Check the scope before adding card payments at a physical location
Do not infer physical-channel coverage from an online approval. Compare the written approval with the actual proposed location, products, payment interaction, and device arrangement, then ask the provider which account, device, and verification conditions apply. Stripe's restricted-business policy says its approvals are service-specific and can be modified or revoked. That policy does not decide another provider's terms or establish whether this merchant has approval for either channel.
For: A research-only merchant planning to accept physically presented cards at a trade event, temporary location, or permanent counter.
Start with the account agreement, approval message, and any later conditions that name the business. Record the legal entity, products, channel, and service actually described. Keep an explicit reference to online sales separate from silence about physical sales. Silence gives you an unanswered scope question, not a permission to expand.
An account that currently takes online payments shows an operating arrangement. It does not, by itself, identify what the provider agreed about a new location or payment interaction. Do not rely on a device supplier's claim about technical compatibility to fill a gap in that agreement.
Where Stripe is involved, its restricted-business policy makes approval service-specific and allows approval to change or be revoked. Use that fact within Stripe's scope. Do not turn it into a statement that all research-only businesses are approved, that all are rejected, or that every other provider has identical terms.
Describe what will happen at the physical sale
Write a concise description of the proposed location and whether it is temporary, recurring, or permanent. Include the country and the operating entity. List the research-only products that will actually be offered and whether the physical catalog differs from the website. Mark the channel as planned when it has not started.
Describe how the buyer and card will participate in the payment and how the order will be recorded. Being at a trade event is not a complete description of the payment interaction. Distinguish a proposed reader-based transaction from a buyer using the online checkout at the location or a staff member entering details. Let the provider classify the actual arrangement rather than choosing a label that sounds covered.
Explain whether goods are handed over at the location or fulfilled later, and identify where the receipt and order record will be kept. These facts make the proposed workflow reviewable. They do not establish a network classification, a verification exemption, or permission to accept payments.
Separate account conditions from equipment questions
Ask the provider to address the channel against the existing account: whether the named account and service cover it, whether further review is required, and what written conditions must be satisfied before use. Preserve the question and reply together so a general sales response is not mistaken for confirmation about this business.
Then ask which device supply and verification requirements apply to the described interaction. Name any equipment already owned or proposed and its supplier as facts, not as evidence of approval. Obtain an answer about the specific arrangement before relying on a purchase or a successful technical connection.
Keep eligibility, device suitability, and legal applicability in separate entries. A provider's account reply does not establish that a particular device is configured correctly. A functioning device does not establish account permission. Questions about the lawful sale of particular products in the proposed place remain questions for qualified counsel, rather than conclusions drawn from payment acceptance.
Use the comparison to decide what is still pending
Classify each part of the proposed channel as expressly covered, subject to a stated condition, or unanswered. Keep the original wording of any condition and record the evidence needed to meet it. If a reply discusses only equipment, the channel-permission question remains unanswered. If it covers only a named location or catalog, do not extend it to other events or products.
Proceed with the physical payment arrangement only on the basis of the provider's applicable written answer and the conditions it actually sets. This worksheet supplies neither a standard device list nor a go-live date. Changes to the plan should be compared with that answer again rather than silently folded into the earlier approval.
A Prism processing consultation can help organize the business and channel description for the provider conversation. Send the website, research-only product types, proposed sales setting, and the scope question through the public inquiry. Leave out card details, passwords, and customer records. Scope, responsibilities, fees, and terms are discussed before work; email follow-up does not book an appointment, purchase a service, or submit an application. The provider decides eligibility and account terms.
New channel scope comparison
Compare the current written arrangement with the proposed physical channel. In your entry, mark each issue covered, conditional, or unanswered and cite the relevant document or reply. A blank answer remains pending; technical readiness cannot fill the approval column.
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.
New channel scope comparison. The last column is for temporary notes.
Channel fact
Current evidence to locate
Proposed fact or question
Your comparison
Existing approved channel
Current evidence to locateApproval and agreement language identifying the entity, service, catalog, and online channel.
Proposed fact or questionDoes the provider's wording expressly address the proposed physical channel?
Proposed sales location
Current evidence to locateAny location or country limits stated for the existing account.
Proposed fact or questionName the actual place and country, and whether the site is temporary, recurring, or permanent.
Products and selling entity
Current evidence to locateThe catalog and entity previously disclosed to the provider.
Proposed fact or questionState the physical-sale catalog and entity, including differences from the online arrangement.
Payment interaction
Current evidence to locateThe payment workflow described in the current approval.
Proposed fact or questionDescribe buyer presence and how payment will be entered; ask the provider to classify that actual flow.
Device supplier
Current evidence to locateThe provider's existing equipment conditions, if any.
Proposed fact or questionIdentify proposed equipment and supplier; ask which supply and suitability requirements apply.
Order and fulfillment record
Current evidence to locateThe current order, receipt, and fulfillment workflow.
Proposed fact or questionState how the physical sale is recorded and whether goods leave with the buyer or ship later.
Provider conditions
Current evidence to locateA written reply addressing this business and the specified channel.
Proposed fact or questionRecord account scope, device conditions, verification requirements, and any outstanding review without inventing a date.
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
Stripe's service-specific approval policy is evidence about Stripe, not another processor's contract or a decision on an unseen merchant.
This guide provides no device-support list, implementation instructions, or legal clearance for a location or product.
Do not send payment-card details, authentication codes, account passwords, identity documents, or customer records through the worksheet or public consultation form.
Stripe prohibited and restricted businesses — checked 2026-09-28. Stripe describes restricted-business approvals as service-specific and subject to modification or revocation. That policy does not establish approval for this merchant's proposed physical sales channel.
Prism solutions — checked 2026-09-21. Prism offers storefront review, card-processing preparation, and help with a provider's website questions. Scope, fees, and terms are discussed before work; the provider decides eligibility and account terms.
Prism contact — checked 2026-09-21. The form asks for the website, products, and question, excludes payment card details, passwords, and customer records, and leads to email follow-up. A request does not book an appointment, purchase a service, or submit a processing application.
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