Stripe maintains an important responsibility within the financial ecosystem to protect our users and the businesses or consumers they serve. To do so, we must have a thorough understanding of each user’s business model, financial situation, and the potential credit risk of the business. We do this through a process called credit underwriting.
During the underwriting process, you can expect a review of your business model, billing practices, product usage, processing history, and financial stability, among other things. We’ll request for your updated financial information, as well have questions about your recent processing history with other payment processors, if applicable.
Generally, businesses that take payments far in advance of delivery of goods and services pose a higher credit risk for payment processors like Stripe. Additionally, the sheer volume of refunds or disputes based on the size of a user may also be associated with higher risk.
Given elevated levels of risk, users must demonstrate operational and financial strength to continue fulfilling their business obligations (e.g. delivery of goods or services purchased, refunds, disputes and associated fees).
Based on certain internal criteria, your business may fall into a category that requires manual underwriting. When this is the case, your application will be assessed by one of our underwriters. Providing complete information in a timely manner helps ensure there are no unforeseen delays or unexpected risk mitigations that could impact your business.
If you are unable to provide the requested documentation or information, let us know as soon as possible. We would be happy to discuss with you what, if any, alternative information could be provided.
Data security and confidentiality are incredibly important to us. The information you share is intended solely for the purpose of underwriting and will be shared only on a need-to-know basis within the Stripe risk team.
Stripe also conducts periodic account reviews of your business to ensure that it is in good health as it evolves over time. Reviews are a common practice in the financial services industry. The information collected during this process is used to confirm that Stripe has an accurate, up-to-date assessment of your business and helps Stripe protect all the users on our platform, as well as their customers.