Compare the processing proposals offered to your business
Put both offers on the same legal entity, the same catalog, the same currencies, and the same time period. Copy every fee, hold, payout rule, and cancellation term from the document that states it. If a document is silent, write unknown. Unknown is not zero. Stripe's public definitions show why a processing fee, a settlement delay, a payout schedule, and a reserve are different facts on a Stripe account. They are not another provider's price. Describe the work you need. Prism will confirm scope, responsibilities, fees, and terms before work begins.
For: An owner comparing at least one written processing proposal for a research-use-only peptide business, or preparing the questions to ask before accepting one.
Updated 2026-09-21
The offers have to describe the same business
A percentage quoted for a different product list, a different country, or a different monthly volume is not a discount on the offer in front of you. Before comparing price, write the entity, the catalog, the presentment and settlement currencies, the period the quote covers, and which services are included.
If one proposal assumes card payments only and the other includes a bank debit method, the headline rates are not alternatives. Stripe's balance documentation says bank payment methods it lists settle on longer timetables than the card example it gives, because of the banking systems and return risk. That is Stripe's distinction, not a reason to prefer either of your offers.
You can decide whether the two documents describe the same activity. You cannot decide that an unstated product, currency, or volume is included.
Separate the fee, the wait to availability, and the payout
Stripe's balance guide defines settlement time as the time between a payment and when the funds become available in the Stripe balance. It says a card charge, minus Stripe's fee, can appear as pending and cannot be withdrawn until it is available. Its United States card example is a Monday payment that becomes available on Wednesday, two business days later. The same page says timing varies by country and payment method, and that risk criteria can keep an account on its initial timing.
Stripe's payout guide says the payout schedule controls when available funds are sent. It does not change how long pending funds take to become available. Schedules Stripe documents include manual, daily, weekly, and monthly, with country limits such as daily-only payouts in Brazil and India. The first payout is typically scheduled to complete within 7 to 14 days and can take longer depending on industry, country, and risk. A bank may take more time after it receives the payout. Payments and payouts are processed in UTC except for the Asia-Pacific exception Stripe states.
A reserve is not a fee. Stripe says it may create a reserve balance so the account can cover expected refunds or disputes, and that those funds cannot be paid out or transferred until the reserve hold period is complete. The page does not publish one hold period for every merchant. Copy the hold, the release condition, and the percentage only if your offer states them.
A blank in the proposal stays unknown
If offer A states a discount rate and offer B does not, the comparison is not "B is free." Record B's rate as unknown and ask B, in writing, which components the rate includes and which are billed separately.
Do the same for chargebacks, refunds, cross-border or currency conversion, gateway or platform charges, reserves, and the cost of leaving. A sales conversation that says "standard" is not a figure. The figure is the one in the proposal or the later written answer.
You can list the gaps. Only the provider that issued the proposal can close them. Prism's site says a provider decides account terms through its own underwriting.
Do not turn last month into a promise
An amount you already paid, taken from a statement, is history for that provider and that period. A proposal is an offer about future activity. Label a projection as a projection, and do not multiply a sample of days into a year unless you also write the volume and the mix you assumed.
This page does not supply arithmetic with sample transactions. Add fees, holds, and timing only after each input has a definition and a unit. A reserve that is released later is not income, and it is not the same number as a fee that is gone.
If the statements and the proposal use different words for the same event, keep both words. Renaming a hold as a fee, or a fee as a hold, makes the comparison false.
Return the open questions before you accept
The decision you can make here is whether an offer is complete enough to accept, reject, or send back. The provider decides eligibility, the price it will actually charge, reserves, and whether the account stays open. A lower quoted rate does not answer a catalog limitation the offer never mentions.
Ask each provider, in writing, for the eligible products, every fee component, when funds become available, when they are paid out, what is held and when it is released, the term and how it ends, the checkout or integration included, and who handles disputes. A missing answer remains a condition, not a zero.
Prism can discuss the business and the questions that are still open. The public form is not a place to upload proposals or bank records. Scope and any Prism fee are discussed before work. That fee is not a processing rate.
Proposal comparison grid
Use this for written offers only. In the last column, note each offer's figure, the document name, and the date. Write unknown when that document does not state the term. Worksheet entries are not submitted by this worksheet or saved by this site. Use only non-sensitive summaries; do not enter credentials, government identifiers, card or bank-account numbers, private receipt links, or customer details.
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.
Proposal comparison grid. The last column is for temporary notes.
Term
Why it is not the headline rate
How to mark a gap
Your comparison
Same entity, catalog, currencies, and period
Why it is not the headline rateA rate for a different business, product list, or volume does not describe the offer you would sign.
How to mark a gapIf either offer leaves one of these unstated, the offers are not yet comparable. Do not assume they match.
Fee components the offer names
Why it is not the headline rateStripe shows a fee as distinct from the pending balance. A single percentage may omit other charges the offer lists elsewhere.
How to mark a gapCopy each named component. If the offer says only "rate," ask what that rate excludes. Do not enter zero.
When funds become available, and when they are sent
Why it is not the headline rateStripe defines settlement time and the payout schedule as different controls. A bank can add time after a payout is sent.
How to mark a gapRecord the offer's own days and whether they are business days or calendar days. Stripe's country table is not the offer.
Reserve or other hold
Why it is not the headline rateStripe describes a reserve as funds you cannot pay out until its hold period ends. It is not a processing fee and not income.
How to mark a gapCopy the amount or percentage, the release rule, and who decides the hold. If the offer is silent, write unknown.
Term, renewal, and how the agreement ends
Why it is not the headline rateA low rate with an unstated notice period is an incomplete price. Ending the account can have its own charges.
How to mark a gapCopy only the clause you can point to. A verbal "month to month" is unknown until it is written.
Checkout or connection the offer includes
Why it is not the headline rateSupport for a platform in a brochure is not a statement that your installed checkout is covered.
How to mark a gapName the platform and checkout type you operate, and copy what the offer says it supports. Leave the rest unknown.
Disputes, refunds, and support
Why it is not the headline rateThe party that responds to a dispute, and the fee for doing so, changes the cost after the sale.
How to mark a gapCopy who is responsible and any stated fee. Do not infer it from the discount rate.
Charges the offer does not list
Why it is not the headline rateUnlisted does not mean waived. It means you do not know.
How to mark a gapList the questions you will send back. Do not complete them with an industry average.
These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. The consultation form does not include these entries.
Limits
A Prism consultation can help you organize the facts and discuss the website or processing question. The payment provider decides eligibility, pricing, reserves, and whether an account is opened or closed.
Do not use Stripe's settlement examples, country table, or first-payout range as a quote for your business or as a benchmark for a non-Stripe proposal.
A consultation does not accept an offer for you.
Do not upload proposals, statements, or bank records through the public form. Ask the remaining questions in your own words.
Stripe: Balances and settlement time — checked 2026-09-21. Settlement time is when funds become available. Pending funds cannot be withdrawn. A fee is deducted before the pending amount. Timing varies by country and payment method. A reserve holds funds until its period ends. The US card example is two business days and is not universal.
Stripe: Receive payouts — checked 2026-09-21. The payout schedule controls when available funds are sent, not how long they take to become available. Stripe documents manual, daily, weekly, and monthly schedules, country limits, a typical 7–14 day first payout, UTC processing with an Asia-Pacific exception, and extra bank time.
Prism solutions — checked 2026-09-21. The provider decides eligibility and account terms. Prism can help organize questions. Scope, fees, and service terms for Prism's own work are discussed before a decision to proceed.
Prism features — checked 2026-09-21. The provider determines eligibility, approval, and account terms through its own underwriting. A website review does not guarantee approval or continued processing.
Prism contact — checked 2026-09-21. The public form takes a message about the website, products, and question. It is not an upload point for proposals. A request is not a processing application.
Request a consultation
Describe the business and this specific question. Prism follows up by email to discuss fit and scope. An inquiry is not a processing application or an approval.