Stripe Connect platforms absorb the loss when a connected account's balance goes negative

For accounts where the platform is responsible for losses, which covers Custom and most Express configurations, a chargeback or refund that drives a connected account's balance below zero is debited from the platform's own balance. Stripe does not pursue the merchant on the platform's behalf. This surfaces as unexplained platform-balance debits months after a sale, especially for marketplaces that pay out immediately after each charge.

Stripe now restates Standard, Express and Custom in terms of explicit controller properties on the Account object, including one covering payment losses, which turns the liability from an implication of the account type into an inspectable field. Confirm by reading the controller object. Mitigate with a delayed payout schedule or a held reserve rather than paying out on capture.