Guides for frozen, held and closed payment accounts
Free guides for merchants whose Stripe, PayPal or Shopify Payments account was frozen, held or closed: holds, reserves, appeals, chargebacks and high-risk processing.
Stripe paused payouts or froze your account? A step-by-step checklist: what the email means, what documents to send, how long holds last and how to keep selling.
Why Stripe holds funds for 90-120 days after closing an account, what decides the length, and what you can do to get paid sooner.
Stripe closed your account and is holding your balance? What you're owed, how to escalate, ombudsman and complaint options, and how to keep selling.
How to appeal a Stripe closure or rejection: what to include, what evidence works, a copy-paste template, and when an appeal isn't worth it.
PayPal limited your account and is holding funds for 180 days? What the hold means, how to resolve the limitation, and how to get your money sooner.
PayPal limited your account? The common reasons, what documents to submit in the Resolution Center, how long it takes, and what happens if it becomes permanent.
Shopify Payments paused your payouts or disabled your account? Why it happens, how to respond, how long funds are held, and how to keep your store taking payments.
What a rolling reserve is, how rolling, fixed and minimum reserves differ, typical terms, and how to negotiate a lower reserve with Stripe, PayPal, Shopify or a merchant account.
Banned by Stripe or PayPal? What makes a business high-risk, how high-risk merchant accounts work, what to ask before signing, and the documents you'll need.
Selling research-use-only (RUO) peptides or chemicals? Why Stripe, PayPal and Shopify Payments shut these stores down, and what to look for in a processor that accepts RUO.
Non-US founder with a US LLC and no SSN? How Stripe, PayPal and merchant accounts handle EINs and ITINs, what documents you need, and why accounts get frozen.
The Visa VAMP and Mastercard ECP chargeback thresholds for 2026, the lower internal limits Stripe and PayPal watch, how ratios are calculated, and how to stay under them.
Where to go next
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