Abstract: A method and apparatus for timing a notification of an online financial event are disclosed. A sender initiates a financial transaction involving a recipient, such as a transfer payment to the recipient, by sending a message to the recipient and a computer system. The computer system obtains contact information for the sender and recipient from the message, and determines that the financial transaction cannot be completed without additional information from, e.g., the sender. The computer system sends a message to the sender requesting the additional information, and determines a period of time to wait before notifying the recipient that the transfer payment was initiated. If the period of time expires without the sender providing the additional information, the computer system sends the notification message. However, if the sender responds within the period of time, no notification message is sent, thereby avoiding the sending of a potentially unnecessary message.