Understanding your check payments: debit date and delivery date

When you schedule a check payment in Melio, two dates determine when everything happens: the date funds leave your account, and the date your vendor receives their check. Understanding how these dates work together can help you plan your cash flow with confidence and avoid any surprises along the way.

How Melio’s check payment process works

When you schedule a check payment, there are two important dates to understand:

1- Debit Date

• This is the date when funds are withdrawn from your account.
• The check will be delivered 5-7 business days after the funds are debited.
• By changing the delivery date, you can choose when the funds will be debited, avoiding surprises from unpredictable vendor deposits.

2- Delivery Date

• This is the estimated date when the check is physically received by your vendor.
• Typically, this occurs 5-7 business days after the debit date. This window is based on standard shipping times with USPS.
• The vendor receives the check on the delivery date. You'll receive an email when the check has been deposited. You can also track your payment to see whether the check has been deposited.
• Check forgery or alteration is not a problem, as checks don't have your banking details on them.

Why we secure funds in advance

• Securing funds in advance allows us to issue a check on your behalf and reduce your exposure to fraud.
• Securing funds in advance helps prevent payment failures that could inconvenience you and your business.
• When you schedule a check payment, funds are debited from your account, and your check is delivered to the vendor 5-7 business days after the funds are debited.
  • When setting up a check payment, you can change the delivery and debit dates, avoiding surprises from unpredictable vendor deposits.
  • This gives you more control over your cash flow.

Things that may affect payment delivery time

• Federal holidays may lead to potential USPS delivery delays when sending checks. When choosing your check delivery date, federal holiday dates will be blocked on the Melio custom date calendar. We recommend scheduling payments sooner so they get to your vendor on time during the holidays.
• When submitting a payment to a vendor for the first time, we may need a little extra time to review the payment. Schedule these in advance to avoid any delays.
• We recommend attaching an invoice whenever possible to prevent compliance delays.

Delivery timelines

Below, you can find a comparison of the delivery timelines of checks and ACH bank transfers. Should you need your payment to arrive faster, consider using an ACH bank transfer:

*Each payment is subject to eligibility requirements and limitations. If you don’t see these payment options when making a payment, they are unavailable.

**All payments scheduled after the cutoff time will start processing on the following business day.

Payments exceeding $100,000 may take additional time to process.

That's it! You now know how debit dates and delivery dates work for check payments, and what can affect delivery timing along the way.