Merchant account risk check
Check chargeback and payout risk before the processor escalates.
Built first for Shopify Payments merchants, but useful for ecommerce sellers using Stripe, PayPal, or another processor. No login, no card data, no customer list, and no order CSV.
What you get
- Risk band for chargeback, payout, fraud, and review pressure.
- Visa/VAMP estimate when enough data exists.
- Top 3 fixes for the next 48 hours.
- Scope gate for release-only, MATCH/TMF, legal, and processor-shopping cases.
What this tool measures
The signals behind the risk band
The free check is not an official processor audit. It is a redacted operational triage tool that looks for patterns a processor may treat as account pressure. Use it to decide what to fix, what evidence to prepare, and whether a scope check is needed before ordering a human brief.
The result is most useful when the merchant answers with current operating reality, not perfect accounting precision. If the exact transaction count or dispute count is unknown, use the unknown option instead of guessing a fake number. If a payout hold, reserve notice, fraud spike, card-testing wave, or processor review is already active, select that issue even if the chargeback ratio still looks normal. Processors often react to velocity, fraud pressure, documentation gaps, and business-model risk before a simple ratio tells the whole story.
| Signal | What it indicates | Safe next step |
|---|---|---|
| Disputes / card transactions | Chargeback pressure and possible VAMP planning exposure when enough data exists. | Check disputed products, traffic sources, reason codes, and recent operational changes. |
| Fraud warnings or card-testing signals | Network and processor concern that may be separate from normal refund friction. | Pause risky segments, review fraud controls, and prepare a factual timeline. |
| Payout hold or reserve notice | Active processor concern and cash-flow risk. | Collect redacted notices, timeline, policies, fulfillment status, and controls already changed. |
| Termination, MATCH/TMF, legal, or funds-release-only cases | The standard operational brief may not fit. | Use scope check first instead of paying directly. |
| Shipping delay, support backlog, descriptor complaints, or policy confusion | Operational causes that often convert normal customer friction into disputes. | Fix customer-facing copy, support macros, fulfillment updates, and descriptor clarity. |
How to read the result
Low does not mean ignore the issue. It means the current inputs look stable enough for weekly monitoring. Watch means the merchant should fix early warning signs before the next payout cycle. Action means the business should prepare a redacted evidence packet and change the visible cause quickly. Critical means the case may involve a hold, reserve, fraud warning, termination path, MATCH/TMF concern, or funds-release-only problem, so the safer path is scope check before a paid brief.
The top fixes are intentionally operational. They focus on things a seller can control: customer expectation copy, refund path, fulfillment updates, support backlog, descriptor clarity, fraud settings, documentation, and daily monitoring. The tool does not promise a processor outcome.
What not to share
Do not paste card numbers, customer names, customer emails, order exports, Shopify credentials, processor logins, API keys, full bank statements, or unredacted notices into the free check. The MVP is designed to work with approximate bands and issue categories. If a human brief is needed, the intake should still stay redacted: timeline, aggregate counts, issue type, notice summary, policy URLs, fulfillment status, and controls already changed.
If the business needs legal advice, funds-release pressure, processor shopping, dispute representation, or an official platform decision, this tool should not be treated as the final answer. Use the scope gate first so the case is not pushed into the wrong product.