What To Do If Your Charity Stripe Account Is Restricted

If you notice that your Stripe account is restricted, don't worry – this is usually straightforward to resolve.

At Give as you Live Donate, we sometimes see Stripe Connect accounts restricted when they can't complete the verification checks required by financial regulations. Below are five common reasons restrictions happen and how to fix them.

Contents:

• Missing verification document
• Personal ID is required
• Required sections are incomplete
• Restricted jurisdictions
• Additional compliance checks

1. Verification document is missing or rejected

Stripe must verify your organisation to receive payments. To do this, you will need to share a document that confirms your charity name and address. You can upload this to the 'Business details' section on your Stripe authorisation form. This will look like this:

Why verification documents can be rejected:

Stripe may reject documents if:

• The document has expired
• The organisation name does not match the name used on your Stripe account exactly
• The document is cropped or incomplete
• The file is a screenshot rather than the original document
• The image is unclear or unreadable
• The file format is incorrect (documents should be PDF, JPEG or PNG)
• Only one side of a document was uploaded when both sides are required

Source: https://stripe.com/docs/acceptable-verification-documents

2. Stripe requires personal identification

Stripe must verify the identity of at least one individual connected to your charity. This is required under anti-money laundering regulations (KYC – Know Your Customer).

What ID does Stripe accept:

Stripe accepts the following:

• Passport
• Driving Licence
• National ID
• Government-issued ID that shows your face

If you have already uploaded your ID, it is possible that it could not be verified. If this is the case, you will see the following once you click on the individual under ‘Management and ownership’ on the Stripe form:

Source: https://stripe.com/docs/connect/identity-verification

3. Required sections of the Stripe form are incomplete

Stripe might restrict an account if required sections of the authorisation form are missed. Even small details can trigger a restriction.

Common sections that can be missed include:

• Charity number – You can upload this in the CRN box within the 'Business details' section
• Personal ID – Stripe requires at least one person to be assigned to the account to upload their ID
• Job title – Stripe needs this to verify the individual's role within your organisation
• Address - Stripe needs this to verify an individual's address

If required information is missing, Stripe will mark the section as incomplete until the information is provided, e.g.:

If you do not see sections showing as incomplete, please check each section to see if you have missed uploading an ID or a company verification document. If you are unsure, you can reach out to our charity team for support.

4. Your charity is linked to restricted jurisdictions

Stripe operates under international financial regulations and sanctions rules. Because of this, Stripe does not allow accounts connected to certain high-risk jurisdictions.

If Stripe sees references to these regions on your website or activities, your account may be restricted.

Examples include:

• Cuba
• Iran
• North Korea
• Syria

You can find the full list here: https://stripe.com/gb/legal/restricted-businesses

Restrictions may apply if your charity operates in these regions, sends funds to these regions or promotes activities connected to them.

5. Stripe needs additional compliance checks

In some cases, Stripe may request additional information before allowing payouts. This is part of Stripe’s compliance checks to prevent fraud and financial crime.

Examples include:

• Additional documentation confirming the organisation
• Verification of individuals associated with the charity
• Clarification of your charity activities

These checks are standard for payment platforms handling financial transactions.

Source: https://stripe.com/docs/connect

What to do if your Stripe account is still restricted

If your charity account is restricted, you can usually resolve the issue by completing the missing verification steps:

Stripe typically reviews submissions within 2–3 business days. Once Stripe can verify the information, the restriction will usually be lifted. If your account remains restricted after following these steps, please reach out to our charity team here.