GuidesAssessment
Questions to ask before a payment partnership
A practical list for a business asked to process orders associated with someone else.
Before the commercial terms
Who is the seller the customer is actually buying from? What is sold, and is any of it different from your own trade? Which website will the customer see?
Has this merchant’s processing been suspended or restricted? If yes, what happened? An incomplete answer is a reason to pause, not a detail to tidy up later.
Before you talk about a share of revenue
Which entity receives settlement? Who can change the bank account? Who refunds, who answers disputes, and who pays if the processor holds a reserve or a loss?
What permission has the processor already given, in writing, for this merchant and these products? If the answer is none, you do not yet have a partnership you can switch on. You have a question.
Questions about the bad week
What happens to a negative balance, a reserve, or a dispute that arrives after you have already been paid your share? Who refunds a customer if the account is later closed? What happens to orders you cannot fulfil?
If the merchant’s last processor restricted them, ask for the notice before you talk about a percentage. The notice is the underwriting. The percentage is a sentence you can write in an afternoon, and it does not carry the loss.
For Stripe freezes, pauses, closures and disputes, use the accounts briefing. It is explanatory. It does not lift a restriction.
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