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An information request is the best version of a Stripe problem, and people still waste it. The email names a gap: who owns the company, what is sold, where stock sits, which bank receives payouts, why disputes rose. The reply should close that gap. It should not open three new ones.
Read the ask before you write the story
Copy the request into a list. Each line is either a document, a fact, or a question. Answer in that order. A polished narrative that never attaches the invoice they named is an unanswered request with better grammar.
- Identity and ownership: the people Stripe named, not a convenient director who is easier to document.
- The bank: a statement or letter for the same legal name as the Stripe account.
- The product: URLs, a checkout screenshot, and a plain description of delivery time.
- Fulfilment proof: tracking, access logs, or service records for charges already made. Samples, not a warehouse of files.
- The processing story: if they ask about disputes or a spike in volume, answer that spike. Do not send a generic “we take compliance seriously”.
Make the reply match the world the customer sees
Stripe can see the charges, the descriptor, the site, and the dispute reasons. Your reply is tested against those, not against your intentions. If the descriptor is one brand and the website is another, explain the relationship in a sentence and make it true. If you cannot make it true, do not paper over it.
Do not launder the product category
Length, tone, and what to leave out
Short answers that attach the file are better than a letter about your reputation. Name the document. Say what it shows. Stop. Do not include other customers’ full card numbers, passwords, or a demand that the account be restored by a date you have chosen. Do not threaten a public complaint in the same email as the documents. The review is a file, not a negotiation you win by volume.
After you send it
- Keep the copy you sent. If the story changes later, you need to know what you already said.
- Do not edit the live site into a different business while the reply is unread.
- Keep fulfilling. The review does not pause your duty to customers.
- If a deadline is stated, meet it. If you will miss it, say so before the deadline with the specific missing item, not the night after.
- If you also want a partnership assessment, give the reviewer this same pack. Two different stories for two audiences is the pattern that fails both.
What this briefing is not
Questions on this note
Should I send every document I have, to be safe?
Send what was asked for, clearly labelled, for the legal entity on the account. A dump of unrelated invoices, personal bank statements, and a new pitch deck makes the real document harder to find and can contradict the account. Extra paper is not extra trust.
Can I explain the business differently from the website?
You can correct a genuine mistake. You cannot invent a safer product than the one customers bought. If the site sells coaching delivered over six months, do not describe it as instant digital goods because that sounds easier to underwrite.
What if I do not have one of the documents?
Say so, in one sentence, and send the closest true record you do have. Do not substitute a document from a different company, a relative, or a company you just formed. A missing document is a gap. A borrowed document is a misrepresentation.
Does a complete reply mean the account will be restored?
No. It means you answered. Stripe can still restrict, reserve, or close the account. Completeness is the part you control. The decision is not.
Continue in the briefing
Freezes
How to Read a Stripe Restriction Notice and Information Request
How to read a Stripe restriction email line by line: scope, deadline, capabilities, documents, and what not to send back.
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Accounts
Stripe Identity Verification Failed: Owners, Banks, and What to Send
When Stripe cannot verify an owner or a bank account: which mismatch matters, what to send, and why a new company is not a fresh identity.
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Freezes
What to Gather After a Stripe Freeze Before You Request an Assessment
The exact record to assemble after a Stripe freeze or block before you ask RevRouters, or anyone else, whether a partnership can even be discussed.
9 min
Terms
Restricted Businesses, Prohibited Businesses and Stripe Account Risk
How Stripe’s restricted and prohibited business lists affect account freezes and closures, and why leaving a product line out of an application is not a fix.
9 min