A payment partner asks to receive your settlement funds
Establish who sells, which payment account records the charge, who would receive the money and what written authority permits that arrangement. Match the proposed recipient with the provider's account and destination requirements, then obtain confirmation for the actual entity, products, country and payment setup. An agent's ability to invoice you or build checkout does not establish authority to receive your settlement. Keep a proposed destination change unresolved until the responsible parties clarify it in writing.
For: An owner of a research-only business considering a request for customer-payment funds to reach a partner rather than the selling entity.
Turn the request into a specific movement of money
Preserve the partner's exact request and identify the stage it concerns. Receiving customer charges in a platform balance, receiving a transfer between provider accounts and receiving a bank payout are different movements. The phrase receive your settlement can conceal that distinction unintentionally. Ask the partner to name the originating account, proposed receiving entity and subsequent destination using non-sensitive references.
Compare that proposal with the arrangement already in force. Record the selling entity named in customer-facing terms, the account holder named in the payment agreement and the current recipient recorded by the provider. A public trading name does not resolve a different legal entity. If these records disagree, retain all versions and identify the discrepancy rather than choosing the most familiar brand.
Separate the partner's service fee from the sales funds. An invoice for website or payment-related work documents a charge for that service; it does not establish that all customer proceeds may pass through the partner. The proposed funds flow needs its own contractual and provider basis.
Match authority, account ownership and responsibilities
Identify the agreement clause or provider arrangement that the partner says authorizes receipt. Record the parties, the role granted, the funds covered and any conditions or limits. If the explanation relies only on an email saying this is standard, mark contractual authority unresolved. Do not infer legal entitlement from possession of a dashboard or bank details.
Ask for account ownership evidence through the provider's verified secure process. The working record should state which entity the evidence identifies and where the authorized reviewer can find it, without reproducing full bank details or identity documents. Stripe's business-information requirements illustrate why this matters: Stripe verifies business identification and bank information, alongside what is sold and risk. Those checks do not establish that a proposed recipient is permitted on your account.
Request a written allocation of responsibility for refunds, disputes, fees, negative balances, onward payments and access to transaction records if the relationship ends. A contract that names a recipient but leaves those responsibilities unclear is not a complete operational explanation. Record what each document actually says and send conflicting provisions to the provider and, where legal interpretation is needed, qualified counsel.
Use Connect documentation only for the Connect arrangement that exists
Stripe Connect documents several charge and transfer models. Direct charges appear on a connected account. Destination charges and separate charges and transfers put the charge on the platform, with different transfer arrangements. The model changes where charges appear, how funds move and which balance bears refunds or disputes; fee treatment can also depend on configuration.
That documentation explains why a technical screenshot showing that a transfer is possible cannot answer the authority question. Ask the implementer to identify the actual charge type and account roles, then compare them with the contract and the provider's confirmation. If the proposal does not use Stripe Connect, obtain the equivalent explanation from the actual provider instead of applying Connect terminology to it.
Connect objects do not themselves determine legal merchant-of-record status, product eligibility or regional availability. Stripe's restricted-businesses policy separately prohibits misleading business information and processing for undisclosed products, and describes approvals as service-specific and subject to change or revocation. A research-only description must accurately represent the real catalog. Neither an integration nor a partner's own account establishes approval for another business.
Resolve the proposed destination before changing it
Send a bounded written question through the provider contact already verified in your account or agreement: identify the seller and proposed recipient, describe their roles and the intended movement, and ask whether that exact arrangement and destination are permitted. Include the country, currency and product context relevant to the proposal. Ask which documents and contractual changes the provider requires; do not treat a generic explanation of a platform feature as account-specific confirmation.
The useful outcomes are clear. If the provider's answer permits the named arrangement and the records agree, the authorized account owner can consider the documented change under the stated conditions. If the provider rejects it, do not implement that destination. If the reply leaves the recipient, role or responsibilities unnamed, the proposal remains unresolved. A working transfer cannot fill those omissions.
For a Prism processing consultation, summarize the website, research-only products and the recipient-authority question. Prism can help organize the processing conversation within an agreed scope; it does not decide entitlement to funds or the provider's account terms. Scope, responsibilities, fees and terms are discussed before work. Keep bank records and customer data out of the public form.
Settlement recipient authority record
Compare the current and proposed arrangement using document references, not account numbers. An unresolved ownership, authority or provider-confirmation row means the proposed recipient has not been established by this record. It is not a legal approval or an instruction to redirect funds.
Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.
Settlement recipient authority record. The last column is for temporary notes.
Authority question
Evidence to identify
What must be resolved
Your record
Selling entity
Evidence to identifySeller named in customer terms and the legal entity in the payment agreement.
What must be resolvedExplain any difference between storefront branding and the contracting seller without substituting one for the other.
Proposed recipient role
Evidence to identifyPartner's written request and the role named in its agreement.
What must be resolvedDistinguish an invoicing agent or technical vendor from a recipient authorized under the payment arrangement.
Exact funds movement
Evidence to identifyOriginating payment account, transfer stage and bank-payout stage, using safe internal references.
What must be resolvedName where the charge appears and where funds would go next; a generic settlement label is insufficient.
Account ownership evidence
Evidence to identifyProvider-verified ownership record or secure document reference for the proposed receiving account.
What must be resolvedIdentify the owning entity; do not paste bank numbers, login details or identity documents.
Contractual authority
Evidence to identifySpecific clause, parties, applicable services and any effective date or conditions.
What must be resolvedRecord whether the authority covers these sales funds and this recipient; refer ambiguous legal meaning to counsel.
Ongoing responsibilities
Evidence to identifyWritten allocation for refunds, disputes, fees, negative balances, onward payment and record access.
What must be resolvedResolve gaps and conflicts between the partner's promises and the provider's arrangement.
Provider confirmation
Evidence to identifyDated account-specific reply naming the seller, recipient, setup and required conditions.
What must be resolvedA generic product document or successful transfer does not establish permission for this change.
These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.
Limits
This worksheet does not determine legal entitlement, merchant-of-record status or a permitted bank destination.
Stripe verification, policy and Connect mechanics apply to their stated Stripe context. They do not establish eligibility for every research-only merchant or another provider's rules.
Do not redirect funds based solely on an agent's invoice, software capability or verbal assurance. Keep bank details, credentials and identity documents out of the public form.
Stripe business information requirements — checked 2026-09-21. Stripe verifies business identification and bank-account information, what is sold and whether it can support that category, and risk. Verification requirements do not authorize a particular third-party settlement recipient.
Stripe prohibited and restricted businesses — checked 2026-09-28. Stripe prohibits misleading business information and processing for undisclosed products. Approvals are service-specific and can be modified or revoked; this does not decide the proposed recipient's authority.
Stripe Connect charge types — checked 2026-09-29. Direct charges appear on connected accounts; destination and separate charge/transfer models place charges on the platform with different transfers. Charge type affects funds, fees and refund/dispute balances. These mechanics do not determine legal merchant-of-record status, product eligibility or regional availability.
Prism solutions — checked 2026-09-21. Public support includes storefront review, processing preparation and help with a provider's website questions. Scope, fees and terms are agreed before work; the provider decides eligibility and account terms.
Prism contact — checked 2026-09-21. The form asks for the website, products and question, excluding card details, passwords and customer records. Follow-up is by email; the request does not book an appointment, purchase a service or submit a processing application.
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