Every payment that enters or leaves a Norvix account is read by a person before it moves. Not a sample. Not only the large ones. Every one, in both directions. Most providers run a check like this and hide it behind a spinner. We show it, because a status you can see is worth more than a promise you cannot. This article explains what the reviewer looks at, how long it takes, and what each status on the payment means.
What gets reviewed
All of it. An outgoing SEPA transfer, an incoming SWIFT wire, a payment in euro or in dollars: each one goes through the same review before it settles. There is no threshold below which a payment skips the queue, and no client tier that is exempt. Auto-approval does not exist in the product.
That is a design choice, not a limitation. It is what lets us say where your money is at every point, and how the network stays clean for everyone in it.
What the reviewer sees
The reviewer does not start from zero. They start from the profile your company gave at onboarding, and they compare the payment against it.
- The counterparty. Is it a partner you declared, or a new one? A declared partner in the declared country is a short read. A new counterparty is a longer one.
- The amount. How it sits against the largest single payment you said you expect, and against your expected monthly volume so far this month.
- The purpose. Whether the reference and the purpose you gave match what your company does.
- Screening. The counterparty is screened against sanctions and politically exposed persons lists at the moment of the payment, not only at onboarding.
- Completeness. Whether the payment carries the sender and recipient details the rails require.
For an incoming payment, the reviewer also reads the sender against the partners you said pay you. Until it is released, the money shows in your account as on hold, separate from your available balance. You can see it. You cannot spend it yet.
What each status means
The payment shows one of a small set of statuses, and each one means one thing.
- Submitted. The payment is accepted and the standard review is starting. Nothing has left the account.
- Under review. A compliance officer is reading it. This is a normal state, not a warning, and there is nothing for you to do.
- Info needed. The reviewer has one question and cannot proceed without the answer. The question and the date to answer by are on the payment.
- Released. The check cleared and the payment has gone to the rail. For an incoming payment, the money moves from on hold to available.
- Completed. The rail confirmed it. The transaction is on your ledger with the date.
- Returned. The rail sent it back, or an incoming payment went back to its sender. The reason, where we can give it, is on the payment.
- Declined. We were unable to complete the payment.
"Held" is the everyday word for Under review and Info needed together. A held payment is not stuck. It is waiting for a person, or waiting for you.
A held payment is not stuck. It is waiting for a person, or waiting for you.
How long it takes
A payment to a declared counterparty, within your declared profile, with complete details, usually clears review within [N] business hours. A new counterparty, an unusually large amount, or a payment that needs more context takes longer, because the reviewer has more to read.
Two things stop the clock. An Info needed request pauses the review until your answer is in, and the review continues from where it stopped once it is. A payment that reaches its answer-by date without a reply is declined, and the money stays where it was.
Review time is separate from rail time. Rail time starts when the payment is released: SEPA usually lands in [1] business day, SWIFT in [1–3] business days, and on an international wire the banks in between may add their own charge. The fee on a payment is calculated on the day it clears review, not the day you press send, and it is shown on the payment.
How you hear back
Inside the account, first. The status changes, and the timeline on the payment shows each step with its time. If a reviewer needs something, the request appears on the payment as one scoped question with a date, and you answer and attach there. Not by email. Nothing gets lost between threads, and the reviewer sees your reply the moment it lands. Your named manager is the same person throughout.
Where we can give a reason for a decline, we give it on the payment. Either way, the money goes back to where it came from or stays where it was. It does not disappear into a process.
Every payment reviewed by a person is slower than no review at all. We think it is the right trade for a company that moves real money across borders, and we would rather show you the check than ask you to trust that it happened.