Service agreement types

The connected account’s service agreement type determines what capabilities the account has access to, and which service agreement applies to the platform’s users.

Supported agreement types

Connected accounts can be under one of the following service agreement types: full or recipient. After a connected account accepts it, you can’t modify the type of service agreement.

Full service agreement

A full service agreement creates a service relationship between Stripe and the connected account holder. Connected accounts under the full service agreement can process card payments and request the card_payments capability.

For the legal language, see the Stripe Connected Account Agreement.

Recipient service agreement

A recipient service agreement acknowledges that Stripe has no direct service relationship with the recipient. Instead, the recipient has a relationship only with the platform. Accounts under this agreement can’t process payments or request the card_payments capability. Transfers to recipient accounts take an additional 24 hours to become available in the connected account’s balance.

The recipient service agreement is available in select countries. Refer to the required verification information to verify the supported countries.

Stripe supports cross-border payouts for platforms using a recipient service agreement through Global payouts. Stripe doesn’t provide direct support to accounts on the recipient service agreement, but you (the platform) can contact Stripe for support on behalf of those accounts.

Choosing the agreement type

You can specify the agreement type through the Accounts API.

Accounts API

To choose a recipient service agreement when creating an account, specify the agreement type with tos_acceptance[service_agreement]:

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/accounts \
  -u "
sk_test_BQokikJOvBiI2HlWgH4olfQ2
:" \
  -d country=US \
  -d "controller[stripe_dashboard][type]"=none \
  -d "controller[fees][payer]"=application \
  -d "controller[losses][payments]"=application \
  -d "controller[requirement_collection]"=application \
  -d "capabilities[transfers][requested]"=true \
  -d "tos_acceptance[service_agreement]"=recipient

The same principle applies when updating an account:

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/accounts/
{{CONNECTED_ACCOUNT_ID}} \
  -u "
sk_test_BQokikJOvBiI2HlWgH4olfQ2
:" \
  -d "tos_acceptance[service_agreement]"=recipient

Connect Configuration settings

To choose a recipient service agreement for connected accounts with access to the Express Dashboard, select the Transfers option with the Restricted Capability Access icon in the Configuration settings section of the Stripe Dashboard.

You can override the Configuration settings for an individual account by specifying its capabilities and service agreement type with the Accounts API.

Accepting the correct agreement

Stripe handles the service agreement acceptance if you use Stripe-hosted onboarding or Embedded onboarding. For API onboarding, the platform must attest that their user has seen and accepted the service agreement. See service agreement acceptance for more information.