A method and system for the clearing and settlement of funds among a plurality of participants facilitates the integration of a “closed” special purpose industry sector, such as the transit industry, within an open financial payment system. A method for clearing and settling funds among a plurality of participants comprises receiving data relating to transactions from the plurality of participants, organizing the data into groups associated with each of the plurality of participants, summing the data in the groups to determine a total funds due to and from each of the plurality of participants, and settling the difference among the plurality of participants by transferring funds to the participants owed funds and collecting funds from the participants who owe funds.