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Why Is My Payout Stuck?

Understand payout processing times at each status and what to do if a payout is delayed.

Written by Ryan O
Updated today

Payout Processing Timeline

A payout moves through several statuses on its way to completion. At each stage, there is a typical processing time. If your payout appears stuck, this guide will help you understand what is happening and when to take action.

pending_screening

Typical duration: A few seconds to 30 minutes.

Every payout is screened against international sanctions lists (OFAC, EU, UN, and others) before it can proceed. In most cases, screening completes in under 10 seconds.

Screening may take longer when:

  • Enhanced due diligence is required for the payee or corridor.

  • The payee name produces a partial match that requires additional automated checks.

  • There is unusually high volume in the screening queue.

What to do: If a payout has been in pending_screening for more than 30 minutes, contact support with the payout ID (pay_...). Do not create a duplicate payout — the original is still being processed.

pending_approval

Typical duration: Depends on your team's approval workflow.

If your account has maker-checker approval enabled, payouts above certain thresholds require a second authorized user to approve them before they are submitted to the payment rail. This is a security feature, not a system delay.

How maker-checker works:

  1. The user who creates the payout is the maker.

  2. A different authorized user must log in and approve the payout — this user is the checker.

  3. The same user cannot both create and approve a payout.

  4. Approvals are done in the merchant portal under the Payouts section, or via POST /v1/payouts/{id}/approve.

What to do: Check with your team to ensure an authorized approver reviews the pending payout. You can list payouts awaiting approval by filtering with status=pending_approval on GET /v1/payouts.

processing

Typical duration: Varies by payment method and corridor.

The payout has been submitted to the payment rail and is being processed. Typical timelines:

Method

Typical Processing Time

FPS (UK Faster Payments)

Same day, often within minutes

SEPA (Eurozone)

1-2 business days

SEPA Instant

Within minutes

SWIFT (international wire)

2-5 business days

Stablecoin (on-chain)

Minutes, depending on network confirmation times

Processing times are measured in business days. Weekends and bank holidays in either the sending or receiving country can add delays.

What to do: If the payout has been in processing longer than the expected time for its method, contact support. Include the payout ID and the payment method.

sent

Typical duration: Hours to a few business days.

The payout has been sent to the receiving bank and Anton is waiting for final confirmation. For some payment methods (particularly SWIFT), there can be a delay between the payout being sent and the receiving bank confirming receipt.

What to do: In most cases, no action is needed. The payout will move to completed once the receiving bank confirms. If the payout has been in sent status for more than 5 business days, contact support so we can trace it with the rail provider.

When to Contact Support

Contact Anton support if:

  • A payout has been in pending_screening for more than 30 minutes.

  • A payout has been in processing longer than the expected timeline for its payment method.

  • A payout has been in sent for more than 5 business days.

  • You are unsure who on your team can approve a pending_approval payout.

When contacting support, always include the payout ID (pay_...). This allows our team to trace the payout immediately.

Monitoring Payouts

To stay informed about payout status changes:

  • Subscribe to webhook events: payout.completed, payout.failed, payout.returned, and payout.sent.

  • Poll GET /v1/payouts/{id} for status updates (respect rate limits).

  • Use the merchant portal dashboard for a real-time overview of all active payouts.

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