Fraud warnings and holds
An early fraud warning comes from the card network when a cardholder reports a charge they say they didn't make. It often comes before a formal dispute. When one arrives, Paybrain holds the payment's amount in your balance, so the money is still there if the charge is reversed.
What Paybrain does
- Holds the full amount of the flagged payment. It's taken out of your Available Balance and out of any payout Paybrain sends, including deposits at closeout.
- Tells you. You get an Early Fraud Warning notification in the Paybrain app and an email about the payment under review.
- May pause payouts. On some accounts, more than one held payment pauses payouts until they're sorted out. Balance then shows Payouts Restricted with the reason.
Paybrain doesn't refund the customer for you. That decision is yours.
See what's on hold
On the web, an alert at the top of Balance lists each held payment with the amount on hold. Click through to the sale. In the Paybrain app, held payments are listed on the Balance tab.
The sale's page on the web also shows a Funds on Hold banner.
Depending on your account, holds are labelled Recommended Reserves or Fraud Warnings Detected.
Decide what to do
| If | Then |
|---|---|
| You don't recognize the order, or can't show the customer made it | Refund it. A refund usually heads off a formal dispute and its fee. See Refunds and voids. |
| You know the customer and the sale was real | Contact them. People sometimes don't recognize a charge on their statement. |
| A dispute is opened | Respond with evidence. See Disputes. |
Release a hold
If the sale's banner shows Remove Reserve(s), you can release the hold yourself. Click it, then Yes, Release Reserve. The money goes back into your available balance. Releasing a hold doesn't stop a dispute: if the charge is reversed later, it comes out of your balance.
If there's no Remove Reserve(s) button, contact support to have the hold reviewed.
Account reviews
Stripe sometimes reviews an account. While it does, payouts are paused and you'll get an Account Under Review notification. When the review is approved you'll get Review Approved, and payouts start again.