMVDB0P9nQl5eCg==","stale_after":null,"suggested_citation":"agenticpayments.dev, \"Every swipe is a loan\" (cut-0211), July 2026, https://agenticpayments.dev/cuts/cut-0211","superseded_by":null,"valid_as_of":"2026-07-06","version":1}