Offsetting obligations and settling only the difference — cheaper, and riskier in between.
Net settlement offsets what participants owe each other and settles only the balance, usually at scheduled points in the day. A bank owing a hundred and owed ninety settles ten.
It is dramatically more efficient in liquidity than gross settlement, which is why retail payment systems use it. The cost is that obligations accumulate unsettled between cycles, so a participant failing mid-cycle leaves an exposure that has to be allocated somehow.
The netting cycle is itself a calendar fact: which cycle a payment catches determines when it settles, and missing the last cycle of the day pushes it to the next business day.
Net settlement offsets and settles the difference on a cycle. RTGS settles each payment gross, immediately and finally.
See also rtgs · clearing · clearing house · cut off time
We hold no settlement or clearing calendars. This entry defines the term and demonstrates nothing, because a near-miss borrowed from exchange closures would imply coverage that does not exist. See what we hold.