Transfer (Stripe)

A transfer is a movement of funds from a Stripe Connect platform's balance to one of its connected accounts. It's how a platform hands a seller their share of a payment when the money first landed on the platform's own account.

When transfers happen

Transfers are central to two Connect charge models:

• Destination charges — the platform charges the customer, and a transfer immediately moves the seller's portion to the connected account in the same step, using transfer_data.
• Separate charges and transfers — the platform charges the customer now and issues an independent transfer later, which is useful when the split isn't known at charge time or funds go to multiple sellers.

A transfer only moves money between the platform and connected accounts inside Stripe; it does not touch a bank. Getting money out to a seller's bank is a separate payout step that follows the connected account's schedule.

Transfers vs payouts vs application fees

These three are easy to confuse:

• A transfer moves funds from the platform balance to a connected account balance.
• A [payout](/glossary/payout) moves funds from a Stripe balance to a real bank account.
• An [application fee](/glossary/application-fee) is the slice the platform keeps rather than transferring.

For example, on a $100 destination charge with a $90 transfer, the platform keeps $10 and the connected account receives $90 on its balance, which later pays out to its bank. Reconciling a marketplace means following each of these hops: charge in, transfer out to the seller, payout to the bank.