How long does a credit card payment take to process?

Just paid for something on your credit card and need to know how long until it clears? This can be essential to know, especially if you’re approaching your credit limit and don’t want to lose track of your spending.

Similarly, you’ll want to know how long it’ll take for repayments to your credit card balance to go through. We’re here to help, with an essential guide to how long credit card payments take to process in the UK.

We’ll look at average UK credit card processing times, factors which can slow things down and how payment processing generally works. Read on to find out more.

Average processing times for UK credit card payments

So how long does a UK credit card payment take to process? On average, it’s between 24 hours and 3 working days.¹

This is the time it takes to clear, and the payment to appear as confirmed or cleared on your credit card statement.

What can cause delays in processing credit card payments?

There are a few reasons it might take a little while for a credit card payment to show in your account. These include:

• Weekends and bank holidays - credit card payments are generally only processed on a working/business day. If you pay for something with your credit card on a weekend or bank holiday, this can add a day or two extra to the processing time.
• Provider cut-off times - some credit card companies have a cut-off time, after which payments will only start to be processed on the next working day.
• Security or fraud prevention checks - if the payment is flagged by the fraud team as potentially suspicious, extra checks may need to be carried out, and this can slow down processing.
• Incorrect details entered - if you accidentally enter the wrong credit card details when paying for something online, for example, this can cause a delay to processing or even prevent the payment going through altogether. These are usually small errors, such as a typo in your name or one number incorrect, but they can potentially void the payment.

Do different providers have different processing times?

There are three main credit card networks in the UK - Visa, Mastercard and American Express (Amex). While you might get your credit card from a bank or other provider, it’ll have one of these three names on it.

All three have similar processing times for credit cards, which is around 1 to 3 days.¹ However, American Express can sometimes be a little faster, with some payments clearing almost immediately.²

This is likely because Amex acts as both the card network and the issuer, whereas Visa and Mastercard have to go through an additional step with the bank or provider which issued the credit card.

How processing works for credit cards

When you pay for something using your credit card - either in person or online - a number of steps need to happen behind the scenes.

Only once these processes are complete will your payment show as ‘cleared’ or ‘complete’ in your account. Until then, they may show as ‘pending’.

Here are the steps typically involved in processing a credit card payment in the UK:

1. Authorisation - this is the real-time check that the merchant sends to the card issuer, ensuring that the card is valid, the transaction is genuine and that you have enough available credit to cover the purchase.
2. Authentication - sometimes (but not always), you’ll be asked to verify the payment using a banking app, text code or biometrics. This is part of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) rules in the UK.
3. Capture - the merchant confirms they still want the funds, a step that happens immediately for most shops and when goods are shipped for online retailers.
4. Clearing and settlement - the payment is sent through the card network (i.e. Visa, Mastercard or Amex) to your card issuer (i.e. your bank). The issuer sends the money to the merchant’s bank.

Timescales for paying off your credit card

Now, what about how long it takes for credit card account payments to process? This is when you make a repayment from your bank or another source to pay down your credit card balance.

Repayment processing times vary depending on how you make the payment. If you use online banking to send a Faster Payments transfer, it takes as little as 2 hours. For other methods, the average processing time is around 3 working days.³

So if a payment is due and you want to avoid unnecessary interest or charges, it’s best to schedule it in advance.

Choose the Wise card for international spending and cash withdrawals

If you’re on the hunt for a new card for everyday spending, one that you can use abroad - you might want to check out the money services provider, Wise.

The Wise card isn’t a credit card, but is a great option for low-cost spending and cash withdrawals worldwide.

It’s a contactless international debit card that can be used in 150+ countries. This includes online, so it’s great for shopping on overseas websites. You can even add it to your mobile wallet, for contactless payments using just your phone.

The Wise card automatically converts your pounds to the local currency whenever you spend, using the mid-market exchange rate. There’s just a small conversion fee*, or there’s no charge if you already have the currency in your Wise account.

Need cash on your trip? You can withdraw up to £200 a month with no Wise fee. Wise will not charge you for these withdrawals, but some additional charges may occur from independent ATM networks.

✅ Sign up with Wise for free

Sources used:

Sources last checked: 29-Nov-2025