Now I've now been told by Stripe that my business is in violation of their rule; for more than two days I've been trying to get someone -- ANYONE -- at Stripe to tell me how I'm in violation and what I can do to remedy the situation but the only reply I've gotten is "Unfortunately, following an additional review of your account, we’re still unable to support your business as it falls under one of our restricted businesses categories" but no details are given beyond that. The only thing that seems to make sense as prohibited is "Transactions that provide compensation to creators without an underlying piece of digital content associated. Examples include subscriptions to free, public content or a tip button on a profile page." Okay, if that's the problem then I'll take down the donation button and sell actual swag (t-shirts, mugs, whatever) but give me a chance to comply instead of just saying you don't want to do business with me without ever giving me an unambiguous reason!
UPDATE: I finally got a reply from someone at Stripe who pointed me at this page -- https://stripe.com/legal/restricted-businesses -- but now I have to start this question cycle again because nothing on this page applies to what I am doing.
>https://stripe.com/legal/restricted-businesses ... nothing on this page applies to what I am doing.
I doubt it. Post the URL to your business website so we can see why it was cancelled by Stripe.
EDIT: I see you posted the link below, and as eli pointed out, it's probably due to soliciting donations. Per Stripe's restricted businesses link:
Crowdfunding, fundraising, and other donation-soliciting activities
Can anyone clarify what this actually means? Stripe offers a discount to nonprofits specifically for taking donations:
https://support.stripe.com/questions/fee-discount-for-nonpro...
How is that not "donation-soliciting activities?"
Every other payment processor will do the same thing. If some kind of internal audit catches your business then they will proactively get rid of you to reduce their liability with external auditors.
https://support.stripe.com/questions/requirements-for-accept....
> Content creation - Transactions that provide compensation to creators without an underlying piece of digital content associated. Examples include subscriptions to free, public content or a tip button on a profile page
It seems like an arbitrary restriction, but Stripe also works a lot more closely with banks and payment processors so they tend to inherit a lot of banking sector restrictions.
Anyone who gives you money gets a membership, it’ll be minimum of $1, but it’ll be a “pick your own price” deal.
Honestly though, you could just use a better processor that isn’t such a behemoth that they hate their customers.
That said I know several companies that for years have used Paypal's donate button to run their whole company. It's seems arbitrary.
From what I understand, they allow you to use Stripe for donations for charitable groups or projects.
> bank connected to this account has zero issues with what I do
Stripe is an intermediary and I would guess this has to do with anti-laundering rules. Your bank doesn't need to engage in this because they have access to everything you do with your money and has more ways to catch/stop you.
But truth is, stripe decides who they want to be in business with. They have decided they don’t want to be in business with you. Tough, but they also aren’t placing you on the MATCH list or other common nightmare senerios many non-compliant businesses find themselves in when dealing with violations of payment processing guidelines.
My advice is to cut your losses with stripe and get a real merchant account.
The pre-vetting process will likely be quite clear with you about what and why your business is considered too high a risk, or you’ll end up with a less frangible business relationship you can depend on to not rug pull you in the future.
Sleuth away: https://www.SupernerdMedia.com
A lot of payment processors do not like it when individuals (versus certified nonprofits) take donations. Because, well, it is more prone to fraud. It's a really easy way to cash out stolen credit card numbers. The systems are set up for a transaction, not a one way transfer of funds.
Stripe's page says that their prohibited categories include "Businesses that engage in, encourage, promote or celebrate unlawful violence toward any group based on ... sexual orientation..." among other things.
https://www.barnhardt.biz/category/barnhardt-podcast/
For context, some random excerpts from barely a skim that jump out and are going to raise eyebrows:
203: "we attack the topic of In Vitro Fertilization and break down how this grotesque process" 195: "part of what made the fires in Hawaii worse than they needed to be: the deeply-seated paganism of the natives who worship the volcanoes" 191: "it’s possible that “they/them” pronouns are favored among trans because of the demonic they/them legion possessing such poor souls" 187: suggests extracting and storing your own blood and taking methylene blue?
I don't have all the context, and generally I do support the author's right to expression, so I'm trying to be objective and kind here. But candidly, I'd have difficult to overcome personal reservations about partnering in business with (and in Stripe's case, since they take fees: profiting from) the content here.
I don't mean to offend anyone, just seems like an elephant in the room worth noting.
I thought Stripe was a real merchant account.
Sort setup, short teardown, same as PayPal
Stripe is a minimal to no vetting payment processor. A real merchant account will require contracts and pre-vetting that includes a review of your payment processing history and suitability to the rules of the card networks in question.
> Stripe does have some strict rules over the types of businesses we can and cannot support. Firearms accessories is an area that we split into two. Businesses selling firearms and parts required for the functioning of the firearm are restricted from using Stripe. Businesses selling firearms accessories and parts not required for the functioning of the firearm can be fully supported.
> As your business falls into the second category, I'm pleased to say that you would be able to use Stripe.
In 2022 my Stripe account was closed. I entered an "appeal" quoting that original response and asking whether their policy had changed, or their assessment of the products I was selling. The response I got did not answer that and simply said "we are unable to accept payments for weapons, ammunition, and related products, as mentioned on our restricted businesses list."
To be honest I was kind of done with it anyway, it had gotten to that "not fun" point where a hobby becomes a chore. And it wasn't an income stream big enough to make any difference in my quality of life. So I didn't bother appealing further or even seeking an alternate payment provider. But I was still annoyed that they didn't tell me what changed between when I got approval and when I got shut down.
Doing payments is hard. They can't give everyone white glove service at the prices they charge. The ways folks using these services against the posted rules while convincing themselves they are something else is hilarious.
Stripe is a shitty company with zero respect for customers. Stay away.
Edit: A lot of people responding are missing OP's point. It's not that Stripe has made a decision about what kind of business they want to deal with (wholly legitimate), it's that they won't tell OP what part of their agreement Stripe considers to have been violated.
Mindlessly repeating that 'Stripe has the choice of with whom they do business' (which OP has never disputed) is just reflex behavior at best and shilling at worst. Either address the actual question raised by OP or don't comment.
The good thing is that Stripe is also monitoring that subreddit. And they often reply and mention heretohelp@stripe.com as a quick and easy way to get someone to speak to you. Maybe you can try that next time?
Happy 10+ years customer of theirs btw!
I started OpenPay to help make it easier to move from Stripe to another payment processor if they kick you off. Feel free to email me at ankit@getopenpay.com and I'll get you set up for free.
https://support.stripe.com/questions/requirements-for-accept...
People who depend on these payments for their livelihood make a good faith attempt to use Stripe for processing them only to be treated like scum with no explanation of why and they're the ones who should be justifying themselves or looking for what went wrong?
Novel idea: the company that provides you with something for a comfortable fee actually fucking explains to you why it suddenly doesn't want your business, and gives you means for arbitration and fair hearing. It's the least they could do while screwing you over.
Opaque, algorithmic, bureaucratic account closures and penalizations are an absolute nightmare of the modern world that should under no circumstances be allowed to proliferate further. They take the old kafkaesque notions of bureaucratic opacity to an automated extreme that nobody should defend or tolerate.
Google, Stripe, Payshit and so many others regularly practice this, and here we see some people who themselves could one day be victims of the same actually bothering to find excuses for it.
