How long does it take for transfers from my funding source to post to my Greenlight account?

General

The timing of a load (i.e. deposit) from a funding source to a Greenlight account depends on 2 key factors:

1. The type of funding source used (i.e. bank account, debit card, PayPal wallet, Venmo wallet)
2. Your load history (particularly for loads from bank accounts)

Bank Accounts (i.e. ACH)

Loads from a bank account are carried out via the ACH (Automated Clearinghouse) payment rails. Behind the scenes, ACH transfers settle via batch processes, which means money is never moved in real time. It normally takes banks 1-2 business days (and upwards of 3-4 business days) to settle ACH transactions.

We know how important it is to you to load money immediately. As a result, for ~99% of users, we offer the benefit of “instant funds” in which Greenlight makes the money available as soon as you submit the transfer. In doing this, Greenlight is crediting your Parent’s Wallet immediately before funds are sent by your bank to Greenlight. Greenlight extends instant funds up to certain limits, which are user-specific and are not made public to protect against fraud. However, in certain cases, Greenlight will not extend this instant funds benefit. Instead, your load will have to adhere to normal ACH processing timelines as described above. 

Below are the most common reasons you may not receive instant funds and what you can do about it:

1. The personal information on file at your bank does not match the personal information on your Greenlight account. This happens when you add a bank account as a funding source for the first time. 
   1. What can I do? Our Risk Operations team will review your information in more detail and may reach out to you to verify ownership of the bank account. Once bank account ownership is confirmed (either via direct contact with you or automatically by our team), you should begin receiving instant funds
2. Your Parent’s Wallet balance is negative. Your Parent’s Wallet balance can become negative for a number of reasons. For more information, see our related Help Center article here. When your Parent’s Wallet goes negative, Greenlight must take the precaution of waiting for loads to settle so that we can ensure your Parent’s Wallet balance does not go further into the negative.
   1. What can I do? Add enough money to your Parent’s Wallet to bring the balance greater than or equal to $0.00. After your Parent’s Wallet balance is out of the negative, you should begin receiving instant funds.
3. The amount you are attempting to transfer exceeds your instant funds limit. As mentioned above, Greenlight extends instant funds up to certain limits, which are user specific and are not made public to protect against fraud. These limits are cumulative and may apply at a daily, weekly, and monthly level. When you attempt to load an amount that exceeds one of these cumulative limits, Greenlight will allow you to proceed with the load, but will not credit the funds instantly.
   1. What can I do? You may enter a lower dollar amount that results in instant funds, try again tomorrow when your instant funds limit refreshes, or load from a debit card, PayPal wallet, or Venmo wallet (if you have one).
4. You are attempting to load from a risky institution. Based on millions of loads, Greenlight has identified certain financial institutions that are riskier than others. As a result, by default, funds loaded from these financial institutions are not made available instantly.
   1. What can I do? This will most likely only affect your first load. As long as your first load is not returned to Greenlight by your financial institution (e.g. for insufficient funds), you should begin receiving instant funds within 1-2 weeks of your first load.

Debit Cards, PayPal and Venmo wallets

Unlike bank accounts, transfers from a debit card, PayPal wallet, or Venmo wallet are authorized in real time. This means that, assuming the authorization is approved, funds are debited from your card/wallet and credited to your Greenlight account in real time. The funds should appear and be available to use immediately. 

Note: if you sign up for a Greenlight account using a debit card, your initial load will be split into two random authorizations totaling the dollar value of your initial load. You will need to verify the two dollar amounts in the Greenlight app before the debit card is verified and funds are credited to your account. 

Please note: Greenlight has specific load limits applicable to all customers. 
Learn more about specific load limits here

We're here to help if you still have further questions! 

Text us at 404-974-3024

or

Call us at 888-483-2645