Payment completion is the stage at which a payment has been fully carried out: the funds have reached the payee's provider and been credited to the payee's account, and no further processing steps remain. It is the end of the payment chain. Completion is not the same as earlier milestones. A card payment may be authorised at checkout but completed only after clearing and settlement days later, and a cross-border transfer may leave the sender's bank long before it is credited abroad. Payment systems and messaging standards therefore report status separately at each stage, and ISO 20022 status codes distinguish, for example, settlement completed from settlement in process. Completion is also related to, but distinct from, payment finality, the legal point after which a payment cannot be unwound. Services such as SWIFT gpi report when a cross-border payment has been credited, and many providers send a payment confirmation once it is complete.