Onboarding overview

Create cards and financial accounts for your customers (US only).

Complexity: ●●●○○

Example segments: SaaS platforms, e-commerce businesses, and corporate benefits providers.

Milestone 1: Get your use case approved

Start by submitting an intake form that includes a high-level overview of what you’re looking to use Stripe Issuing and Treasury for. If you’re a funded business with a dedicated team of developers, or simply working with a single developer, include those details in the form.

After you submit the form, our team will reach out within 5 days to let you know if your use case is a good fit. We also let you know if we think your desired product or products don’t serve your use case well. During the call, an assigned Stripe account representative asks you more about your use case and motivation as part of our supportability assessment. We also advise you on best practices and how to build a compelling financial services offering.

Following the call, we’ll inform you whether we can support your business within 5 business days (certain use cases can take longer). While you wait, you can build a test mode integration to explore the product’s capabilities, and familiarize yourself with our compliance requirements. If we deem your use case supportable, your account representative provides you with any necessary agreements, and once signed, configures your program.

Milestone 2: Obtain live mode access

To obtain live mode access, you must complete the required compliance tasks. In parallel, we recommend you build your integration in a production environment and operationalize required processes.

Build your integration

At any time, you can explore an integration in test mode using our sample app. After you sign the legal agreement, Stripe configures your program to the capabilities required for your business model. After you receive approval, you can begin submitting live mode transactions.

Manage operational responsibilities

Prior to go-live, you need to take care of various operational responsibilities:

• Customer support: Understand what types of customer inquiries you need to handle and equip your support team with the appropriate information and tools.
• Compliance management: Set up the necessary compliance processes outlined in the compliance section.
• Physical cards: If your use case requires physical cards, you can order standard cards if you want to go to market quickly. Or you can fully customize your cards with unique artwork and materials, if physical cards are a core part of your business.
• Mobile wallets: If your use case necessitates Apple Pay, review the steps required for approval.

Complete compliance tasks

You need to complete a set of compliance tasks before you can launch your integration. Stripe must also review and approve your fees, terms of service, marketing material, and user interfaces. To help in this process, we provide a workflow tool to manage compliance submissions and feedback as well as to help you stay organized.

1. Implement all requirements for a public launch

   You must submit screenshots of your marketing, onboarding, and account servicing flows using the compliance intake form to demonstrate compliance. Before you build user-facing marketing, onboarding, and account servicing pages, review the following content guidelines:

   • Unfair and Deceptive Acts or Practices (UDAP): Keep your advertising clear and honest.
   • Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing (CAN-SPAM): Comply with commercial email messaging.
   • Messaging and marketing: Use the right terms to accurately reflect the account structure and benefits, including Treasury-specific messaging.
   • Prohibition on international marketing: Limit to US-based merchants.
   • Required agreements and disclosures for Treasury, Issuing, and other features: Appropriately disclose fees and required identifying information.

   Stripe requires that you submit screenshots to demonstrate the following:

   • You include all required agreements and disclosures in your onboarding flow, and make them available outside of onboarding.
   • Customers have a channel to submit complaints to you and to initiate transaction disputes.
   • Regulatory emails are sent when required for Issuing accounts.
   • Regulatory receipts are provided when required for Treasury transactions.
   • If you choose to provide account statements, you must submit evidence they meet statement requirements.

2. Get approved to launch to the public

   After you submit your screenshots, Stripe reviews and approves within two weeks or requests additional revisions. If there are any adjustments that need to be made to your submissions, we let you know, so that you can resubmit with the needed adjustments.

Milestone 3: Get ready to launch your BaaS offering

Now you’re ready to request your first virtual or physical card. Using real funds, test the program out by having designated employees complete initial transactions.

Operationalize ongoing activities to remain compliant

Once live, you need to dedicate resources to ongoing operational requirements:

• Marketing reviews: Learn how to submit new marketing material or user interfaces for approval.
• Customer complaints: Receive and resolve customer complaints, and report them to Stripe each month.
• Dispute handling: Set up dispute handling processes for your card program.
• Lost or stolen cards: Allow customers to report lost or stolen cards so you can cancel them immediately and (optionally) request replacements.
• Recordkeeping: Record all marketing materials, customer data, and regulatory receipts, and disclosures you make for at least 5 years.