Identify the payment arrangement from contracts and responsibilities
Use the applicable agreements and written role confirmations to identify your arrangement. A platform logo, statement descriptor, payout sender or tax-form issuer is a clue, not a standalone merchant-of-record determination. Map the selling entity, contracting parties, account containing the charge, refund and dispute responsibilities, and recipient of funds. If those records do not establish the legal role, disclose the observed arrangement and name the unresolved role instead of selecting a label by guesswork.
For: An owner of a research-only merchant selling through a platform or marketplace who needs to describe which entity holds each payment responsibility.
Locate the agreement you accepted with the platform and any separate payment-service or acquiring agreement. Record each legal party, effective date, relevant service, and clause assigning seller and payment responsibilities. Check that the documents cover this entity, storefront, country and product activity. Do not use an agreement for another brand or an earlier arrangement without identifying that difference.
Look for explicit language about merchant-of-record or seller status, who contracts for payment services, and who handles buyer claims. A document using sub-merchant or connected account may describe an account relationship without answering every seller obligation. Keep its exact term beside the clause rather than replacing it with a broader conclusion. The PCI DSS definition of merchant identifies an entity accepting participating-brand cards; that definition is not a legal role determination for your platform contract.
If the operative agreement is unavailable or two documents appear inconsistent, the immediate result is a documented role gap. You can still describe which entity sells and which accounts appear in the records. Ask the contracting platform or provider to confirm the disputed responsibility in writing, identifying the relevant agreement and transaction flow.
Separate charge location from money received
Stripe’s Connect overview describes both platforms serving businesses that collect from their own customers and marketplaces that collect customer payments and distribute portions to sellers. The existence of Connect therefore does not establish that every platform is the merchant of record. It describes a multi-party payment system, not your contract.
Stripe’s charge documentation makes the distinction concrete. Direct charges are created on a connected account. Destination charges are created on the platform and transfer funds to a connected account. Separate charges and transfers also create the charge on the platform, with the transfers handled separately. The account receiving transferred funds is not necessarily the account on which the original customer charge was created.
Those documented differences affect which balance Stripe debits for refunds and disputed amounts. In the described flows, direct-charge refunds and disputed amounts debit the connected account; destination-charge and separate-charge-and-transfer refunds and disputed amounts debit the platform. Contractual recovery rights and dispute work still need their own confirmation. Use these distinctions to ask where your charge lives, not to choose or change a charge type yourself.
Reconcile customer-facing names with responsibility
Compare the storefront seller, checkout identity, actual receipt, statement descriptor, payout sender and any tax-form issuer. Record the entity named by each and where the names diverge. Do not ask a buyer for a full card statement or copy private financial details into the worksheet. Existing authorized records and provider confirmation can identify the relevant names.
Stripe’s on_behalf_of setting is one reason a visible name is not a complete classifier: its documentation says the setting makes the connected account the business of record for that payment and affects settlement and statement information. A Stripe configuration term and its technical effects must remain distinct from the legal obligations established by the actual agreements. Neither a descriptor nor a payout sender alone supplies that legal conclusion.
Also separate the team that prepares dispute evidence, the party that submits it and the party whose balance is debited. They need not be identified by the same screen. When the records disagree, list the disagreement and the party who can resolve it. A tax form belongs in this comparison as an identifying record; it does not, by itself, settle the payment contract or tax liability.
Describe the confirmed arrangement and the unresolved role
The inquiry should identify your legal entity and research-only catalog, the platform, the agreement parties, whether there is a connected or separate account, and the observed charge and payout locations. Then identify the supported refund and dispute responsibilities. If merchant-of-record status is still unresolved, state that explicitly and ask which agreement clause or written confirmation establishes it.
For Stripe accessed through a third-party platform, Stripe’s support guidance starts with the platform and uses authenticated Dashboard support for relevant account questions. Use appropriate record references in that authorized route, never full card numbers or verification codes. A generic plugin logo is not the support route or evidence that the account belongs to your entity.
This map lets you prepare an accurate processing inquiry without changing accounts or treating a platform as a way around eligibility review. Prism can help organize the description and provider questions within an agreed consultation scope. The provider determines eligibility and account terms; Prism confirms scope, responsibilities, fees and terms before work.
Platform responsibility and contract map
Use the last column for the entity, supporting document or record, and any unresolved question. Complete one map for each materially different payment flow. Read the rows together; no single visible name classifies the whole arrangement.
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.
Platform responsibility and contract map. The last column is for temporary notes.
Responsibility or record
Where to establish it
Limit of that evidence
Your map
Seller and stated legal role
Where to establish itThe operative platform agreement and seller terms, with dates and clause references.
Limit of that evidenceAn account label or PCI merchant definition does not independently establish legal merchant-of-record status.
Payment-service contracting party
Where to establish itThe agreement with the acquirer or processor, or the platform’s written explanation of that relationship.
Limit of that evidenceA dashboard logo does not identify every contracting party.
Account holding the customer charge
Where to establish itThe charge record and platform confirmation for this actual flow.
Limit of that evidenceA connected account receiving a transfer need not hold the original charge.
Buyer-facing statement name
Where to establish itAuthorized receipt/descriptor records or provider confirmation; record the name only.
Limit of that evidenceA descriptor can reflect payment configuration and is not conclusive evidence of legal status.
Payout sender and tax-form issuer
Where to establish itPayout advice and any actual tax form; record entities and document references only.
Limit of that evidencePayment distribution and tax reporting do not independently classify the sales contract.
Refund and dispute responsibilities
Where to establish itAgreement clauses, actual case records and confirmation of the submission and funding roles.
Limit of that evidenceThe person handling evidence and the account bearing a debit are separate facts.
Storefront, checkout and settlement alignment
Where to establish itThe public seller identity, checkout identity and settlement-recipient entity.
Limit of that evidenceDifferent names require explanation; do not silently substitute one for another.
Role confirmation still needed
Where to establish itThe unresolved clause or inconsistent record and the contracting party able to answer.
Limit of that evidenceState the uncertainty in the inquiry until a written answer resolves it.
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
Connect documentation describes Stripe’s payment configurations, not universal platform rules or a legal finding about your arrangement.
Do not change accounts, move funds or use a platform relationship to conceal the actual seller or catalog.
Keep full account numbers, tax identifiers, card data, identity documents and credentials out of the worksheet and public inquiry.
Stripe Connect — checked 2026-09-29. Connect supports multi-party payments, including platforms serving businesses that collect from their own customers and marketplaces distributing customer payments. The overview alone does not determine merchant-of-record status.
Stripe Connect charge types — checked 2026-09-29. Stripe distinguishes charges on a connected account from charges on the platform, with different balance and refund/dispute effects. Its on_behalf_of configuration affects business-of-record and statement information; it does not by itself settle legal merchant obligations.
PCI DSS merchant definition — checked 2026-09-21. PCI DSS defines a merchant by card acceptance; this definition does not establish the legal role under a particular platform agreement.
Stripe help: getting started through a platform — checked 2026-09-21. Stripe’s third-party-platform support guidance routes platform users to the relevant platform and authenticated Dashboard support, without full card numbers or CVC.
Prism solutions — checked 2026-09-21. Prism can organize the business description and provider questions within agreed scope; eligibility and account terms remain the provider’s decision.
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