The day funds are actually available — not the day the payment was sent.
The value date is when money becomes available to the recipient, as distinct from when the instruction was given or the transaction agreed. It is the date interest starts or stops, and the date a balance genuinely changes.
The gap between instruction and value is where most payment surprises live. A transfer sent on Friday afternoon may carry Monday's value date; one sent after a cut-off may carry the next day's; one crossing a currency holiday in either centre may carry a later one still.
A deadline expressed as 'cleared funds by' is therefore a statement about value date, not about when to press send — and the two can be several days apart.
Settlement is when the transaction completes between the parties. Value date is when the money is usable. They frequently coincide and are not the same statement.
A payment deadline says funds must have arrived. The value date says when they actually do, and a payment sent on the deadline can miss it.
See also settlement date · cut off time · good funds · payment deadline · banking day
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.