transfer payment

noun

1

: a public expenditure made for a purpose (such as unemployment compensation) other than procuring goods or services

—usually used in plural

2

transfer payments plural : money (such as welfare payments) that is received by individuals and that is neither compensation for goods or services currently supplied nor income from investments

Examples of transfer payment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And transfer payments to consumers often translate to revenue for U.S. business, whether that’s the 250,000 stores that accept SNAP payments or the hospital systems that rely on revenue from Medicaid and Medicare. —Diane Brady, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2025

Perform other financial services: The Fed conducts transfer payments and settlement services to banks and the federal government. —Jennifer Borresen, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2025

Both the Premier League’s solidarity payment (£2.7m) and the monthly EFL basic payment (£460,000) were handed to Championship clubs last week, enabling Wednesday to pay all outstanding salaries to players and staff, as well as a small number of transfer payments to other clubs. —Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2025

Over a similar five-year period, that annual $78 billion amounts to nearly $400 billion, or close to 40% of the total transfer payment. —Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 16 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1945, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for transfer payment

• overpayment
• underpayment
• claimant
• copayment
• embayment
• nonpayment
• prepayment
• repayment