Payment Setup Checklist for US bank accounts

To access the Payment Setup Checklist, go to the Settings section of your Dashboard and select Bank & Payments from the sidebar. The checklist is located on the Overview tab.

Learn more about each step by clicking into the sections below.

We work with a payment processor called Stripe to connect your bank account to FareHarbor. Read through and accept our Terms of Service as well as Stripe’s Connected Account Agreement. Check the box next to I accept the Terms of Service, then click Save.

Extended Verification

What is it “extended verification” and why do I need to complete it?

You will need to provide some extra information in order for FareHarbor to be able to correctly process payments. The reason “extended” verification is required is due to a federal regulation called “Know Your Customer” (KYC). This extra verification step ensures that a real person is connected to your business. Learn more.

How to complete the Customer Verification step

Follow the steps listed on Accessing the Payment Setup Checklist to get started. When completing the customer verification step, you will be taken to a secure portal to enter in your information.

When you are finished and select Done, you will be redirected back to your Payment Setup Checklist in FareHarbor.

Important Information

1. For Individual Information, please ensure that the legal name is entered as provided on a valid photo identification (eg: Passport or Driver’s License). Don’t use nicknames.
2. PO Boxes are not accepted as valid addresses.
3. Ensure that any ID (Business ID, Tax ID, Social Security Number etc) that you provide is accurate. Any errors will later require additional verification to be completed before you can start accepting payments.

Additional Identification

Sometimes, after the initial verification, you will be asked for additional verification. In some cases this request will be for a Social Security Number. In other cases, you will need to upload a copy of an ID in the form of a passport, identity card, or driver’s license.

The secure online portal will guide you through how to upload and process your additional identification for customer verification.

Note: For any ID verification, the image must be in color, clear, and complete. You will need to upload an image of the front and back of the ID card, or the photo page of the passport. This is best done in a well lit room against a solid color background with no flash.

To complete this step, you will need to have your bank account information on hand.

1. Ensure that you have the Manage bank accounts permission enabled for your user account in Settings > Users & Groups > Group Permissions > Permissions.
2. From your Bank & Payments overview, click the Bank accounts tab at the top of the page. You should see a form titled “Add bank account.”
3. In the Add bank account form, select whether the account holder is an Individual or a Company.
4. Enter the account holder’s name (either the individual’s name or the company name).
5. Enter the account number.
6. Enter the routing number.
7. Click Add bank account.

After you’ve finished adding a bank account, our payment processor Stripe will make two small deposits (each less than $1) to the bank account for verification. These deposits will be used to verify your bank account.

1. Ensure that you have the Manage bank accounts permission enabled for your user account in Settings > Users & Groups > Group Permissions > Permissions.

2. Check your bank statement for two small deposits (less than $1). The deposit description will be listed as either Stripe or FareHarbor, depending on your bank.

3. Navigate back to the Bank accounts tab.

4. Click the blue Verify now button.

   

5. Enter the amounts exactly as they appear in your statement, without a dollar sign. When entering the deposit amounts, there should be a decimal point before the number to indicate that the amount is in cents (0.32 instead of 32).

   

6. Click Verify.

Once the new bank account has been verified, it will take seven calendar days for the account to be available for payouts. This is a security measure for new bank accounts.

Important notes:

• This applies only to newly added bank accounts. Existing, previously verified accounts will continue to receive payouts without interruption.
• For new clients: This security measure has no impact on your go-live date.
• You will still be able to accept payments during this period.

You can track the status of your new bank account and whether it’s available for payouts in your Bank Accounts tab (Settings > Bank & Payments > Bank Accounts).

• Pending – The account is verified but not yet eligible to receive payouts (less than seven days old).
• Verified – The account is eligible to receive payouts (seven days or older).

Verifying bank accounts for multiple Dashboards

If you have multiple FareHarbor Dashboards that share the same bank account, please note the following:

If the same bank account is added to multiple Dashboards on the same day, you’ll see a total of two verification deposits in your bank account (as opposed to two deposits for each Dashboard). You can then use those same deposit amounts in the verification step for each Dashboard with the associated bank account (this is done to avoid confusion over which deposits are associated with which Dashboard).

Your refund reserve allows you to hold money in FareHarbor to use specifically for refunds. We recommend keeping money in your refund reserve to ensure that any refunds can be processed as quickly as possible.

In this step of the Payment Setup Checklist, you can set up a recurring transfer to set aside money from future payouts to ensure your refund reserve always has sufficient funds.

To learn how to set up a recurring transfer, and to learn more about how to manage your refund reserve, visit this page.

Why don’t I see the Add bank account button?

Your user account must have the Manage bank accounts permission enabled in Settings in order to add, edit, verify or remove bank accounts, even if you have previously had the ability to do so. Until this permission is added to your account in the Permission Groups, all existing bank accounts will be in read-only mode.

I added my bank account – why don’t I see the verification deposits in my statement?

Depending on your bank, it can take up to 3 business days for the verification deposits to appear in your statement. If you do not see the deposits after three days, the deposits could have expired and been removed. The deposits are only valid for 3 business days after they are received. If your deposits have expired, please remove your bank account and re-add it. If you’re still having trouble, feel free to reach out.

Why do I only see one verification deposit?

Sometimes banks will combine the two deposits into one lump sum because they entered your account at the same time. In this case, we recommend giving your bank a call and asking if they are able to see the two separate deposits.

If that does not work, try deleting and re-adding your bank account. This should result in two new deposits. Remember that it can take up to 3 business days for the new deposits to appear (this is done to avoid confusion over which deposits are associated with which Dashboard).

How soon will I start receiving payments after adding my bank account?

Your first payout will be initiated the day your bank account is verified. However, it may take up to 5 business days for the first payout to appear in your bank account, and 1-3 business days for any following payouts. You can check your payout status using the Payouts report.

If the status is marked as Succeeded, FareHarbor has successfully made the deposit and your bank has verified with us that they have received it. It may still take a day or two for the funds to appear in your account, depending on your bank.

Why am I being asked to provide my full Social Security Number or photo ID?

In some cases, our payment processor Stripe may require additional materials as part of its business verification process. When this happens, Stripe will send a notification to us and we will contact you directly to have you complete the necessary information.

Acceptable forms of photo ID include your passport or driver’s license. The copy must be in color and high quality, with no edges cut off. Please provide a copy of the front and back of the ID card or the photo page of the passport.

The three options below are located next to the Payment Setup Checklist (click Edit to update them).

• Processor: In most cases this will always be Stripe (Balanced was the payment processor FareHarbor used prior to Stripe).

• Allow linked and unlinked refunds: Linked refunds are enabled by default. Unlinked refunds are usually not necessary unless the company has charges with our legacy payment processor, Balanced. Learn more about refunding legacy charges.

• Card statement text: This is where you can edit the text that appears on end customers’ bank statements for their booking or purchase. Learn more about card statement text here.

If a company has a US bank account but an address that is not in a standard US format, they will need to enter a valid US address that is connected to their business. Please note: PO Box addresses are not supported.

This step in the Payment Setup Checklist can only be completed by FareHarbor Admins, and is only required in some cases:

• If Stripe is unable to verify the identity of the user with the last 4 of the SSN and DOB
• If additional identification documents are needed for businesses operating outside of the US, according to Stripe’s requirements

Not sure if extended verification is required? Follow one of the below steps to check.

1. If you have access to Stripe, log in and view the account (or, search the #support-notifications channel in Slack for a notification from Kilroy).

   

   This will help you determine whether or not extended verification is needed.

2. Transfer the ticket or phone to the Payment Processing team and they can look into it further.

Additional Information:

• Social Security Number: Stripe first asks for the last 4 digits of the SSN. Only in cases where the last 4 digits cannot be verified, Stripe asks for the full Social Security Number. Stripe notifies Payment Operations when more information is required.

• Stripe will highlight information that is missing or that needs to be updated.

• Verification appears to take 1-2 business days to complete.

When do new bank accounts start receiving payouts?

After a new bank account has been added and verified, it will take at least seven calendar days before the first payout is received by the client. This is a security measure on FareHarbor’s end that applies only to newly added bank accounts. Existing, previously verified accounts will continue to receive payouts without interruption.

Note: This seven day delay for payouts has no impact on:

• The go-live date.
• Accepting payments.

The client can track the payout status of their new bank account and whether it’s available for payouts on the Bank Accounts tab (Settings > Bank & Payments > Bank Accounts).

• Pending – The account is verified but not yet eligible to receive payouts (less than seven days old).
• Verified – The account is eligible to receive payouts (seven days or older).

• First try removing and re-adding the bank account details (information may have been entered incorrectly the first time).
• If that doesn’t work, request that they send us a copy of a voided check. Once we receive a voided check, we can remove and re-add the bank account ourselves to make sure it was entered correctly.

To reset the Terms of Service and Customer Verification steps of the Payment Setup Checklist, you’ll need to contact Stripe directly at support@stripe.com with the company name and FareHarbor Dashboard URL.

This information is controlled in the Platform account we have with Stripe, which can only be accessed by the FH Dev team and Stripe.

If setting up a test bank account, use the following info:

• Account number: 000123456789
• Routing number: 110000000
• Verification amounts: .32 and .45
• When entering tax verification info, you can make up a business owner name and use 0000 as the last 4 digits of their SSN. Choose “As an individual” and enter any address to complete the step.

If setting up an international Dashboard, see this page for a list of demo account numbers by country.

Here are some additional notes about each step of the payment setup process:

• The company must accept the Terms of Service themselves, we cannot do it on their behalf. The TOS can be accessed through the links in the text.

• The information required in the customer verification step will vary depending on the processing country. To check the processing country, go to Settings > Bank & Payments and look for the Country field (must be logged in as a FH Admin).

• The customer verification step typically leads to some questions and pushback. Here’s what you need to know:

  • If a user is trying to enter their customer verification information and the info is not saving, this is usually because extended verification is needed.

  • If the company has an EIN, they should file their taxes as a corporation. If they don’t have an EIN, then they should file as an individual. EIther way we must collect the Account holder’s legal name, birth date, and last 4 of his/her social security.

  • Additional resources about this process:

    • Re-verifying payment setup information – This page answers frequently asked questions about the customer verification process. You can send this page to clients if they have questions.

    • Why do you need my date of birth and 4 digits of my Social Security Number? (Stripe Support help page)

    • What is the process for verifying managed accounts? (Stripe Support help page)

• Fun fact: The symbols on the Add bank account form appear on checks next to the corresponding numbers to help people know which number is which. The routing number comes first on the check and is 9 digits long.