Stripe, Inc.

Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by [redacted] (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on February 9, 2018.Unfortunately, Stripe is not able to be flexible in regards to the reserve on the Complainant's account. If the Complainant's legal counsel wishes to get in touch with Stripe, they are welcome to do so at [redacted].

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/25) */
Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable law. Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a...

high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and services. Stripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise.
After a routine review, Stripe reached out to the complainant on 1/20/16 asking for confirmation they have ownership of their listed web domain. After some correspondence with Stripe's support team, the complainant confirmed this later that day.
We completed our review of the account on 1/21/16, and activated the complainant's transfers that same day. The complainant's transfers have been sent out.
These precautionary measures are vital to our business. We apologize for any inconvenienced caused by this review. If the complainant has any issues or questions we can help with as they continue to process with Stripe, we will do everything possible to respond quickly.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/02/04) */
Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable law. As a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of...

Service. All users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms
Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and services. Stripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise.
The complainant accepted the first payment on their Stripe account on January 8, 2015 and was notified that the payment would arrive in his bank account sometime on January 15, 2015. Beginning in the early hours of January 15, 2015, the complainant emailed Stripe three times to check on the status of this bank transfer. A Stripe representative replied several hours later to let the complainant know that Stripe was looking into the status of the complainant's bank transfer.
On this same day, in the course of Stripe's standard review process, Stripe noticed that the URL listed on the account did not direct to a website owned by the complainant. According to our Terms of Service, businesses must register with an accurate site URL (Section B.2). In addition, Stripe noticed that the complainant's account was related to several other accounts that had previously been terminated for fraudulent activity in violation of the Stripe Terms of Service. Moreover, Stripe cannot process payments for businesses associated with businesses that have been previously rejected.
At this time, it was determined that the complainant's account and website were sufficiently suspicious and posed too high of a risk for Stripe to support. As a result, the complainant was notified that all payments that had not already been transferred to the complainant's bank account were to be refunded to the appropriate cardholders. Stripe takes this precaution in the event that an overwhelming number of signals point to fraudulent or suspicious activity originating from the merchant.
The procedures in the above sequence of events were in accordance with the following sections of the Stripe Terms of Service (https://stripe.com/terms):
Section B.2
As part of your registration, you must provide your site URL and the name under which you do business, which may be the business's legal name or a DBA. These two fields may appear in your customers' credit or debit card statements. To avoid customer confusion and transaction disputes, you must enter a description that clearly identifies your business as well as an accurate site URL.
Section C.3
We reserve the right to change the Payout Schedule or suspend payouts to your Bank Account should we determine it is necessary due to pending disputes, excessive or anticipated excessive Chargebacks or refunds, or other suspicious activity associated with your use of the Service, or if required by law or court order.
Section D.4
We may terminate this Agreement and close your Stripe Account at any time for any reason effective upon providing you notice in accordance with Section A.15 above. We may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if (i) we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason; (ii) you do not comply with any of the provisions of this Agreement; or (iii) upon request of a Card Network or the a card issuer.

This complaint is from the same Complainant regarding the same issue as Revdex.com complaint #[redacted]. As a result, Stripe's response is the same as submitted on January 16, 2018. This response has been attached below:Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by [redacted] (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on January 16, 2017.Stripe OverviewAs background, Stripe provides a technology platform that allows merchants selling permissible goods or services online, or through a mobile device, to quickly and simply accept credit card payments.[1] Merchants register for an account by providing contact information, some information about their business and its principals, and bank account information. This information is submitted through an electronic application process and additional information, such as ID scans, may be requested by Stripe after submission.Merchants have control over what information is provided to Stripe – for credit card charges, this must minimally contain the card number and expiration date. Most merchants also elect to provide the name, CVC, ZIP code as an anti-fraud measure, but are not required to. It is important to note that funds are briefly held in an aggregated clearing account at a bank before being deposited into the merchant's bank account. It is important to note that merchants identify the account into which funds are ultimately deposited through the Stripe management interface. Merchants consent to Stripe’s Services Agreement when establishing their account. A current version of the Stripe Services Agreement is available at [redacted].[redacted]Merchant Account Overview This account was submitted with Stripe on December 16, 2017 under the name [redacted]. Since the account was submitted, there has been a dispute about whose business the account represents. The Complainant has been asked to provide documentation cementing their claim and allowing Stripe to return access to the account to them. The Complainant has not provided this information. Stripe has requested again that the Complainant provide this information.In the meantime, Stripe is working to resolve this and determine which party has the correct claim to the account. This is outlined in it's Services Agreement,"At any time during the term of this Agreement and your use of the Services, we may require additional information from you to verify beneficial ownership or control of the business, validate information you provided, verify you or your Representative’s identity, and assess the risk associated with your business. "[redacted]For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless.

Stripe operates within the constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks, and applicable laws. Therefore, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of Service. All users agree to these terms when activating Stripe...

accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms 
Because Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe has to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and services. Stripe also periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise.
During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of Service. Stripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged card. The majority of the complainant’s business seemed to be driven through unauthorized, fraudulent charges.  On July 6, we reached to the complainant to let them know about our concerns and to get more information about the payments in question. The complainant responded to our questions on July 7. We reviewed that information and after a thorough investigation, Stripe closed the complainant's account.
The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of Service. Our terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" : https://stripe.com/us/terms#termination
While we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: How do they know we charge the card without card owner's authorization? The customer made purchase online and input card information. I never input those information by myself without inform customer. And when I tried to contact Stripe, why never receive any reply and have to get something back here?Sincerely,[redacted]

Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by [redacted] [redacted] (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on June 13, 20**.
Stripe Overview
As background, Stripe provides a technology platform that allows merchants selling permissible goods or services online, or through a...

mobile device, to quickly and simply accept credit card payments.[1] Merchants register for an account by providing contact information, some information about their business and its principals, and bank account information. This information is submitted through an electronic application process and additional information, such as ID scans, may be requested by Stripe after submission.
 
Merchants have control over what information is provided to Stripe – for credit card charges, this must minimally contain the card number and expiration date. Most merchants also elect to provide the name, CVC, ZIP code as an anti-fraud measure, but are not required to. It is important to note that funds are briefly held in an aggregated clearing account at a bank before being deposited into the merchant's bank account.  It is important to note that merchants identify the account into which funds are ultimately deposited through the Stripe management interface. Merchants consent to Stripe’s Services Agreement when establishing their account. A current version of the Stripe Services Agreement is available at 
https://stripe.com/us/legal.
[1] https://stripe.com/us/payments
Merchant Account Overview 
The Complainant submitted an account with Stripe on June 4, 20** under the name "EVERGREENOFGR". Stripe processed payments for the account owner until June 7, 20**. During a routine review, Stripe was not able to verify sufficient information about the Complainant's business. On June 9, 20**, Stripe reached to the Complainant to let them know about its concerns and to get additional information. 
As of June 13, 20**, Stripe has received additional information from the Complainant and completed it's review of their business. The Complainant's funds have been released and they are welcome to continue processing on Stripe.
For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/27) */
Stripe's primary function is to process payments; we do not guarantee against fraud. Although we offer our merchants the option of auto-declines for charges that fail the zip code and CVC checks, this is not 100% fraud proof.
The charges...

here were disputed and ruled in favour of the cardholder as their bank decided that the charge was not authorized by the cardholder. The complainant reached out to us on November 20th regarding fraudulent payments made on their Stripe account. We replied later the following day informing them that the shipping address and zip code differed slightly from the verified zip code on the credit card used to make the payment in question. We informed the complainant that it is very difficult to win a dispute if the shipping address differs from any of the card details, and it was most likely this difference that caused the bank to decide in the client's favour as this is most likely a case of stolen card information.
We also recommended that, if the complainant ever suspected a charge to be fraudulent in future, they should refund it immediately and not fulfill the order. In doing this they will avoid a chargeback as disputes cannot be initiated against fully refunded charges. We also offered the following guide with preventative measures: https://support.stripe.com/questions/avoiding-fraud-and-disputes
As a matter of clarification, Stripe is not responsible for fraudulent charges processed by users' accounts. Much like the disputes process, we pass [redacted] relevant information (including the CVC, street check, and ZIP checks the user mentions in his complaint) to the card-issuing bank, who then authorize or decline the charge. We have many fraud prevention measures in place, including allowing users the ability to refund suspicious payments even if they are authorized by the bank. These tools exist to help our users protect themselves.
Stripe is not in a position to cover the cost of disputed funds for our users. Our terms explicitly state that users are "immediately liable for to Stripe for the full amount of payment of the Chargeback plus any associated Fees, fines, expenses or penalties." Our terms further state that "Stripe [redacted] provide you with assistance including notifications and software to help you contest your Chargebacks. We do not assume any liability for our role or assistance in contesting Chargebacks." Our users accept these terms when they create their Stripe accounts. More information can be found in our terms of service, here: https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks
Saying that, we completely understand that disputes are a frustrating reality of accepting credit card payments, especially online, and it's a shame that this user was an unfortunate victim of these fraudulent attacks. We try to give our users the best chance to avoid these situations, but ultimately Stripe will not accept responsibility for fraudulent payments. We are currently in discussion with the complainant regarding ways to avoid disputes in future, and can always be contacted at [redacted]@stripe.com.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/12/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
First, Stripe is very negligent in the services provided to his clients. There is absolutely no secure feature implemented in their system at all. Any serious company will log you out after a certain period of inactivity. You can go to bed, or close your browser, and come back to your Stripe account without having to input any password.
Second , lets break down the reply from stripe:
Statement 1: "Stripe's primary function is to process payments; we do not guarantee against fraud. Although we offer our merchants the option of auto-declines for charges that fail the zip code and CVC checks, this is not 100% fraud proof. "
Stripe advertises itself as a company you can trust, when you land on their "Feature page", one of their key future at the bottom of their page is: "Proven fraud protection...Stripe actively works to protect your business from fraudulent charges and monitors suspicious transactions."
Statement 2: "We informed the complainant that it is very difficult to win a dispute if the shipping address differs from any of the card details, and it was most likely this difference that caused the bank to decide in the client's favour as this is most likely a case of stolen card information."
The merchants you work with and who trust you deserve a feature implemented in your website that warn them about possible fraud since stripe is the one who first have contact the buyer or credit/debit card information. It should not be the other way around. Most of the merchants are newbies who rely on your service because you sell yourself as a secure business.
Statement 3: "As a matter of clarification, Stripe is not responsible for fraudulent charges processed by users' accounts. Much like the disputes process, we pass [redacted] relevant information (including the CVC, street check, and ZIP checks the user mentions in his complaint) to the card-issuing bank, who then authorize or decline the charge. "
However on 11/11/2015 Stripe responded to another complainant but stated the contrary.
"Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and services. Stripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise."
- See more at: http://www.Revdex.com.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/payment-process...⇄ /> So which one is it? Stripe is simply trying to make excuses right and left like kids playing around. They don't have any real solution.
Stripe refuses to pass [redacted] information from bank or customer to me to further try to resolve the matter, I can't even reach out to the bank directly. When I ask for information to reach the bank directly this is the answer I got from stripe: "Unfortunately, I don't have further information to provide to you on this dispute's status or the reasons for your customer's bank decision, aside from what we provide in the dashboard. I wish we were able to provide more transparency, but we're only able to share the information that we get from the bank as they work through the dispute on their end."
What kind of middle man business is that?
I don't even know for sure whether there was a dispute by a bank. Maybe the merchants are being played around by Stripe themselves. I have had my business bank account closed so far because of Stripe's withdrawal and chargeback fees total $1510.49.
I need Stripe to be held accountable for that amount and refund me ($1510.49 includes all fees charged by bank) to repay the bank because the bank send my name to collection and I have to pay for something caused by Stripe. And also balance my Stripe account which is negative and still attempting to hit my bank account to withdraw more money based on this same matter.
Stripe screw my business, my name, my credit and they don't care. Your sorry is not enough.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/12/22) */
We understand disputes are a frustrating part of running an online business. In our most recent exchanges with the complainant on 11/24/15 and 11/25/15, we provided very specific feedback on the disputed charges and why the complainant lost the dispute. We are happy to answer any additional questions from the complainant should they email us back at [redacted]@stripe.com. However, we cannot provide that information through the public forum on the Revdex.com website. Additionally, Stripe provides tools to help our users submit dispute evidence to banks, but the ultimate decision on a dispute lies with the cardholder's bank and not with Stripe.
In general, we recommend merchants contact their customers first to try to resolve disputes. Specific recommendations based on dispute type can be found in our comprehensive support documentation, for example: https://stripe.com/help/dispute-types#fraudulent
Again, we are happy to answer any specific questions about disputes at: [redacted]@stripe.com. Outside of that, our Terms of Service are clear that responsibility for disputes and chargebacks lies with the complainant.
Complaint Response Date bumped because: Holiday
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2016/01/03) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Telling me why "you think" I lost the dispute is not a specific feedback. As a middleman you should be able to provide me with all the specifics as to how the dispute was handled and how to reach the other parties involved, you withheld all information and keep speculating. I have no way of knowing whether or not there was a dispute. I don't even know what bank was involved and if the card was indeed stolen, who was the real owner of the card.
Also, based on how Stripe is so negligent in allowing fraudulent transactions to take place, not providing the "secure" services they advertise, then masked themselves behind a frivolous "terms and Policy", the responsibility should be on stripe. It does not matter what your T&P says, if you fail to provide the service you advertise, you break your contract and therefore you are fully liable for these fraudulent transactions. You advertise " Seamless Security: Stripe provide security and compliance without the headache..." That is what Stripe stated in your website, but you have absolutely no security feature implemented. If this issue is not resolved through Revdex.com, and I don't get all my money back my next step will be to take legal action and make sure you also pay for damages. Someone obviously has to call you out. You hit the wrong target. Own your failure or mistake Stripe.

Though Stripe strives to respond to our users as quickly as possible, we apologize that there was not a specialist
 
response within a 24 hour window.  A response was however provided to all requests by the complainant within
 
48 hours.
 
The technical issues being...

described by the complainant affected the delivery of webhooks to an endpoint of the
 
complainant's choosing.  While a wide scale DDoS attack affected many servers on October 21st, Stripe's API
 
and Dashboard activity were unaffected. Stripe will be unable to refund the fees associated with these
 
chargebacks as Stripe servers were unaffected on this day and any delays were related to an endpoint of the
 
complainant's choosing.
 
Stripe will also be unable to reinstate the complainant's account. Stripe operates within a variety of constraints
 
imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable law. As a result, Stripe must fully
 
understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of Service. All users agree to
 
these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms
Stripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants
 
should any issues arise.During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account
 
was in violation of the Stripe Terms of Service - specifically being a high risk business [1]. This decision stands
 
outside of recent disputes. On October 27, Stripe reached out to the complainant to advise them of our decision
 
and the closing of the account. 
[1] https://stripe.com/gb/prohibited-businesses#products-or-services-that-are-o...⇄ />  
financial-partnersTell us why here...

The Complainant's account and transactions have been reviewed several times as the result this complaint, their Revdex.com reviews, the emails they sent containing the invoices, their communications via social media and other review sites. After each of these reviews, it was determined that the evidence provided by the Complainant was not sufficient to illustrate that these charges were authorized by the card holders. As Stripe is unable to process payments that are not authorized by the card holder, these charges will be refunded to the card holders.
Stripe's ability to do so is outlined in it's Service Agreement,
"Until you have submitted, and we have reviewed and approved all required information, your Stripe Account will be available to you on a preliminary basis only, and we may terminate it at any time and for any reason."
https://stripe.com/us/legal#your-stripe-account
"Stripe is not responsible for or liable to you for authorized and completed Charges that are later the subject of a Dispute, Refund, or Reversal, are submitted without authorization or in error, or violate any Laws."
https://stripe.com/us/legal#processing-transactions-disputes
For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless.

Dispute OverviewBoth charges were processed on [redacted] 13, [redacted], then disputed on [redacted] 25, [redacted] and [redacted] 1, [redacted]. Because the Complainant is the party with the most information about their customer, they're best equipped to determine whether or not a purchase is fraudulent. The Complainant agreed to be held responsible for fraudulent transactions on their account through Stripe's Terms of Service:"If you are unsure if a Transaction is erroneous or suspicious, you agree to research the Transaction and, if necessary, contact your Customer before fulfilling or completing the Transaction. You are solely responsible for any losses you incur due to erroneous or fraudulent Transactions in connection with your use of the Services."https://stripe.com/us/legal#your-relationship-with-your-customersDispu...⇄ Resolution TermsStripe charges a fee for providing the service outlined above (https://stripe.com/us/legal#fees-and-fines). This includes both fees per transaction as well as fees for other services, such as dispute resolution. For US accounts, a merchant incurs a $15 dispute fee for each dispute submitted on a charge processed through Stripe's platform (https://stripe.com/docs/disputes/faq). We charge this because Stripe incurs fees and costs for each dispute filed against a merchant. If the dispute is resolved in the favor of the merchant, the $15 dispute fee is refunded to the merchant even though Stripe receives no reimbursement of fees and costs incurred in supporting the merchant with the dispute resolution process. When a cardholder initiates a dispute against a merchant using the dispute mechanisms provided by the cardholder's bank, Stripe provides tools for the user to submit evidence that illustrates that the charge was legitimate. However, Stripe plays no role in the ultimate decision made on whether the chargeback is valid.  When a merchant signs up to use Stripe's services, the merchant agrees to be immediately liable for all disputes. In specific, the Complainant's agreement with Stripe states:"When a Chargeback is issued, you are immediately liable to Stripe for the full amount of the transaction related to the Chargeback plus any associated Fees, fines, expenses or penalties (including those assessed by the Card Networks or our payment processors). You agree that Stripe may recover these amounts by debiting your Bank Account, debiting the Reserve Account, or setting off any amounts owed to you by us. If we are unable to recover funds related to a Chargeback for which you are liable, you will pay us the full amount of the Chargeback immediately upon demand. Where such amounts are not immediately paid to us, you agree to pay all costs and expenses, including without limitation attorneys’ fees and other legal expenses, incurred by or on behalf of us in connection with the collection of any unpaid Chargebacks unpaid by you." (see https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks)For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless.

Stripe operates within the constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks, and applicable laws. Therefore, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of Service. All users agree to these terms when activating Stripe...

accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Because Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe has to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and services. Stripe also periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise.During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of Service. Stripe cannot process payments for goods that are brand name products without the seller having authorized reseller status. On September 8, we reached to the complainant to let them know about our concerns and to get a copy of their documentation confirming their status as an authorized reseller. The complainant did not follow up with the requested information.The closing of this account and holding of funds is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of Service. Our terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" and "We may impose a Reserve on you for any reason if we determine that the risk of loss to Stripe, Customers, or others associated with your Stripe Account is higher than normal".https://stripe.com/us/terms#terminationWhile we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data. At this time, the complainant has logged in and refunded their customer so that they may process the funds through a different processor.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
If Stripe can not do anything to help it's clients then it should not play an intermediary role and have the merchant directly deal with the credit card company and answer all questions they have and provide all the proof in merchant's possession.
For stripe to automatically charge back my account and for the entire sale and not giving me to resolve this issue directly with credit card company is at the core of the issue.If it wasn't for Stripe, credit card company could directly approach me as merchant and as for supporting document and I could much better resolve the issue with card company. Stripe is acting on my behalf and at the same time telling me it can not do anything about it. This is simply wrong.
Sincerely,[redacted]

Almost all charges on the complainant's account have been returned to the cardholder. The single charge mentioned by the complainant is due to be refunded to the cardholder as well. As such there are no outstanding funds to be paid out to the complainant.

Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by Dale Gnidovec (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on April 18, 2018.Stripe OverviewAs background, Stripe provides a technology platform that allows merchants selling permissible goods or services online, or through a mobile device, to...

quickly and simply accept credit card payments.[1] Merchants register for an account by providing contact information, some information about their business and its principals, and bank account information. This information is submitted through an electronic application process and additional information, such as ID scans, may be requested by Stripe after submission. Merchants have control over what information is provided to Stripe – for credit card charges, this must minimally contain the card number and expiration date. Most merchants also elect to provide the name, CVC, ZIP code as an anti-fraud measure, but are not required to. It is important to note that funds are briefly held in an aggregated clearing account at a bank before being deposited into the merchant's bank account.  It is important to note that merchants identify the account into which funds are ultimately deposited through the Stripe management interface. Merchants consent to Stripe’s Services Agreement when establishing their account. A current version of the Stripe Services Agreement is available at [redacted]Merchant Account Overview The Complainant submitted an account with Stripe on August 26, 2017 under the name "Wild Wild Westerns" at [redacted]. Stripe processed payments for the account owner until September 25, 2017. During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the Complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of Service. Specifically, Stripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged card. The majority of the Complainant’s business seemed to be driven through unauthorized, fraudulent charges. On September 25, 2017, Stripe reached to the Complainant to let them know about its concerns and that it could no longer support their business. After a thorough investigation, Stripe closed the Complainant's account.The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of Service. Stripe's terms very clearly state that Stripe"may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" [redacted]The Complainant does not have a positive Stripe balance nor does Stripe owe any additional funds to the Complainant, as has  been explained to them via email many times. Due to excessive chargebacks on the Complainant's account, the Complainant owes Stripe $255.75.While Stripe is not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the Complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data. For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless.

Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by Karis[redacted] (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on March 30, 2018.Stripe OverviewAs background, Stripe provides a technology platform that allows merchants selling permissible goods or services online, or through a mobile device, to...

quickly and simply accept credit card payments.[1] Merchants register for an account by providing contact information, some information about their business and its principals, and bank account information. This information is submitted through an electronic application process and additional information, such as ID scans, may be requested by Stripe after submission. Merchants have control over what information is provided to Stripe – for credit card charges, this must minimally contain the card number and expiration date. Most merchants also elect to provide the name, CVC, ZIP code as an anti-fraud measure, but are not required to. It is important to note that funds are briefly held in an aggregated clearing account at a bank before being deposited into the merchant's bank account.  It is important to note that merchants identify the account into which funds are ultimately deposited through the Stripe management interface. Merchants consent to Stripe’s Services Agreement when establishing their account. A current version of the Stripe Services Agreement is available at[redacted]Merchant Account Overview The Complainant submitted an account with Stripe on March 21, 2018 under the name[redacted]. Stripe will process payments for the account owner until April 2, 2018, at which point, they will no longer be able to create charges. During a routine review, Stripe determined that the complainant's business was at a high risk for disputes. On March 29, 2018, Stripe contacted the Complainant, informing them that we would no longer be able to support their business as we are unable to accept payments for businesses we determine to be at high risk for a dispute rate of over 1%, as mentioned here: "High chargeback rates (typically those exceeding 1%) may result in your inability to use the Payment Services. Failure to timely and effectively manage Disputes with your Customers may ultimately result in your inability to accept payment cards for your business."[redacted]Reserve TermsThe closing of this account was in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of Service:"may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason"[redacted]In order to mitigate future losses to Stripe as a result of chargebacks on the Complainant's account, a reserve was set in place that will last for 90 days. Funds will be transferred to the complainant's bank account on June 27, 2018. This is in accordance to Stripe's Terms of Service:"We may impose a Reserve on you for any reason if we determine that the risk of loss to Stripe, Customers, or others associated with your Stripe Account is higher than normal. For example, we may hold a Reserve if: (i) your or your Customers’ activities increase the risk of loss to us or to your Customers, (ii) you have violated or are likely to violate this Agreement, and (iii) your Stripe Account has an elevated or abnormally high number of Disputes."[redacted]While there is a reserve in place, the Complainant is able to log into their Stripe dashboard, process refunds to the customer's whose funds are held and reprocess these funds with a different processor if they need immediate access to the funds.For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/22) */
Stripe takes security very seriously and appreciates the complainant raising this concern, as it appears they've received a fraudulent email from someone attempting to pose as Stripe. After reviewing Stripe's email logs, no record of such...

an email sent to [redacted]@gmail.com was found. As with any suspicious email, the complainant should not click on any links in such an email, or take any action that they've directed the complainant to take.
These types of security attacks are most commonly known as "phishing", and consist of someone masquerading as a different person or Stripe in this case in an attempt to mislead the target into giving out their personal details, account login credentials, or other sensitive information. The most common way of doing this is by having the individual click a link that leads to a fake website. Stripe's emails are always sent out in plain text without any special formatting or hypertext links, so if the complainant ever sees either of these things, it's a good sign that the email might be a phishing attempt.
Additionally, if the complainant is a Stripe user, the complainant can always verify whether or not the email they received from Stripe was legitimate by logging into their Stripe account and checking to see if the information in the email matches up with it. Whenever Stripe sends an alert or asks a user for information through email notification, we'll also place a prompt in their dashboard at:
https://dashboard.stripe.com
Still, the most powerful way to fight these attacks is to be aware that they exist, and aware of the red flags that signify that an email isn't from the sender it purports to be from. The link below has a little more information about how phishing works, as well as different ways to defend against it:
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/phishing.htm
Stripe apologizes for the confusion here and hopes this information clarifies the complainant's concern. To help protect other individuals from phishing attacks from this email, Stripe would encourage the complainant to forward the email in question to [redacted]@stripe.com to report the instance.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2016/01/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable law. As a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of Service. All users agree to these terms when activating...

Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and services. Stripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise.During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of Service. Stripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged card. On October 31st, [redacted], Stripe reached out to the complainant to advise them of our decision and the closing of the account. The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of Service. Our terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason". https://stripe.com/us/terms#terminationWhile we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/24) */
Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable law. As a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of...

Service. All users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms
Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and services. Stripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise.
During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of Service. Stripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged card. On September 10, 2015, Stripe reached out to the complainant to advise them of our decision and the closing of the account.
The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of Service. Our terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason".
https://stripe.com/us/terms#termination
While we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/08) */
Stripe takes the security of our users very seriously and appreciates the complainant raising this concern, as it appears they've received a fraudulent email from someone attempting to pose as Stripe. After reviewing Stripe's email logs, no...

record of such an email sent to [redacted]@gmail.com was found. As with any suspicious email, the complainant should not click on any links in such an email, or take any action that they've directed the complainant to take.
These types of security attacks are most commonly known as "phishing", and consist of someone masquerading as a different person or Stripe in this case in an attempt to mislead the target into giving out their personal details, account login credentials, or other sensitive information. The most common way of doing this is by having the individual click a link that leads to a fake website. Stripe's emails are always sent out in plain text without any special formatting or hypertext links, so if the complainant ever sees either of these things, it's a good sign that the email might be a phishing attempt.
Additionally, if the complainant is a Stripe user, the complainant can always verify whether or not the email they received from Stripe was legitimate by logging into their Stripe account and checking to see if the information in the email matches up with it, which the user did in this case. Whenever Stripe sends an alert or asks a user for information through email notification, we'll also place a prompt in their dashboard at:
https://dashboard.stripe.com
Still, the most powerful way to fight these attacks is to be aware that they exist, and aware of the red flags that signify that an email isn't from the sender it purports to be from. The link below has a little more information about how phishing works, as well as different ways to defend against it:
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/phishing.htm
Stripe apologizes for the confusion here and hopes this information clarifies the complainant's concern. To help protect other individuals from phishing attacks from this email, Stripe would encourage the complainant to forward the email in question to [redacted]@stripe.com to report the instance.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2016/01/12) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Will I be compensated or not?
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2016/01/15) */
As mentioned previously, the email the complainant received was fraudulent and likely the information contained in that email was not accurate. If the complainant wishes to look at their Stripe balance, they can do so by logging in to their account.
If the complainant requires further assistance or has questions pertaining to their Stripe account, they are welcome to contact us at [redacted]@stripe.com