Stripe, Inc.

Stripe processes payments for thousands of online merchants, and the complainant is one of our usersStripe abides by industry's security standards as well as with government KYC policyThis federal "KYC" (Know Your Customer) policy requires Stripe to verify the identity and business operations
of everyone Stripe provides its services and supportAll Stripe users, at the time of signing up, are required to agree to furnish personal ID information and or business ID information for verification purposes
The complainant's business opened a Stripe account in *** 21, *** but did not supply sufficient amount of information to complete a verificationOn ***, Stripe sent an email to the complainant asking to provide full ID information but there was no response from the complainantOn ***, Stripe sent another email to the complainant, making the same request which was again not metStripe had been providing all of its services to the complainant since the onboarding
On ***, the complainant sent and email to Stripe, asking why the transfer date keeps changingWith some more information obtained from the complainant, Stripe was able to properly review the businessAs a result, Stripe determined that the complainant's business possessed a higher risk than Stripe is able to supportOn ***, Stripe notified the complainant by email that they can no longer support the business due to the high risk involvedLater on the same day, Stripe notified the complainant that the remaining balance in its entirety will be transferred to the complainant's bank account on ***, ***
If the complainant needs to reach Stripe for additional assistance regarding this topic, please contact [email protected]
Tell us why here

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because: Is not a solution or an answer to our problem, you still have the money we delivered those orders on and customer got there service but we have not gotten paid because of you guys.Sincerely,Michelle ***

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 ServiceAll 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 servicesStripe also periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise
Stripe began providing payment processing services to the complainant in *** of ***The complainant opened an account with Stripe, providing the business name along with other information and a website for verificationStripe later discovered that the information was false.
During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceStripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged card. Therefore, 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 ServiceOur 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

Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by *** *** (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on July 26, ***
While Stripe reached out to the Complainant regarding this charge, the Complainant's payouts were not paused at any pointThe first payout always takes 7-days after their first successful payment is receivedThis is true for every account, regardless of the risk level of the charge or the size of the accountAs previously stated, this is clearly defined in Stripe's documentation,
"Once you start processing with Stripe, your first payout is made 7-days after your first successful payment is receivedSubsequent payouts are then processed according to your account’s payout scheduleThis allows Stripe to mitigate some of the risks inherent in providing credit services."
https://stripe.com/docs/payouts
Because of this, this payout would not have taken 2-days to process and post in the Complainant's accountEven if the payment had not been labeled as high risk, it would have taken 7-days to be received as it was the first payout on the Complainant's account.
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

As the Complainant's account continues to have disputes filed against it and see their dispute rate increase, Stripe is continuing to hold a reserve on their account, until the Complainant can provide it with more information about why this is occurringStripe may do this as outlined in it's Service Agreement,"we may change or condition the terms of the Reserve based on our continuous assessment and understanding of the risks associated with your Stripe Account" *** 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, 2014/12/16) */
To help clarify this process a bit, when a payment is disputed by a cardholder, we're notified by their bank, who automatically refunds the transactionStripe doesn't make the determination of who gets to keep the funds in a chargeback
disputeYour customer's bank doesthey consider evidence and decide to settle a dispute either in your favor or your customer'sStripe helps you with this process by providing a method for submitting evidence and getting updates on the dispute status
Our Terms of Service clearly state that users are responsible for any chargebacks on their payments: "When a Chargeback is issued, you are immediately liable to Stripe for the full amount of payment of the Chargeback plus any associated Fees, fines, expenses or penalties (including those assessed by the Card Networks or our payment processors)."
The relevant section of the Stripe Terms of Service can be found here: https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks
If we had any additional information to offer about this dispute, we wouldUnfortunately, banks don't often surface information about why disputes were lost to Stripe, so we simply don't have that kind of information available to pass on to usersTo be clear Stripe does not have these funds; the cardholder's bank refunded the cardholder
Because you are the party with the most information about your customer if they're someone you know, if they've purchased from you before, if their order is a one for their shipping address you're best equipped to determine whether or not a purchase is fraudulentYou have a better sense of your customers than any algorithm we could write ever wouldIdentifying when a credit card is being used by someone other than the cardholder can be difficult, and if you're ever suspicious about a purchase's validity going forward, a good rule of thumb is to issue a refund immediately in order to avoid getting hit with a chargeback
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/12/22) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
We understand this is our first time, stripe should compensate for atleast 50% of the loss, we are stripe user since so long and we have been doing good business!
this would be unfair to give the full loss to customer like this
and I already lost my product and money too!!
I hardly had good profits on those item and my whole business is in loss due to this case
I hope you can do something in such caseatleast stripe should compensate
awaiting for response
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/01/09) */
Unfortunately, Stripe will not be able to refund any portion of the funds from these transactions/disputesAs our terms of service clearly and definitively state, that in the event of a disputed payment, the Stripe merchant is responsible for the full amount of payment for that dispute - https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks
In addition, Stripe is also not liable for internal business decisions made by our merchantsIn other words, Stripe handles payment processing - that's itWe don't provide shipping services for our merchants and it's entirely up to the merchant to verify the customers they're sending goods/merchandise tooThis is also sound public policyBecause you are the party with the most information about your customer if they're someone you know, if they've purchased from you before, if their order is a one for their shipping address you're best equipped to determine whether or not a purchase is fraudulentYou have a better sense of your customers than any algorithm we could write ever wouldIdentifying when a credit card is being used by someone other than the cardholder can be difficult, and if you're ever suspicious about a purchase's validity going forward, a good rule of thumb is to issue a refund immediately in order to avoid getting hit with a chargebackIt would be unduly burdensome for our company to independently verify information about your customers, when we don't have any role in the creation, maintenance of your own business practices
Accordingly, as indicated in our TOS we will not be refunding any of the money from these disputed payments
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/01/12) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Okay I understand the level of daily fraudulent, but how does we get compensated? This sound 100% in favor of stripe and I got some big disputesi dont make good money against like this
Revdex.com, Please advice

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/24) */
Stripe processes credit cards for thousands of businesses online (https://stripe.com/gallery)It looks like the complainant made a payment on one of these businesses' sites, and for some reason Stripe's details have shown up instead of
merchants on the complainant's credit card statement
As of today, 12/24/2015, the complainant has not reached out to ***@stripe.com for help on how to proceed with this issueWhen a product has not been delivered, we typically recommend that the customer reach out to the company that they ordered the product from to resolve the issueSince Stripe is unable to process refunds on behalf of merchants, the complainant will have to reach out to them directly
We were unable to identify the merchant with the information provided by the complainantIf the complainant is unsure of who the merchant is or is not aware of how to contact the merchant, we are available to help at the following email ***@stripe.com
If the complainant does not receive a satisfactory response from the merchant, then we would typically recommend filing a dispute for the charge with the credit card company used for the transaction

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/09/18) */
Stripe has processed payments for the complainant since August 26, The complainant first wrote in on September 3, 2015, letting us know about fraudulent transactions and asking us for helpOn this same day, Stripe disabled
transfers to the complainant's bank account to prevent fraudulent funds from getting sent to their accountOn September 3rd, Stripe emailed the complainant with steps to stop the fraudulent transactions from continuing to come throughOn September 4th, Stripe attempted to refund the transactions on the complainant's behalf, and communicated incorrect information regarding refunds of the fraudulent transactions
Stripe received another message from the complainant on 9/8, at which point Stripe recognized that the refunds did not go throughAfter some discussion with the complainant, on 9/11, Stripe again refunded the fraudulent transactions on the complainant's account, but mistakenly refunded legitimate and fraudulent transactions, causing an attempted debit to the complainant's account
To correct this, Stripe deposited the attempted debit amount in the complainant's bank account, and shortly afterward, that original deposit failedThis caused the complainant's account to reflect twice the amount of expected recent charges, which Stripe realized on 9/and communicated to the complainant via email
Stripe exchanged several messages with the complainant on 9/and 9/15, and spoke with the complainant via phone on 9/After several days of processing, Stripe has been able to correct the complainant's bank account balanceStripe is monitoring the complainant's account to ensure that the balance is resolved

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because:
According to my knowledge, after days of transaction there is no point for any customer to apply for a chargebackSo why Stripe is still holing my money
Its already been daysAs per stripe, I should have got my remaining amount to my account yet
Sincerely,*** ***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/10/01) */
Stripe (https://stripe.com) is a payment processing service that supports thousands of businessesThe complainant appears to have seen details for Stripe incorrectly on their bank statement for a purchase made through a business using
StripeStripe provides processing services for the business from which the complainant made a purchase for an item or eventStripe is not associated with the business or event in question, aside from providing its services to the merchant for credit card payments processingStripe has no knowledge related to any particular product or event services sold by the merchants using its serviceThe relevant party here would be the vendor referred to by the complainant in the case as "Adventures in Wonderland." This company lists both a phone number and social media account contact online, in addition to an email address, publiclyA member of the Stripe team has now passed along this information via email to the complainant in this case to assist her in locating and talking to the merchant directlyAgain, the merchant is the party that has offered its goods and services related to this issue, not Stripe, a payments platform for credit card processing online

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because: totally falseHow is it I can use First Data?? where is my site selling anything wrong? what is the problem with the products? In any event we do not need the serviceSincerely,*** ***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/04/06) */
Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable lawAs a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of
ServiceAll 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 servicesStripe 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 ServiceStripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged cardOn March 30th, Stripe did reach 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: 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 Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2015/04/07) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
You are changing the quote of your TermsAccording to your website, it says:
You may terminate this Agreement by closing your Stripe account at any time by following the instructions on our website in your Stripe accountSubject to the following sentence, we may terminate this Agreement and close your Stripe account effective upon providing you two months' prior notice in accordance with Section AaboveWe may suspend your access to the Service and any funds otherwise pending disbursement to you, or terminate this Agreement immediately upon notice to you in accordance with Section Aabove, if (i) we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your use of Stripe, 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 a card issuer
Screenshot: http://puu.sh/h4Yk5/feXXXXXd39.png
Notice how it says "two months' prior notice." That is not what happened in our case
And secondly, it doesn't state anywhere that we authorize or allow Stripe to refund the money back to our customers for goods that were delivered, without letting us know
Moreover, section #in your ToS:
"Stripe will provide you with customer service to help resolve any issues relating to your use of Stripe, your card payment processing and use of our software, and the distribution of funds to your specified bank settlement account"
Screenshot: ***
We didn't receive any customer support at allOur emails are getting ignored, just like dozens of other businesses who got scammed by you in the exact same way
We can go on with a list of fraudulent activities you guys perform, but we leave that up to our lawyer
In total, we had a 940+ EUR pending balance with Stripe, before our account got closed and you randomly refunded (nearly) all customersYou have absolutely no right to do that without letting us know or asking us for authorization
We insist on getting paid the full amount of EUR into our bank account (attached on Stripe) within days after this postIf we do not have the amount of EUR in our bank account by then - and it cannot be solved over Revdex.com - our lawyer will handle this further and we will prosecute Stripe on the base of several discrepancies and fraudulent activities, backing it up with other businesses who got scammed by Stripe as well
We will fight this till the end until all money earned with Stripe is transferred to us in a fair way, incl any costs in time and effort that was involved from our side in solving this case
We're looking forward to hear from you in the next days to avoid legal action
Final Business Response /* (4000, 21, 2015/05/12) */
Hello ***,
*** forwarded the message below along to me, and I'm happy to respond to this complaint
Our underwriting team has reviewed the account again, and determined that the original decision still stands, unfortunately
It does appear that the previous responses the complainant received referenced Stripe's US Terms of Service, rather than those for NL; we apologize for the confusionThat said, the relevant portion of these terms remains:
"We may suspend your access to the Service and any funds otherwise pending disbursement to you, or terminate this Agreement immediately upon notice to you in accordance with Section Aabove, if (i) we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your use of Stripe, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason."
(https://stripe.com/nl/terms#termination)
Most of the payments that Stripe processed for the complainant have been refunded, and those that have not are being held in the event of a chargeback, per Section Cof the Stripe Terms of Service:
"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 Card Networks, law or court orderIf we do this we will notify you by email as soon as possible and include the reasons for doing so unless it is unlawful for us to so notify you."
(https://stripe.com/nl/terms#payout-schedule)
***, please let me know if there's anything else I can help with
All the best,
***
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 25, 2015/05/13) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The pending balance in the account is which they are holding is NOT to cover chargebacksIf it was for that reason, it would be "pending balance", but it is "available balance"Screenshot: ***
I'd like these funds transfered to my bank account immediately
They have no right to refund money to my customers without my authorization, which is what they did
Their ToS states:
"Stripe will provide you with customer service to help resolve any issues relating to your use of Stripe, your card payment processing and use of our software, and the distribution of funds to your specified bank settlement accountYou, and you alone, are responsible for providing service to your customers for any and all issues related to your products and services, including but not limited to issues arising from the processing of customers' cards through the Service."
Their only contact method is emailI have sent them many emails over the course of the past months, none of them repliedThey are in violation with their own ToS
Look at Stripe's complaints here on Revdex.comEveryone is having the same issue with themThis company is a fraud
Conclusion:
We insist on getting paid the full amount of EUR into our bank account (attached on Stripe), because that was our pending balance before Stripe refunded our customers, without our approval
There is currently still EUR "available balance" in the account which is also hold for no reason, because Stripe is not replying to any of my emails / withdrawal requests

Disputes can be a frustrating part of accepting credit card payments, and Stripe does everything possible to
make sure our users have an advantage during the disputes processThat said, Stripe does not have the
ability to resolve disputes for our users, or make decisions about who
wins or losesStripe provides tools to
our users for submitting evidence to their customers' card-issuer, but that the issuer is the entity who
arbitrates the process, not Stripe.
All evidence submitted by the complainant was submitted on behalf of the complainant to the customers'
card-issuer
The complainant ultimately bears the responsibility for preventing fraud and disputes on their accountThis
procedure is in accordance with the following sections of our Terms of Service, which can also be found at https://stripe.com/us/terms and more specifically https://stripe.com/us/terms#receiving-your-funds-from-card-transactions "You are responsible for refunds, returns, and liable for customer disputes (chargebacks)."
Additional relevant terms agreed to by the complainant:
https://stripe.com/us/terms#payment-methods
https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks
Section C.6 of Stripes Terms of Service 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 usIf 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 demandWhere 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."
We also pride ourselves on having as much documentation for our users as we possibly canOne area of
focus is fraud and dispute prevention, and we clearly mention steps for our users to take in order to prevent this exact type of situation:
https://support.stripe.com/questions/avoiding-fraud-and-disputes#identifying-pot...⇄ /> While we understand the stress this situation has caused the complainant, our Terms of Service and documentation are very clear that the ultimate responsibility for preventing fraud falls on our users

This company SUCKS! they have no contact number so while I haven't received my money in over a month I've been forced to communicate by email which has gotten me no where, still no money, still no call set up which they emailed and said they would set a call up! I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW A COMPANY DEALING WITH PEOPLES MONEY DOESN'T MAKE A DECENT WAY TO KEEP IN CONTACT....AND WHERE IS MY MONEY!!!!!!!

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because: When account was created with Stripe the terms and conditions varied drastically between what is posted as the terms today, *** The action taken by Stripe is deceptive and fraudulentWe have now been forced into pursing legal action against Stripe and filing complaints with securities, federal bureaus, and their state and local governments. Sincerely,*** ***

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because:My account with stripe still show an available balance from the $*** chargeWith the fees deducted the balance is $***Also there is no refund payment provided to the customer and there is nothing showing as a refund on the dash of stripeIf you continue to hold my funds to obtain interest I will contact the FTC also an attorney!
Sincerely,*** ***

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because:
You guys took the funds from my account and transfered them to some other bogus account that I have nothing to do withNow im not receiving anything on June 27thSo you guys are just stealing my money nowYou guys are THEIVES!! I Want my money!
Sincerely,Karis ***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/22) */
Stripe processes credit cards for thousands of businesses online (https://stripe.com/gallery)It looks like the complainant made a payment on one of their sites, and for some reason Stripe's details have shown up instead of merchants on
the complainant's credit card statement
As of today, 1/22/2016, the complainant has not reached out to ***@stripe.com for help on how to proceed with this issueWhen a product has not been delivered, we typically recommend that the customer reach out to the company that they ordered the product from to resolve the issueIt looks like the complainant is referencing a transaction placed with Lumitact.com FlashlightsSince Stripe is unable to process refunds on behalf of merchants, the complainant will have to reach out to the Lumitact.com Flashlights support team here:
***@lumitact.com
If the complainant does not receive a satisfactory response from the merchant, then we would typically recommend filing a dispute for the charge with the credit card company used for the transaction
We would be happy to answer any questions that the might have at ***@stripe.com
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2016/01/26) */
FLASHLIGHT RECEIVEDREPEAT: RECEIVED 1/22/
HOWEVER
THIS APPEARS TO BE A SHADY COMPANY

Initial Business Response /* (4000, 15, 2015/06/25) */
The complainant contacted Stripe on June asking about the status of this refundThey were notified on June that the refund had been processed as a reversal: Rather than appearing as a credit, the original charge drops off the
customer's statementThis happens for refunds made within a short time after the original charge
Stripe does not receive a reference number for this type of refund, but the card holder should be able to confirm with their bank that the reversal was successful
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (4200, 19, 2015/06/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
My customer stated on June 8th "I went online to my bank & the history didn't go that far back so I called my bank & they said that the transaction posted but was never reversed or refundedThey took the money & kept it as far as the bank can see."
So he saw no reversal and neither did his bank according to himIf stripe had never interfered with my sale at all (again, I had NO active stripe account, this was not created by me) everything would have be fine like all my other salesSo he is ok, he has the artwork I sold himI am just out the money because I can't expect him to pay me twice
I do not expect stripe to resolve this at all, they have been courteous but ultimately unhelpful, claiming it is impossible for them to prove on their end that any reversal took place at the same time they insist they have processed itIf it was a higher dollar item I'd take it to small claims (I'm unsure if their user agreement requires arbitration, but since I never created the account, or agreed to it, that does not matter) but it is roughly the same amount as a filing fee so there is no point

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because:
They have not received ANY disputes from any of these transactionsI have tried everything by forwarding emails from the customers of the transactions stating that they were authorized by contacting them I even got an email from one yesterday saying did you get your money yet because they said that they were charged As you know this is been going on for a while and they are not refunding the people and are not releasing my fundsI am out of pocket more than $*** and they owe me*** (and change)Stripe has no reason to claim that these transactions were not authorized by customers My rent is due on the first and I am on able to pay it due to them not releasing my funds early July Saying they refunded the people does not make sense because I would have to chase down these people and ask them to give me money for a product they used and received over a month ago and were already billed for.Unfortunately most people will not feel comfortable with that They are just sitting only money
As mentioned in previous messages I have medical bills from the stress of this and I am not asking for any compensation from that, I just want the money I earned and that was fully authorized by every single one of the customers If they feel that these transactions were not authorize they have every ability to contact these customers themselvesAgain, they have nothing to base that conclusion onThe email addresses are on the transactions I hope you understand where I'm coming from and why this is completely wrong and fraudulent on stripes behalfIt's pretty simple and clear
thank you for your timeSincerely,*** ***