What Is the Settlement Value Date? Holding Periods, Valör and Cash Flow in Virtual POS

For a business that sells by card, getting the transaction approved is only the first half of the story. The real question is: when will this money reach my account? The answer is the settlement value date — in Turkey, simply called valör. A business that does not understand it can be profitable on paper and still run short of cash.

What Is the Settlement Value Date (Valör)?

The value date is the date on which the amount of a sale made through a virtual or physical POS, minus commission, is credited to the merchant's bank account and becomes usable. In payments it is usually written as T+n: T is the transaction day and n is the number of business days until the funds arrive.

Example: A sale on Monday is credited on Tuesday under a T+1 agreement, and on Thursday under a T+3 agreement.

What Is a Holding Period?

The holding period (in Turkish, bloke süresi) is the time during which the bank keeps the sale proceeds before releasing them to the merchant. When the holding period ends the funds are released, so in practice the release date is the value date. Banks sometimes use the two terms interchangeably.

A holding period should not be confused with an authorisation hold, which temporarily reserves the amount on the cardholder's credit limit. The authorisation hold happens on the customer's side; the holding period applies to the collected funds on the merchant's side.

How Bank Cut-off Times Affect Settlement

Banks close their processing day at a set time, known as the cut-off (in Turkish, günsonu). A transaction made after the cut-off may be treated as the next day's transaction, shifting its value date by a day. Weekends and public holidays can also push value dates to the next business day, depending on the bank's practice. So two sales made on the same day are not guaranteed to settle on the same day.

The Relationship Between Value Date and Commission

There is usually an inverse relationship: the sooner the funds reach your account, the higher the commission; the later, the lower. This is because with early settlement the bank effectively advances the funds from its own resources. For example, a bank may offer a higher rate for next-day (T+1) settlement and a lower rate for a 30-day holding period.

Choosing a value date is therefore a cash-flow decision. A good starting point is to compare the extra commission for faster settlement with your alternative cost of financing for the same period (such as a loan interest rate). We cover the other factors that drive commission in How to Reduce Virtual POS Commission Rates.

Value Dates for Instalment Sales

For instalment sales, the settlement structure depends on the bank and the agreement. Two models are common:

• Settlement on instalment due dates: Each instalment amount is credited to the merchant in parallel with the cardholder's instalment schedule.
• Lump-sum settlement: The full instalment sale is credited at once after a set holding period. Because the merchant receives the money earlier, this model usually comes at an extra cost.

In sectors with high-value instalment sales (furniture, home appliances, education, tourism) this choice directly shapes cash flow. See our instalment payments guide for more.

Why the Value Date Matters

• Cash flow and working capital: Supplier payments, salaries and taxes fall due on fixed dates. A business that does not know when sales revenue will arrive may have to take on unnecessary credit.
• Complexity in multi-bank setups: Each bank has its own settlement structure (T+1, T+2, T+3, etc.) and cut-off time. Tracking manually how much will arrive on which day is nearly impossible for a business working with several banks.
• The effect of refunds: Cancellations and refunds are deducted from the amount to be settled. Net settlement differs from gross sales.
• Reconciliation: The amount credited must be checked against sales, commission and refunds. Missing or delayed payments are only caught this way. We cover this in What Is Reconciliation?

How to Choose the Right Value Date

1. Clarify your cash needs: List the dates and amounts of your fixed monthly payments.
2. Compare costs: Weigh the extra commission for faster settlement against your alternative financing cost.
3. Don't settle for a single structure: Different settlement terms with different banks let you balance cash needs and cost.
4. Automate tracking: Seeing expected settlements by date and getting alerts on delays shows whether your strategy is working.

Tracking Settlements with Treps

Treps Cash Flow Management groups your settlements by date according to each bank's virtual POS settlement structure (T+1, T+2, T+3, etc.) and cut-off times. Cancellations and refunds are deducted automatically to calculate your net settlement. You can view settlements from all banks consolidated on one screen and receive automatic alerts if an expected settlement is late or short.

With Treps Reconciliation you can automatically verify that the amounts credited are correct. When and how much money will arrive from the bank stops being a guess and becomes a reliable part of your financial planning.

Conclusion

The value date is when a card sale turns into cash, and together with commission it makes up the other half of your payment cost. Short settlement gives cash comfort but costs more; long settlement is cheaper but ties up working capital. Striking the right balance depends on knowing each bank's settlement and cut-off rules and tracking settlements regularly.

Related reading: Cash Flow Management and the Role of Payment Orchestration, What is payment reconciliation?