Joker finally made payment (4)
I believe the answer is:
wage
'payment' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'joker finally made' is the wordplay.
'joker' becomes 'wag' (I've seen this before**).
'finally' indicates one should take the final letters.
The final letter of 'made' is 'e'.
'wag'+'e'='WAGE'
(Other definitions for wage that I've seen before include "Money earned" , "Salary" , "Engage in (war?)" , "Engage in - pay" , "Reward for work" .)