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Before you can issue payouts, your Consul balance must be funded. See Deposits for the full list of deposit methods. For most payout platforms and marketplaces, Domestic Wire and ACH Debit are the most common, covered below.
MethodInitiationSettlementBest For
Domestic WireManual from your bankSame day (often < 1 hour)Urgent top-ups
ACH DebitAPI (pull-based)2 business daysAutomated, recurring pre-funding

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Domestic Wire

Wires generally settle same day (often within the hour) if initiated before 3 PM EST. However, this requires manually sending a wire from your business bank to Consul. Best used for top-ups when funds are needed ASAP. You can initiate a wire via the Create a Deposit Quote endpoint or directly from the dashboard.
Wire cutoff times depend on the sending and receiving bank. During setup, we can provide the exact cutoff times for your bank.

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ACH Debit

ACH debits are pull-based - Consul initiates the debit directly from your linked bank account via the API. No manual wire required. Budget 2 business days for ACH funds to settle. There are a few common strategies for managing your balance with ACH debits, depending on how quickly you need payouts to reach recipients.

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Debit as needed

The simplest approach. Initiate ACH debits as payout requests come in - batch them at end of day or on the cadence that works for your platform. Present payouts as “1-2 business days” to your end users, since funds need to settle before the payout is sent. No pre-funding or balance management required.

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Threshold-based top-ups

For instant payouts, maintain a pre-funded balance and top it up automatically when it drops below a minimum threshold. You can detect balance changes by listening for deposit.updated and payout.updated webhooks, or by polling your balance via the API. When the balance falls below your threshold, trigger an ACH debit to replenish. This keeps payouts instant from the recipient’s perspective without needing to forecast payout volume.

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Projection-based pre-funding

For instant payouts, pre-fund on a rolling daily basis by projecting forward the payout balance you’ll need in 2 business days. This works well when you have predictable or forecastable payout volume. Keep the following in mind for projections:
  • Funds debited Wednesday settle Friday - should cover weekend payouts.
  • Funds debited Thursday settle Monday - should cover Monday payouts.
ACH does not settle on weekends or bank holidays. Plan your pre-funding schedule accordingly.
To enable ACH debits or get help with any of these strategies, reach out to support.