On this page
Radar lets an account allow, review, or block a payment based on signals Stripe and the merchant configure. A blocked payment never becomes a charge. An account review is about whether that merchant should be charging at all. One lives on the attempt. The other lives on the capabilities.
A rule is a filter. A review is a decision.
What is actually moving
You can have a strict rule and a healthy account. You can have a loose rule and a restricted account. Tuning a rule will not answer a notice that asks who owns the company. Sending incorporation papers will not fix a rule that blocks every foreign card.
- A rule blocks or allows one attempt.
- A review asks what the business is.
- Both can be true on the same day.
- Each one has its own reply.
What people confuse it with
The mistake is one email that argues both at once and answers neither. Split them.
Not a reinstatement method
What to do with it
Name which system spoke.
- If a single payment was blocked, open that payment and the rule.
- If charges or payouts changed for the whole account, open the notice.
- Do not edit the rule to conceal a product the notice is asking about.
- In an assessment, say which of the two happened. “Radar got us” is not a status.
What this briefing is not
Questions on this note
If I delete a Radar rule, will a restriction lift?
No. A restriction is not a rule you wrote. Deleting rules can also let more bad payments through while the review is open.
Can Radar block every payment and leave the account enabled?
Yes. The account can be allowed to charge while a rule refuses the attempts in front of it. Read both screens.
Continue in the briefing
Blocks
A Blocked Card Payment Is Not a Frozen Stripe Account
Stripe Radar blocks, 3D Secure failures and issuer declines hit one payment. Here is how to tell them from an account freeze or a disabled charge capability.
9 min
Blocks
Card Testing, and Why Radar Starts Blocking
Attackers try stolen cards in small amounts. Radar blocks the pattern. That block is not a freeze of a healthy business, and working around it is not a plan.
11 min
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.
10 min
Blocks
Stripe Account Blocked, Restricted, or Under Review: The Differences That Matter
Blocked, restricted and under review are different Stripe account states. Here is what each one tends to change for charges, payouts and next steps.
11 min