One of the payment processing options for your Bonterra software is Bonterra Payments, which is powered by Stripe.
In order for an organization to be eligible to use Bonterra Payments, a review process is conducted the day after a new Stripe account is created. (If the day following account creation is a Friday or a holiday, the review process occurs on the next business day).
As a part of this review process, the "validity" of the account is analyzed. If this validity is questioned - such as if the account appears to be fraudulent, suspicious, or cannot be verified within a certain time frame - the account's payouts are paused from being disbursed, until the account can be properly validated.
Items Reviewed for Eligibility Within a New Stripe Account
The following aspects are reviewed for each newly created Stripe account:
Account Status
Stripe may mark an account as "restricted" if insufficient information has been provided to them when the account is initially created.
If an account is considered "restricted" with Stripe, payouts for the account will be paused, and the account will not be reviewed further by Bonterra until the organization's account representative can provide Stripe with the missing information. Once that information is verified, Stripe will lift that "restricted" status and notify Bonterra that the review process can continue.
EIN
An organization must have a valid Employer Identification (EIN) to be considered eligible to use Bonterra Payments.
Tax Status
Organizations will have their current tax status checked to confirm that they are registered as a valid, not-for-profit organization, that is in good standing with their state and with the federal government. To verify an organization's tax-exempt status, this review process will check the following:
IRS website
Letter of Determination
State Registry
State Documentation
Organization's Name
In this review process, the name of the organization that is listed on the various documentation that's checked for tax status (see the list in the previous step) will be compared to the name that is listed on the newly created Stripe account.
Additionally, the organization's name will be run through LexisNexis to check for any potential additional "flags" that might be associated with the organization.
LexisNexis is a third-party software that Bonterra uses to ensure an organization isn't included on any concerning watchlists, such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Sanctions, FATF Financial Action Task Force, FBI Most Wanted, etc.
Organization's Address
The address provided by the organization when creating their new Stripe account will be verified using available sources found via public online search tools.
Organization's Website
If available, the nonprofit's website will be reviewed to confirm it is a valid website, and that the website is indeed used by the organization in question.
Contact
Moving forward, the individual who created the new Stripe account is considered the organization's "contact," or "representative" of the account. That representative's name will also be put through LexisNexis to check for any potential additional "flags."
LexisNexis is a third-party software that Bonterra uses to ensure an organization isn't included on any concerning watchlists, such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Sanctions, FATF Financial Action Task Force, FBI Most Wanted, etc.
Failure to Validate Information
If any of the items listed in the above section cannot be verified within the provided information and available sources, payouts and subsequent disbursements for the Stripe account will be paused.
The organization's representative will then be contacted to attempt to collect more information, in order to further review and successfully validate the organization's account.
This outreach will be sent through an in-app message - not email - and will ask for the representative to register and complete an additional application form. This form will also require the representative to upload additional required documentation for further review.
This additional documentation that may be requested is proof of an organization's banking information. Acceptable forms of proof include:
A bank statement from an organization's bank account, which includes the account number, bank name, and organization's name clearly listed
A letter from an organization's bank on their official letterhead that has been signed by a bank officer, which includes includes the account number, bank name, and organization's name clearly listed
Please note that this form must be completed and any further documentation must be submitted through that form for security reasons; any documentation submitted through any other means will not be reviewed.
In some instances, representatives from organizations may be asked for additional information and documentation as part of an "elevated review." This most commonly occurs if an organization appears to be utilizing potentially suspicious or fraudulent information for use in verification.
Sources Reviewed in the Eligibility Process
The following sources are utilized within this eligibility review to help validate information associated with new Stripe accounts:
IRS Determination Letter (LOD)
IRS SS4 (Application for EIN)
State Registry
Registration Documents
Organization’s Website