Stripe, Payment Platform & Fintech Arbitration Lawyers
The platform closed your account and kept the balance. Support sends form replies. The services agreement says any dispute goes to arbitration.
We represent merchants, marketplaces and fintech companies in those arbitrations, and processors and platforms that receive a demand. Counsel in more than 130 arbitrations before AAA, JAMS and NAM since 2019.
The platform wrote the contract. The contract still has duties.
Payment platform agreements give the processor broad discretion to hold funds, set reserves and close accounts. Merchants accept them by clicking.
The same agreements set limits. Reserve periods, release conditions, notice requirements and the arbitration clause itself all bind the platform too.
A merchant who knows those terms can enforce them. A platform that follows them can defend. The difference is usually in the records of why the account was flagged.
Merchant disputes are business disputes. The AAA numbers show the scale.
Published AAA figures for 2025 commercial cases. Most processor agreements name the AAA.
Smaller merchant claims move under expedited procedures. Larger ones get a full schedule. The agreement and the amount decide which. Sources: AAA, Commercial Arbitration; American Arbitration Association (2025 caseload).
Balances, reserves, closures and listings.
Frozen balances and reserves
Claims to release held funds under the agreement’s reserve and payout terms. Accounting of what is held, why and for how long.
Account closures and terminations
Challenges to terminations that skipped the agreement’s notice, cure or review steps, and claims for the losses that followed.
MATCH and terminated-merchant listings
Disputes over listings that block a merchant from processing elsewhere. Evidence that the listing reason was unsupported.
Chargeback and dispute handling
Claims arising from how disputes were presented, fees were charged or losses were debited from the merchant’s balance.
Processor, ISO and referral agreements
Residual payments, portfolio ownership, exclusivity and termination disputes between processors, ISOs and agents.
Defending platform-side demands
Processors and fintech companies that receive a merchant demand. Answers, arbitrability and fee exposure under the clause they wrote.
How a platform arbitration runs.
Most processor clauses require notice and negotiation before filing. The sequence matters.
Agreement and account history
The services agreement, every amendment and the account’s risk and payout history. The claim is framed around the platform’s own terms.
Pre-arbitration notice
Written notice that states the claim and the amount, sent as the clause requires. The negotiation period is used, not wasted.
Demand and arbitrator
Demand filed under the named rules. Arbitrator researched, struck and ranked within the provider’s deadline.
Risk file and records
Requests for the risk review, chargeback data, reserve calculations and internal communications that explain the hold.
Award and release
Resolution or award. If the platform does not pay, the award is confirmed in court and collected.
Counsel and experts, matched to the dispute.
Counsel in more than 130 arbitrations.
Before AAA, JAMS and NAM since 2019, for claimants and for respondents. We know each provider’s list procedures, fee schedules and deadlines, and the courts that compel, confirm and vacate.
Experts retained to fit the case.
Forensic accountants, damages analysts, cybersecurity and authentication specialists, payments professionals, construction engineers and compensation experts, prepared for hearing.
Keep processing elsewhere. Preserve everything here.
The balance is one problem. The business continuing is the other.
- Export your dashboard data, payout history and every notice before access ends
- Save the services agreement version you accepted and all amendments
- Answer the platform’s document requests completely and in writing
- Set up backup processing so the business keeps running
- Calendar the reserve release date stated in the agreement
- Open a new account with the same platform under a different name
- Dispute the hold in public forums while the claim is pending
- Accept a partial release as full settlement without advice
- Skip the pre-arbitration notice the clause requires
- Assume the hold is permanent because support stopped replying
From the firm’s writing.
Stripe Dispute Lawyer for Merchants
Frozen, reserved or MATCH-listed. What the agreement provides and how claims are brought.
Read the articleStripe Won’t Release Your Funds? Attorney Insights
What happens to a balance after closure and when it must be released.
Read the articleFrozen Funds Lawyer: Who Owns the Money?
How courts and arbitrators treat held balances.
Read the articleFrequently asked.
Usually not. Most processor agreements require individual arbitration, often before the AAA, after a notice period. Courts generally enforce these clauses. Some allow small-claims court for smaller amounts.
The agreement sets reserve periods and release conditions. Many allow extended holds for ongoing chargeback risk. Whether a specific hold is permitted depends on the terms and the platform’s actual risk data.
MATCH is a card-network database of terminated merchants. A listing can prevent a merchant from obtaining processing elsewhere. Removal claims turn on whether the listing reason was supported by the facts.
Merchant claims are usually business cases, so fees are shared under the commercial fee schedule and may be reallocated in the award. Some agreements shift fees. We review the clause first.
Yes. We defend platforms, processors and ISOs that receive merchant or agent demands, including disputes over residuals and portfolio ownership.
An award is confirmed in court and becomes a judgment. Collection then proceeds through the ordinary tools, including restraining notices and turnover proceedings.
Other areas of the practice.
Every category we arbitrate, from consumer claims to complex commercial disputes. Back to the overview.
Balance held? Account closed? Start with the agreement.
Call for a confidential consultation. We will tell you what the platform’s terms require, what the claim is worth and what to send first.