Why T+2 Settlements are a Strategy Risk

Why T+2 Settlements are a Strategy Risk for PSPs

In the world of cross-border payments, speed isn’t a feature, it’s survival.

Still, many PSPs rely on outdated rails like SWIFT for settlement, locking them into T+1 or T+2 timelines. That delay means merchants wait, support teams scramble, and operations grind.

If you’re building in 2025 and still settling like it’s 2005, you’re losing.

The Real Cost of Waiting

Every day you wait to settle:

• A client loses trust.
• A payment gets flagged.
• A competitor moves faster.

PSPs can’t afford this.

Many players are already exploring stablecoin settlements. Circle is building programmable treasury tooling. The industry is moving to real-time. And if you’re not already there, you’re already behind.

Why this actually hits the P&L

Delayed settlement ties working capital to rails instead of business. That means larger liquidity buffers, higher FX exposure, slower capital velocity and higher operational headcount to manage exceptions. These are recurring costs that compound with scale, not one-off annoyances.

The Case for Programmable Infrastructure

Depa replaces those brittle timelines with programmable settlement rails:

• Pre-funded logic: move instantly once funds hit
• Stablecoin or fiat pay-out: whichever is fastest
• Cut-off-based batching: optimize for cost or speed
• Automated reconciliation: no manual ops team required

When your infrastructure is programmable, you don’t wait for banks. You control your treasury, second by second.

Implementation note

This is not about ripping out banks, it’s hybrid. Use banks where they make sense; add programmable rails where they deliver speed, cost or market access. The winner is the platform that orchestrates both without friction.

The Bottom Line

T+2 isn’t just an operational delay. It’s a go-to-market disadvantage.

Depa gives cross-border platforms the programmable settlement they need to win deals, settle faster and retain clients.

✅ Want to offer real-time cross-border settlement to your clients?

Book a call with our team and see how Depa helps you move faster.

And now that you have got here, thank you for reading this week’s edition of Depa Digest! We really appreciate your time and commitment to staying informed on the latest news in our ecosystem. If you have any insights regarding this topic, feel free to share it with us in the comments!

This article was written by Javier Perez, Partnerships Manager & Head of Content at Depa.

If you’d like to learn more about how Depa can help you, visit our website at https://depa.finance/. See you in the next edition! 🚀

‍