Platform Account

The platform account is the main Stripe account in a Stripe Connect integration. It belongs to the marketplace or platform business. It onboards sellers as connected accounts, routes payments to them, and takes a fee on each transaction.

What the platform account controls

The platform account holds the API keys and Connect settings for the integration. It is responsible for:

• Onboarding connected accounts and collecting the verification details each seller needs to get paid.
• Choosing the charge type: direct charges, destination charges, or separate charges and transfers.
• Collecting an application fee on payments.
• Covering negative balances, refunds, and disputes for some account types.

Depending on the charge type, a payment lands in the platform's balance first and then moves to the seller, or lands with the seller and the platform takes a fee.

Platform vs connected accounts

Each integration has one platform account, which can have thousands of connected accounts. The platform's balance and each connected account's balance are separate.

Keep the two apart in your books. The platform's revenue is the fees it earns, not the full payment volume that passes through to sellers. Counting the gross volume as platform revenue overstates what the platform keeps.