Your Stripe account is closed or your payouts are on hold
Stripe's agreement lets it close an account at any time, and its unacceptable risk policy typically pauses payouts for 120 days before a review. Below: what Stripe and the card networks publish, why growth on a cross-border set-up draws reviews, what a real Latvian company changes and what it does not, and what to do now.
What the Stripe Services Agreement allows
Closure and held funds are written into the terms you accepted.
Section 10.1(b)(ii)(1) of the Stripe Services Agreement, as amended on 28 September 2026, reads: "Unless otherwise agreed in writing, Stripe may terminate this Agreement or close User's Stripe Account at any time." The EEA terms add no contractual notice; the terms for Australia and New Zealand give 30 days. In the EEA your contract is with Stripe Payments Europe, Limited, under Irish law (Stripe Services Agreement). The Payments terms also let Stripe delay or cancel payouts, or set a reserve, after excessive disputes or refunds, fraud or unacceptable risk (Payments terms, 5.3).
Payouts typically paused for 120 days
The policy covers all users of Stripe Payments. Stripe will typically restrict or pause payouts for 120 days from its first email, then release all or part of the balance, keep holding it or cancel the payout (policy, updated 29 July 2026).
Normally 30 to 90 days
A reserve is fixed, rolling (for example over 30 days) or combined with a transfer from your balance. Stripe sends the terms first (Stripe, reserves), and in rare cases a reserve may be required indefinitely (reserves FAQ).
After closure, your liability stays
Termination does not cancel what you owe Stripe (SSA, section 10.2). A closed account can no longer refund customers or answer disputes, and it cannot be reopened (Stripe help).
The triggers Stripe and the card networks publish
| Trigger | What is checked | Threshold or consequence | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity and company checks | A name, address or ID number that differs from the account; missing owners or directors; an altered document; a website that does not match | Payouts typically disabled if information misses the deadline | Stripe verification docs |
| Prohibited | Gambling, adult content, crypto mining; persons located in, resident in or citizens of jurisdictions such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria, or on sanctions lists | Stripe's services may not be used | Stripe list, updated 22 September 2026 |
| Restricted | Money transmitters, currency exchange, crypto exchanges, travel booking agencies | Extra due diligence; approval revocable at any time | Stripe list |
| Credit review | Payment before delivery; travel and events are considered high risk | Bank and financial statements requested; a reserve, or closure in rare cases | Credit review FAQ |
| Visa VAMP | Fraud plus disputes, divided by settled remote transactions | EU merchant: 1.5% and 1,500 cases a month since 1 April 2026 (2.2% before); Visa assesses fees | Visa fact sheet |
| Mastercard ECM | Disputes in the month against payments of the month before | 100 to 299 disputes and 1.5% to 2.99%; fines of USD 1,000 to 100,000 from the second month | Stripe, monitoring programmes |
| Mastercard HECM | Same measure, higher band | 300 disputes and 3%; fines up to USD 200,000, plus USD 5 per dispute above 300 from the fourth month | Stripe, monitoring programmes |
Visa aggregates EU volume, so one statement descriptor used in Ireland, France and Germany counts as one account, and a merchant that misses a programme deadline can see the network refuse further payments (Stripe). We found no official figure for the Visa fee per case. Ticketing is not on the restricted list, but for a prepaid event ticket the dispute window opens on the event date, and disputed funds stay held for the whole dispute, usually 2 to 3 months (Stripe). Promoters can read our guide to event tax for non-EU promoters.
Why growth on a cross-border set-up draws a review
Our reading of Stripe's published rules, not a rule Stripe states.
Stripe accepts a US company run from abroad: it must be registered in the US "even if you operate in another country" (US account requirements), and Stripe Atlas forms Delaware LLCs for founders who apply from almost anywhere. The LLC is not, by itself, a reason for refusal.
The pressure comes from consistency. A US account gives the address where most of the business activity is carried out. Stripe names volume that climbs without explanation as a reason for a reserve (reserves FAQ), and owners living outside the US must show an identity document once payments volume exceeds USD 500,000 (Stripe FAQ). When the company, the address, the bank and the place of work sit in different countries, a review triggered by growth has more to reconcile. Atlas itself says it "can't guarantee that your business will be approved to use Stripe payments" (Stripe Atlas).
A single-member LLC with a foreign owner also files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, even with no income, on paper or by fax, and a missing form costs a USD 25,000 penalty (IRS). No source we read ties this to a Stripe closure. Our EU company versus US LLC comparison sets the two routes side by side.
What a Latvian company gives Stripe to check
Each item is public or verifiable. None of it obliges Stripe to accept the account.
Latvia is a supported Stripe country (Stripe global). For an account in a country other than where it mainly operates, a business needs a company registered there, a tax ID, a physical address there that receives mail and a bank account there that is not virtual (Stripe help). A SIA with its Latvian legal address and a Latvian IBAN (Stripe payouts) matches that list.
Records Stripe can compare
The Latvian commercial register is public and records board members, representation rights, paid-up capital and legal address (Commercial Law). Stripe checks account data against it and suspends payouts if the company is not found and you do not confirm it (Stripe).
An address the company answers at
The board declares that the company can be reached at its legal address (Register of Enterprises). The State Revenue Service (VID) can suspend a company repeatedly unreachable there and order banks and payment providers to suspend its settlements (law on taxes and fees).
A number checkable in VIES
A SIA registers for VAT before its first service to a business client in another member state, whatever its turnover, and the VID refuses or removes the number when the company is unreachable or lacks capacity for its declared activity (VAT law). Anyone can check it in VIES.
Books and a published annual report
An accountant, or an external accountant licensed by the VID, keeps the books (Accounting Law). The annual report reaches the VID within 5 months of the year end for micro and small companies, 7 for larger ones, and the register publishes it (Annual Reports Law).
Why substance matters in Latvia
Article 21.¹ of the Latvian anti-money-laundering law bars Latvian banks, payment institutions and e-money institutions from serving a shell arrangement that both lacks documented real activity and sits in a country with no duty to file financial statements; under article 20(3), an institution that ends a relationship under the law bears no civil liability (AML law). A SIA files public accounts but must still document real activity. The article binds Latvian institutions, not providers licensed elsewhere. See our page on business substance for a Latvian SIA.
What a Latvian SIA does not change
Stripe still decides. The same agreement lets it close an EEA account at any time, the 120-day policy covers all Stripe Payments users and VAMP is a global programme. Prohibited businesses, and people tied to the listed jurisdictions, are refused whatever company they own. In 2026 Stripe tightens identity checks on the representative, beneficial owners and directors of accounts with a regulated financial service in 33 European countries, Latvia included (Stripe), and a person living outside the account country verifies with a passport (Stripe). For Estonian e-residency companies, Stripe requires the people linked to the account to live in a supported country (Stripe); we found no such page for Latvia.
What to do now
In the order the deadlines arrive.
Read the reason Stripe gave
It comes by email and in a red Dashboard banner. If Stripe miscategorised your business, its help page offers a review form (Stripe help).
Answer every information request
Late answers typically mean disabled payouts, then possibly stopped payments (Stripe docs).
Export your records
Download payments, payouts, refunds and disputes, and keep bank and financial statements ready for a credit review (Stripe).
Refund or fight disputes
After closure you can no longer do either. Refund what you owe and send evidence on the disputes you can win.
Follow the formal review
Stripe releases, keeps or cancels the held balance. If an appeal option appears on your Balances page, you can contest a reserve (reserves FAQ).
Keep every fact true
Never open an account in another person's name or hide where you live, where your customers are or who owns the business. Stripe verifies the person, the business and its owners (Stripe KYC). Restructure only for a real business reason; our guide to forming an EU company from outside the EU covers the set-up.
What no company structure can promise
No company set-up guarantees that Stripe, or any payment provider, will accept an account or keep it open. The provider decides. Providers close European accounts too: for prohibited or restricted businesses, high dispute or fraud rates and sanctions. Your home country's rules still apply whatever company you form, including foreign-exchange rules, the tax residence of a company managed from home and controlled foreign company rules. Our research did not cover them, so check them with a licensed adviser in your country.
Open points: the Visa fee per case, a written Stripe rule on directors living outside the EEA, whether a Latvian Stripe account can pay out to a euro account abroad, and whether a given US LLC meets the Latvian definition of a shell.
What Balt Partners prepares
We are based in Riga. You keep the relationship with the payment provider.
The Latvian company
We form the SIA and prepare the documents a provider usually asks for, so the register, address and people named match what you declare.
Bank, VAT and accounting
We introduce the SIA to banks or payment institutions, which decide on the account (bank account service), and set up VAT and accounting.
You apply to Stripe
We do not open provider accounts for you, and FPFM SIA does not give legal or tax advice. You apply directly with your real facts.
Other providers
See our pages on a limited PayPal account and alternatives to Mercury.
Questions about a closed or restricted Stripe account
Stripe's help page gives two main reasons: the business does not comply with Stripe's rules and Stripe cannot support it, or it is on the prohibited and restricted list. The reason arrives by email and in a red Dashboard banner. The agreement also lets Stripe close an account at any time unless agreed otherwise in writing.
Under its unacceptable risk policy, Stripe typically restricts or pauses payouts for 120 days from its first email, then releases all or part of the balance, keeps it or cancels the payout. Money tied to an open dispute stays held until the dispute is decided.
It keeps a percentage of each payment over a window, for example 30 days. Stripe says reserves normally last 30 to 90 days, and in rare cases indefinitely. It sends the terms before applying one.
Stripe's credit review guidance says businesses paid before delivery are more exposed to disputes, and it considers travel and events high risk. Restricted businesses such as money transmitters get extra due diligence, and prohibited ones such as gambling cannot use Stripe.
Stripe says a closed account cannot be reopened. It verifies the person who opens an account, the business and its owners, so a new account must state the real facts. Another person's name or hidden ownership does not fix the cause of the closure.
No. The same agreement lets Stripe close European accounts at any time, the 120-day policy covers all Stripe Payments users and the Visa programme is global. A real Latvian company gives Stripe a file in which registration, address, bank account and VAT number point to one country. That reduces mismatches; Stripe still decides.