Understand Account Funding Transactions (AFTs)Beta

Understand Account Funding Transactions (AFTs) and how to accurately classify them.

Beta

AFTs are in private beta and subject to change. If you have any questions or feedback, contact us or your Stripe account team directly.

Unlike usual transactions that involve an exchange of goods or services, Account Funding Transactions facilitate operations such as moving money between accounts, topping up prepaid cards or wallets, and making person-to-person payments.

Most businesses that use AFTs fall under one of the following merchant category codes (MCCs): 4829, 6012, 6211, 6051.

Costs and limits

Businesses that process AFTs must adhere to the following costs and limits:

Transaction costs: AFTs have different interchange and scheme rates compared to regular transactions. These rates might vary by geographical region.
Transaction and velocity limits: AFTs are subject to certain per-transaction and aggregate limits and might be declined by the network if the applicable limit is exceeded.

The thresholds listed below are limits per card, rather than limits per processor.

Visa and Mastercard limits across all regions are as follows as of the dates indicated below:

For Visa, Money Transfer refers to Account-to-Account (AA), Person-to-Person (PP), Funds Transfer (FT), and Wallet Transfer (WT). Non-Money Transfer refers to forms of Funds Disbursement (FD) and Payroll Disbursement (PD).

For Mastercard, certain regional variations to the Mastercard Moneysend limits appear in the April 2023 Program Standards.

Additional considerations for processing AFTs

Authorization rates: There can be risks associated with AFTs, such as the potential of fraud. You might find that your authorization rates are lower than those for conventional transactions.
Non-compliance fines: Failure to comply with network mandated-requirements for processing AFTs might result in penalty fees.
Other legal requirements: Processing AFTs or similar transactions might subject you to other legal requirements. You’re responsible for your compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and network rules when performing these transactions, including providing any necessary notices to, and obtaining any necessary rights and consents from, the applicable individuals involved. Consult with a professional if you’re unsure about your obligations.

Integration and compliance with card network

To enable AFTs for your business, you might need to update your integration to send additional sender and recipient details to Stripe through metadata for each transaction. Review the specific field requirements. You must fulfill the mandatory requirements to make sure you’re compliant with the card network rules. Contact us or your Stripe account team directly for assistance.