A test deposit proves a destination; it does not enlarge it

Operators ask for a small deposit from a destination the reader intends to withdraw to, and the request is reasonable for a reason that has nothing to do with capacity. What it cannot do is move a large withdrawal to a rail the operator has never received money from.

Rail stub

Its real job: proving name and destination
What it creates: a cap equal to itself
Typical size: 10.00 on the sample
Time: one working day to settle

the railA payment method that has carried a completed deposit - not a method saved on the account

the capWhat a rail paid in, less what it has already returned, and never below zero

released moneyThe part of a balance above every cap: payable, and travelling by the operator’s own route

Direct answerA verification deposit is a small payment from a destination the reader wants to withdraw to. It does two things: it proves the destination exists and carries the right name, and it creates a cap exactly equal to the deposit. It does not let a large withdrawal travel on a rail the operator has never been paid from.

Why the request is made

The operator is being asked to send money to a destination it has never received money from. On a rail it has paid, it already knows the destination works, because a payment arrived from it. On a rail it has never used, it is relying on a reader having typed a number correctly, and the cost of getting it wrong is a payment to a stranger that cannot be recalled - which is why the ask exists and why it is made before a large payment rather than after.

S3, worked: what the 10.00 buys, and what it does notthe request 400.00 the destination a bank account the reader uses but has never deposited from its cap before the test 0.00 the test deposit 10.00, settled in 1 working day its cap after the test 10.00 what the test proved the account exists, the name matches, the rail completes what the test did not do raise the cap above 10.00 the 400.00 request needs 400.00 - 10.00 = 390.00 of cap from other rails if no other rail exists 390.00 has no rail to travel on share of the request 10.00 / 400.00 = 2.5%

On a 10.00 test the cap is 2.5% of a 400.00 request, so the test is not a route to a large payment and any explanation that presents it as one should be treated with suspicion. The reason to do it anyway is the first two lines of the worked section: it proves the name and it proves the rail completes, which are the two things that turn a wait into a release when a larger payment is attempted later.

What it costs, beyond the money

The 10.00 is not lost - it joins the balance and its cap can be returned - so the real cost is time and a small amount of dead capacity.

The settlement gap

One working day on the sample, and the withdrawal request has to be made after it. A test deposit made on the same day as the request usually has not settled, which is the one way the exercise fails without anything going wrong.

The dead capacity

A 10.00 cap sits on the account until a withdrawal uses it. Trivial in money, it is not trivial in ordering: under a waterfall, a 10.00 rail at the front of the queue consumes the first 10.00 of the next request and adds a second payment.

The round trip

A test deposit is a complete cycle: 10.00 deposited, 10.00 withdrawn when a request is made, and the rail then returns to a 0.00 cap. The rail is open while the cap lasts and shut again afterwards, which surprises readers who assumed that opening a rail was permanent.

When it is asked for, and when it is not needed

Three situations, and it is worth knowing which one applies before complying.

Asked for - a destination never used

The reader wants to withdraw to a bank account, wallet or card that has never paid in. The request is legitimate and the deposit is the only way to open the rail, short of a re-route.

Not needed - a rail already open

If the rail has a positive cap it is already open and no test is required, whatever a support message may say. The cap itself is the proof, and it is visible in the payment history without asking anyone.

A request for a large verification deposit is a different thing. Some operators ask for a deposit closer to the withdrawal amount. That is a cap being sold as a test: the deposit does create capacity, but only equal to itself, so a reader who sends 100.00 to unlock a 400.00 withdrawal has created a 100.00 cap and still needs 300.00 of rails behind it. This desk describes the mechanism; it does not tell anybody what to send.