On August 22, 2022, Stripe updated our US Stripe Services Agreement and related terms which apply to the use of specific Stripe products. More information on these changes, including a summary of the most notable changes and when they take effect, is outlined below.
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For our existing US users, the updated Stripe Services Agreement and related terms will take effect on September 24, 2022 (except for Stripe Connect Platforms with Custom or Express Accounts in the US, and those Custom and Express Accounts, for whom the updated terms will take effect on October 1, 2022). If you do not agree to the updated terms, you will need to stop using the Stripe Services, and close your Stripe account before these terms become effective by following these steps. Your use of our products and services after the effective date will be subject to these updated terms.
The updated terms take effect immediately for new US users.
If you are okay with the updated terms, you don’t need to take any action, unless you are a Connect Platform user. (If you are a Connect Platform user, see below).
I’m a Connect Platform. What do I need to do?
If you use Connect and have Custom or Express accounts in the US, you are responsible for notifying these users of the updated terms, and we request you do so by September 1, 2022. We suggest you use your usual method of updating your users on important changes (e.g. by email). We recommend you send Custom and Express Accounts in the US a notice that includes the following information:
Stripe is updating the Stripe Services Agreement and related terms. You can read the entire Stripe Services Agreement here. The updates to the Stripe Services Agreement will take effect on October 1, 2022. No action is needed from you, but by continuing to use Stripe’s services on or after October 1, 2022, you are agreeing to the updated Stripe Services Agreement.
If you use Connect with Standard accounts, we’ve handled the communication for you by letting affected users know about the changes.
Non-US Connect Platforms: If you are a Connect Platform user based outside of the US, the updated terms do not apply to your use of Stripe (and your existing terms remain applicable), but you are responsible for notifying your Custom and Express accounts in the US of the updated terms as mentioned above.
When we update these legal terms, we send a legal notice to all affected Stripe users, even if you have unsubscribed from our marketing messages. You can’t unsubscribe from legal notices, but if you’d prefer not to receive any further legal notices from Stripe, you can close your Stripe account by following these steps.
You can find our updated terms which are labeled as “Last updated: August 22, 2022” at stripe.com/legal. If you have agreed to other terms with Stripe for the use of a Stripe Service which take precedence over these online terms, those other terms are unaffected by this change.
Some of the most notable changes include:
Clearer, more concise and easier to navigate terms
As we grow our product suite, we’re streamlining our legal terms to make them more concise and easier to understand and navigate. Our newly restructured Stripe Services Agreement contains (a) fundamental general terms that apply to each Stripe service and (b) additional services terms applicable to specific Stripe services, such as Payments, Connect, and Terminal. When you access or use a Stripe service, the Stripe Services Agreement and the relevant service terms for that service (if any) will apply.
A Data Processing Agreement is incorporated into our terms
Our Stripe Services Agreement now incorporates a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) which governs the processing of personal data by Stripe. The DPA incorporates approved data transfers mechanisms such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses which apply where personal data is transferred from the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the UK to a country or recipient not recognised as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data under applicable data protection laws.
You can learn more about Stripe’s data processing activities by reading the DPA and by visiting the Stripe Privacy Policy and Stripe Privacy Center.
Protection for you against third-party claims regarding IP infringement
We’ve added a section explaining the protection we will provide you if a third party claims that your use of our technology or services infringes their intellectual property rights. Specifically, we’ve outlined a) when that protection will and will not apply; b) how that process will work; and c) some of the actions we may take in that case.
Increased optionality on how we update our terms and how we communicate with you
As our products and services evolve and the world around us changes, we’ll need to update our terms from time to time. We may do so by posting a revised version of the terms on the Stripe Legal Page. We typically communicate with you electronically, and we’ve updated our terms and our E-Sign Disclosure to provide more information on how and when we may do so. For Connect Platforms, we also clarify their obligation to notify their Custom and Express Connected Accounts of any changes we make to our terms.
Greater clarity on the steps we may take to protect Stripe and others from risks related to your business
For each payment transaction we process for you, Stripe and our financial partners are exposed to financial and credit risk. Our updated terms enable Stripe to take certain actions to safeguard against this risk, including by establishing a reserve and suspending providing services to you, and as part of this update to our terms, we provide greater clarity on when and how we may take these actions. We believe that our approach aligns with payment industry standards and aims to ensure we can continue to provide a robust, reliable and sustainable service to all of our users.
Investment of funds
We clarify how we hold funds before making payouts to you. Funds are held in pooled accounts and may be invested into liquid investments in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Managing funds in a diversified portfolio of liquid assets of high credit quality is an important risk and liquidity management tool and is an integral part of how we are able to operate our business. Importantly, our payout obligations to you remain unchanged and will not be impacted by potential investments.
Greater clarity and optionality on how we collect fees and other amounts you owe to Stripe
We are not changing our fees as part of this update, but we provide greater clarity on how and when Stripe collects fees and other amounts you owe to Stripe under the updated terms. We typically collect fees on a per transaction basis before we transfer funds to you, but we may also issue an invoice to you or deduct amounts you owe us from any reserve we hold, your Stripe account balance or your bank account(s), or those associated with you (including those held by your affiliates). We also provide more information on how and when we can debit your bank account(s). You can now view the bank account debit mandates that you provide Stripe here: User Bank Account Debit Authorization.
Increased clarity on the information we require on the financial condition or status of your business
Given the nature of the services we provide to you, we may need to request additional information from you to assess your financial condition and the risk associated with your business, so the updated terms (i) more precisely describe the type of information we may request from you and (ii) oblige you to notify us immediately if your business experiences an insolvency event or a material change in your business or financial condition, there is a change in the regulatory status of your business, or you are notified that your business is under regulatory or other investigation.
More information on how we may use your trademarks (and how you may use ours)
We appreciate that you may sometimes want to mention your connection with us, and may want to use our name or logo to do so. So too for us—there may be times when we may want to use your trademarks to identify you as a Stripe user (for example, in our marketing materials, or on our website). Because it’s in both of our interests to have clarity around when we can each do so (and how), we’ve updated both the “Marks Usage” portion of the updated terms, and our Marks Usage terms (which you can find here), to clarify exactly what we can (and can’t) do with each other’s trademarks.
As mentioned above, we’ve restructured our terms so that additional terms for specific Stripe products, (such as Payments, Connect, and Issuing) apply when you access or use those products. These "Service Terms" are incorporated into the SSA, streamlining our contracting approach and enabling you to clearly understand the additional terms that apply to your use of each Stripe product.
The Service Terms for the following Stripe products have been updated: Payments, Connect, Issuing, Terminal, Identity, Radar, Treasury, Tax, Climate, Financial Connections, and Data Pipeline.
Some of the most notable changes include:
Issuing
We’ve restructured the terms that govern the use of Stripe Issuing to make it easier for you to understand the different roles and responsibilities of Stripe, our banking partners and you.
Separate Issuing platform and direct user terms
Stripe Issuing is a dynamic, customizable product, and there are a number of ways you can embed Issuing into your businesses. A business can act as an account holder and spend money on issued cards directly, or as a platform and provide their merchant customers with access to a card program co-branded with their logo. To account for these different use cases, we’ve split the Issuing Services Schedule into separate terms applicable to platforms and direct users to make it easier for businesses to understand their role in using the Issuing product.
Separate Issuing partner bank terms
Our bank partners provide the key financial services underlying our Issuing product, and it’s important you understand the services they supply to you and your Connected Accounts (if applicable). To help you better understand your relationship with our partner banks, we’ve separated out the Issuing Bank terms into a standalone agreement between you and our partner banks.
Terminal
We’ve restructured and simplified the Stripe Terminal terms, including by removing SDK license terms and expanding the license terms in the General Terms.
Identity
We have clarified the permitted and non-permitted uses of Stripe Identity and the information you must include in your Privacy Policy in order to use Stripe Identity. We have added the right for Stripe to request information and evidence from you to confirm your compliance with the Identity terms, and an ability for Stripe to suspend or terminate your access to Stripe Identity if you fail to comply.
Stripe Radar
The Radar Terms govern the use of Stripe Radar and describe the basic rights and limitations with respect to it, including clarifying the purpose for which Stripe Radar may be used (i.e., to help detect, evaluate and block potentially fraudulent transactions for Stripe’s business users).
The terms clarify that you are responsible for your use of the Stripe Radar Service, and the decisions you make and actions you take in connection with the Stripe Radar Service. You must fully disclose to your customers the types of data Stripe collects and uses as part of the Stripe Radar Service. We also provide suggested disclosure language that you can surface to your customers about this data collection and use, helping both you and Stripe to meet our respective privacy law obligations.
Connect
We have deprecated the stand-alone Connect Platform Agreement and made it part of the SSA. The Connect Platform-specific terms are in the Services Terms for Stripe Connect Platforms. We have consolidated the terms applicable to Custom and Express Connected Accounts. Details regarding prebuilt, co-branded onboarding and dashboard options for Express Connected Accounts can be found within our documentation. We’ve also updated the Connected Account Agreement to ensure alignment with the updated SSA and to make them more concise and easier to understand.
Financial Connections
We’ve restructured and simplified the Financial Connections Services Terms. For example, we have clarified the timing for notifying Stripe about your Express Consent UI, as well as your obligation to notify Stripe if you experience a security incident. We have added the right, if requested by Stripe’s data sources, to collect and verify information about your compliance onsite.
Stripe Payments Company Terms
The Stripe Payments Company Terms have been updated to improve clarity on the specific services provided by Stripe Payments Company as part of our growing product suite and to align with changes being made to the Stripe Services Agreement. We also clarify that, as noted in Section 6 above, Stripe Payments Company may invest funds received from you in connection with its provision of money transmission services in liquid investments in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Importantly, our money transmission obligations to you remain unchanged and will not be impacted by potential investments.
Acquirer Terms
The Wells Fargo Bank Acquirer Terms and the PNC Bank Acquirer Terms (each formerly known as Financial Services Terms) have been updated to align with changes being made to the SSA.
We’ve added Cross River Bank as an additional acquiring bank for Visa and Mastercard transactions, and the Cross River Bank Acquirer Terms apply to the services provided to you in partnership with Cross River Bank. Our acquiring bank partners allow Stripe to connect to the Visa and Mastercard networks and process your Visa and Mastercard transactions. Cross River Bank will supplement our existing acquiring bank partners, Wells Fargo Bank and PNC Bank. Going forward, we will work with Wells Fargo, PNC and Cross River to process our US users’ Visa and Mastercard transactions.