What is Stripe Connect?

Posted by Ella Jacques on 9 January 2023

How does Givergy Collect payment?

There are two ways we can collect payment – Pre-Authorisation or via Payment Notifications.

Pre-Authorization is a payment method whereby all bidders would be required to register their card details at the point of registration on the site or when placing a bid. Their cards can then simply be charged at the close of the campaign.

If you chose not to pre-authorize cards of your guests or you have payments that have been unsuccessful, you can send them a payment link via SMS or email in order for them to complete payment for their winning item(s).

In order to collect funds on your behalf, we need to set you up with a Stripe Connect Account. Stripe is one of the world’s biggest online payment systems and allows for a seamless payment experience, from your donors straight through to your bank account.

What is Stripe Connect? 

Stripe Connect enhances our ability to provide best-in-class customer service, eliminating any risk of delayed payment by removing Givergy as the aggregator and the need to reconcile between 15,000 and 20,000 payments each month.

Each week we automatically deposit the funds in your Stripe account which in-turn will be transferred to your bank account – once this deposit is made (usually on a Monday) a ‘Stripe Payout Report’ will appear in the Givergy system for you to download.

The Benefits:

• The very latest in global payment technology
• Seamless experience for the guest / user
• Ring-fenced sub-client accounts
• Faster transfer of charity profits on agreed dates
• Easy reconciliation for the charity
• PCI compliant

How it Works:

Dedicated Sub-accounts

Payments received from your donors will immediately be assigned to your own dedicated Stripe sub-account and be held securely by Stripe until it is transferred to your bank account. This means that you will be able to login in to your event on the Givergy Campaign Management System (CMS) to see the exact state of your payment collection, how much has been collected and from whom at any time.

Automatic Payment Transfer

Stripe Connect automates payment transfers every 7 days. All money collected in the Stripe sub-account at that time will be transferred directly to your nominated bank account. This money cannot be transferred to any other account, so all your funds are completely protected.

Connect Account Set Up Requirements:

Setup of a Stripe sub-account is very simple and only requires some basic information about you and your company / charity which will allow us to link your nominated bank account with your sub-account for fraud prevention purposes.

How do I set up my Stripe Connect Account?

FAQs:

Q. Why do I need to complete these details?
Clients must complete the enrolment details so we can set up your Connect account. These details must be completed in full to prevent issues when creating the Stripe Account which might cause payment delays because of fraud prevention checks.

Q. Why do you need my personal details and proof of identity?
The reason we need this information is that Stripe and their financial partners must comply with the ‘Know Your Customer’ regulations. This includes both the business/charity numbers as well as personal information from the individual authorizing transfer of funds into that business account. In essence, this is to prevent banking institutions, like Stripe, from inadvertently being involved in criminal activities such as fraud, money-laundering or funding of extremist/terrorist organizations. 
Click on the link here for more information: https://stripe.com/docs/connect/identity-verification
Click on the link here to the KYC regulations.

Q. Does it need to be someone from our finance team that gives their personal details?
No. The account representative can be any person who is authorized to open a Stripe account on behalf of a business, and Stripe collect and verify their information as part of their KYC obligations. They do not require that the individual has any special authorization to the business bank account.

Q. Is the company representative personally financially liable for the funds flowing through Stripe? 
No. The representative is simply someone to whom Stripe can tie verification and authorization.

Q. Is all our information held securely?
Both Givergy and Stripe’s systems follow strict Information Security polices and are fully PCI compliant. All their data is therefore stored securely. For instance, once uploaded, no-one can access the copy of the customers ID.

Q. Where can I see a report of each payment into our bank account?
There is a report in the Givergy CMS that will allow you to see a breakdown of all the individual transactions that make up the payment into your bank account.

Q. Where are the client funds held?
Stripe holds all user funds in an omnibus account with its local banking partner. Stripe tracks the amount of funds in the omnibus account that is owed to each user. This sub-accounting helps maintain a structure so that each user’s funds are viewed as being separate and distinct from any other user’s funds. This also allows Stripe, it’s partners and any other third parties to pay the appropriate amounts to the appropriate parties in the unlikely event of Stripe’s insolvency.

Q. Why do I need to update information for my business?
Updating information about your business is required to help protect against fraud and to stay current with Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. They are requirements that all payment processers like Stripe are implementing.

Q. Why am I being asked for information about who owns and manages my company?
In certain cases, we are required to collect, verify, and maintain information about a company’s owners or directors. These requirements come from government regulators and help promote transparency and prevent financial crimes.

Q. Do I have to be a beneficial owner of the business to fill out this information?
No. You can add information about a business’ beneficial owners on their behalf. If other members of your team would like to directly submit the required information, you will need to give them access to the CMS so they can add themselves.

Q. What happens if I do not update my information?
If you cannot update your account information, payouts to your bank account and your ability to accept payments may be paused. We want to make sure that does not happen, so please let us know how we can help.

Further Information

For further information about Stripe and your Connect account please see the links below:
https://stripe.com/connect 
https://stripe.com/docs/transfers 

If you would like more information on fundraising and payment solutions for your upcoming fundraising campaign or event, please get in touch!

Ella Jacques

Global Client Services Manager at Givergy

Ella heads up the global Fundraising & Events team. A key part of Givergy’s growth for four years, Ella has a passion for event planning and ensuring her and her teams’ clients exceed their fundraising targets. Furthermore, Ella’s exposure to some of the highest-profile fundraising events gives her a unique insight into the newest and most innovative way in which charities are engaging with their audiences.