Every dividend runs on the same four dates. On the declaration date the board announces the amount and sets the rest. The ex-dividend date is the cut-off: own the share before it and the payment is yours; buy on or after it and the seller keeps it. The record date is when the company checks its register — in the UK usually the business day after the ex-date — and the payment date is when the cash actually arrives, often weeks later.
The ex-date is the one that decides it. Trades take a day or two to settle, so the record date is set so that anyone who bought before the ex-date is on the register in time. In the app, the data feed supplies each holding's next ex-dividend date and refreshes it daily; declaration and record dates aren't shown. It has payment dates only for some listings — mostly US shares, and only until the ex-date passes — and none for London-listed shares, so a UK holding's payment date stays blank in its updates even after the company announces it. Once an ex-date passes, the dividend is booked against your holding — usually within a day — for the shares your record shows you holding on that date.
Only the second date decides whether you're paid. Own the share before it.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.