Tracking old-account responsibilities when changing payment providers

Changing the checkout is not the same as moving the account

WooCommerce's settings documentation says payment providers are enabled under WooCommerce, then Settings, then Payments. Enabling a provider changes which methods can appear at checkout. It does not say that earlier orders move to the new provider. WooCommerce's refund documentation still ties an automatic refund to the gateway that took that order.

This page is the register of what remains on the old account. It is not the schedule for switching the storefront, and it is not a cash-flow model of the new offer. Assume nothing transfers until the old agreement or the old provider says that item moves.

Refunds stay with the payment that was taken

WooCommerce's refund documentation says an automatic refund returns money through the payment method used for that order, and only when that gateway supports it. A manual refund records the refund in WooCommerce and does not itself return money through the gateway. Changing an order's status to Refunded or Cancelled does not automatically refund the customer. The document also says the gateway's balance can affect how a refund is processed, and that the gateway's own documentation is the source for a negative balance.

Stripe's refund documentation says a refund goes back to the original payment method, not to a different card or bank account, and that it uses the available Stripe balance. You cannot refund more than the original charge. Stripe also says its processing fees from the original transaction are not returned. A refund you still owe is handled on the account that took the payment. Pointing the new checkout at a new provider does not refund the old charge.

Keep the refund on the register until the old account shows it completed or the old provider tells you, in writing, that it cannot be processed and what remains for you to do. Do not close the refund out of the register because the new account is live.

Disputes and open orders stay where they started

Stripe's disputes documentation says a dispute occurs when a cardholder questions a payment with the card issuer. The issuer creates a formal dispute on the card network, the payment is reversed, and Stripe debits the account balance for the payment amount and the dispute fee. The response is submitted for that dispute. A new provider's dashboard does not become the place where that dispute is answered.

An open order is still your operational responsibility. If it is paid and not yet fulfilled, record the fulfillment state separately from the account that holds the payment. If it is authorized and not captured, ask the provider that authorized it whether capture is still available. Do not cancel the order, and do not tell a buyer the order is finished, merely because you enabled a different gateway. This page does not set a capture window. That window is whatever the provider that authorized the payment states.

Stripe's payments terms say that after those terms end, the user must fulfill obligations related to existing transactions and must not accept new transactions through the services. Stripe says it will complete transactions that were initiated before termination only when it still would have completed them. Regional terms prevail if they conflict. That clause is a reason to keep existing transactions on the register. It is not a statement that every other provider uses the same rule.

Balances, records, and the contract need a written answer

Stripe's general terms say termination does not relieve amounts payable for the period before the effective date of termination, and that termination does not affect other agreements unless they say so. A remaining balance, a reserve, or a fee is whatever the old account and the old agreement show. Copy the amount and the label. Do not net it against the new provider's first payout.

Whether you can still open the old dashboard after the account is closed is unknown until that provider says so. Ask before you close it: which refunds are still open, which disputes are still open, what balance remains, and how long the records stay available. Stripe's payments terms describe one provider's post-termination duties. They do not describe record access at a different company.

You decide what to put on the register and when you are ready to ask those questions. The old provider decides what it will still process. The new provider decides whether it will open its own account. Confirm any requested record-transfer, refund-assistance, or account-transition responsibilities in the agreed scope. A consultation can help you describe the business and the website question. It does not transfer the old account.

Old-account responsibility register

One row set for the account you are leaving. Do not mark an item closed unless the old account or a written reply shows that it is closed. Do not move an item to the new provider because the checkout setting changed. 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.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. The consultation form does not include these entries.