When the platform holds your money
The customer paid three weeks ago. The money is somewhere in a platform’s balance, due to arrive on a schedule you did not choose.
Find out whether you are the merchant of record. If the platform collects on your behalf, it controls the timing, the refunds and the reserve. If you are the merchant, the money is yours as it settles.
The question worth asking first#
Whose payment processing account is the charge made on? Everything else follows from the answer.
- The platform collects on your behalf
- They hold the money and pay you out on their schedule — weekly, monthly, sometimes with a reserve held back. Refunds go through them. Their statement, not yours, appears on the customer's card.
- You are the merchant of record
- The charge is made on your own processing account. The money is yours as it settles, payouts run on your processor's schedule, and refunds are yours to issue.
Why it matters more than the percentage#
- Cash flow. A monthly payout cycle on a business with weekly costs is a working capital problem.
- Refunds. If the platform holds the money, you are asking permission to refund your own customer.
- Account closure. If the relationship ends badly, the balance is on their side of it.
- The customer's statement. An unfamiliar name on a card statement is a chargeback waiting to happen.
How Business Box is set up#
Business Box uses Stripe Connect Standard, which means you are the merchant of record. The card payment is created directly on your own Stripe account. The money never passes through us, we take no commission, and we cannot hold it, delay it or reverse it.
Payouts are Stripe's, to your bank, on Stripe's normal schedule. Refunds are yours to issue from the booking, immediately. Your business name is what the customer sees on their statement. How the money flows
The consequence of that choice#
Stated honestly: because it is your Stripe account, Stripe reviews and approves it, and that approval is entirely theirs. Occasionally it takes longer than an afternoon and there is nothing we can do to speed it up. That is the price of the money being unambiguously yours. The approval step
And your records stay yours#
Every payment is in your own Stripe dashboard with its fees, payouts and receipts — the complete record, in a system you control and can take with you.
Common questions
Who holds the money when a customer pays for a booking?
You do. The charge is created on your own Stripe account, so the money is yours as it settles and Business Box never holds it.
How quickly do I get paid?
On Stripe’s normal payout schedule to your bank account, which is between you and Stripe. Business Box is not in the path and cannot delay it.
Can I issue a refund myself?
Yes, from the booking, at any time and in full. Cancelling a paid booking yourself refunds it automatically.
Set this up in about ten minutes
Business Box is free for as long as you like, with no card required — booking pages, Google and Outlook calendar sync, availability, Japanese public holidays and the website widget. Taking card payment for bookings is ¥1,200 a month, tax included, with no commission on what you sell.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026.