HubSpot payments | Frequently asked questions

Find answers to common questions about how payments are processed through HubSpot payments.

Please note: HubSpot payments is a separate payments processor from Stripe payment processing. HubSpot payments is only available to companies based in the United States with a Starter, Professional, or Enterprise subscription, and allows the collection of payments in USD, while Stripe payment processing is available internationally for all subscriptions, and supports additional currencies. If you have an existing Stripe account, learn how to connect it as a payment processor rather than using HubSpot payments.

Eligibility and enrollment

Who is eligible to use the payments tool?

Your business or organization must be located in the US, have a US bank account, and must be using a paid version of HubSpot.

You may not be eligible if your company is in a high-risk industry, or sells certain products or services. Payments is powered in part by Stripe, and they don’t accept payments for some types of businesses. You can find more details and examples in Stripe’s restricted businesses list. Keep in mind that this isn’t a complete list, and all businesses are reviewed on an individual basis.

Is HubSpot payments available in my location?

HubSpot payments is only supported in the United States.

If you're located outside of the United States, you can instead connect an existing Stripe account as a payment processor. With Stripe payment processing, you can use HubSpot's suite of commerce tools to collect payments instead of using HubSpot's native payment processor.

If you're not located in the United States, HubSpot welcomes your feedback on whether you'd be interested in using the tool in other countries. To let HubSpot know the countries that you'd like to use HubSpot payments in:

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Commerce > Payments.
• Click Set up payments.
• In the Before you start, is your company located in the United States? section, select No.
• Select the checkboxes next to the countries you would want to use payments in, then click Next.

Keep in mind that HubSpot can’t guarantee when, or even if, HubSpot payments will be made available in any particular country.

What payment methods are supported?

HubSpot payments tool currently supports the following payment methods:

• Credit and debit cards
• Apple Pay and Google Pay (automatically enabled when card payment is accepted) 
• Automatic Clearing House (ACH)

In your payment settings, you can set the default allowed payment methods, and you can also set the allowed payment methods while creating individual invoices, payment links, and quotes. When accepting card payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay will automatically be enabled for browsers and devices with those payment methods configured.

To review which payment method was used for a transaction:

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Commerce > Payments.
• Review the Payment method column. You can also find this information by clicking the gross amount of a payment, then viewing the Billing info section in the right sidebar.

Please note: the payments tool requires at least $0.50 due at checkout. If you're building a payment link with only delayed payment line items, consider packaging them with additional products or requiring a deposit at checkout.

Can I accept payments from buyers outside the US?

Yes, you can accept card payments denominated in US dollars from buyers outside the US. HubSpot support global and regional card brands, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners and Japan Card Bureau (JCB).

During the set up process, I was asked to provide personal information as well as information about my business, including ownership information and legal structure. Why does HubSpot require this?

Payment processing is subject to financial laws and regulations that are aimed at preventing money laundering, funding of terrorism and other illegal activities. To satisfy these regulations, HubSpot and other payment service providers are required to verify basic information about the business entity, its primary owners, and the individual who will serve as the authorized representative for the payments account. These obligations are referred to as the “know your customer” (KYC) rules. In addition, HubSpot will also use this information to mitigate fraud that could impact you or HubSpot.

Why does the HubSpot require the tax identification number for my business?

HubSpot payments uses your tax identification number to verify the identity of your business and for reports that HubSpot is required to file with the IRS. The IRS requires HubSpot and other payment service providers to report the total amount of payments you receive on an annual basis. Form 1099-K is the document required by the IRS for this purpose. HubSpot will send you a completed Form 1099-K by January 31 following each calendar year in which payments are processed.

A member of HubSpot’s underwriting team has contacted me to request additional information. What is the purpose of this?

As a payment service provider, HubSpot bears financial risk associated with the processing of your transactions. To protect customers and the businesses and consumers they serve, HubSpot needs to understand the types of products and services that your business sells, your financial situation, and the potential credit risk of your business. This is done through a process called credit underwriting.

In most cases, HubSpot can complete this process automatically in the background within one to two business days of when you first start using the payments tool. Occasionally HubSpot may need to request additional information or speak with you to complete the underwriting process before activating your account.

When the underwriting process is completed, your account will be activated and you can begin accepting payments.

Can I test payments in a sandbox account?

HubSpot payments is not supported in a sandbox account, but learn how to test your payment links in test mode before sharing them with your buyers. 

Security

Is HubSpot payments secure?

HubSpot payments uses multiple layers of security to protect sensitive payment information. The payments tool is built using Stripe's API to manage the secure collection and transmission of payment data. Your buyer's payment credentials are encrypted and tokenized by Stripe to help ensure that unauthorized parties do not gain access to sensitive payment information.

Is HubSpot payments compliant with PCI requirements?

Yes, HubSpot payments uses infrastructure provided by Stripe, Inc., a leading provider of digital payments infrastructure. Stripe’s infrastructure is certified to comply with the Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) Level 1, the payment industry’s highest level of protection.

As part of our payments offering, HubSpot does not store, process, or collect credit card information submitted to us by customers. For HubSpot Payments, we qualify for completion of a SAQ-A which we submit to our payment processor and is available to customers and prospects upon request.

Does HubSpot require my business to validate compliance with PCI security standards?

With most traditional payment processors, businesses that accept card payments are required to annually validate their compliance with PCI by submitting documentation and undergoing network vulnerability scans. With the payments tool, Stripe acts as the payments processor, which means that unless you separately process card data, you are not exposed to card data and are therefore not required to validate your compliance with PCI.

Rates & fees

How much does it cost to use payments?

There isn’t a monthly SaaS subscription fee for using Commerce Hub features. You'll only be charged a fee for creating a complete payment transaction experience with Commerce Hub tools, as outlined in the HubSpot Product and Services Catalog.

The cost of transactions depends on which payment processing option you use. Each payment processing option has two types of fees, platform fee and processing fee, as defined below: 

Platform fee: a per transaction fee for creating a complete payment transaction experience with HubSpot’s commerce tools, including invoices, payment links, quotes and subscriptions. The platform fee varies depending on the chosen payment processing option.

Processing fee: a per transaction fee you pay for processing transactions via a credit/debit card or bank debit (e.g., ACH, SEPA) for your goods or services. 

HubSpot Payments

Stripe payment processing

*Commerce Hub Promotion: we are currently offering a Commerce Hub promotion to eligible customers. See here for more information. 

How will my business be invoiced for payments fees?

Rather than being included on your regular HubSpot invoice, the fees for payments are automatically deducted from each transaction. To see the fee for a particular transaction, navigate to the Transaction history tab and select the transaction. To generate a report showing the total fees for a particular time period, click Download reports and select Payments.

Will I be charged a fee for refunds?

HubSpot does not currently charge a fee for processing a refund. However, you will not receive a refund of the fee associated with the original transaction.

Is there a limit to the number of payments that can be processed per day or per month?

There is no limit to the number of transactions that can be processed per day or per month. However, the following are the limits for maximum individual transaction per payment method:

• Credit/debit: $250,000
• ACH: $100,000

There is also a maximum dollar amount per month that applies to each account, which is determined through the underwriting process and communicated to you in your welcome email.

Stripe's role with payments

What is Stripe's role, and can I use my existing Stripe account?

Stripe provides the underlying infrastructure for Commerce Hub payments features that are built in HubSpot and is responsible for the secure processing, transmission, and storage of sensitive payment information. HubSpot does not directly capture or store such information, and only surfaces certain tokenized or partial information about transactions within your HubSpot account.

The HubSpot payments tool is not the same as Stripe payment processing.

• HubSpot payments: processes payments through HubSpot. When you set up HubSpot payments, you’ll navigate to Stripe to enter a few details about your company and verify your identity. You’re not creating a new login, and you won't need to log in to Stripe after that.
• Stripe payment processing: processes payments through your existing Stripe account. You'll use HubSpot's payment collection channels, such as invoices, payment links, and quotes, while payments are processed through Stripe, not HubSpot. Payment data for each transaction, such as gross amount and fees, will sync with your Stripe account. 

I already use payments in quotes with Stripe. How is HubSpot payments different?

If you connect your Stripe account as a payment processor, you can use your existing Stripe account as the payment processor while using HubSpot's payment collection channels to facilitate payment.

HubSpot payments, however, is HubSpot's payment processing platform. While HubSpot payments uses Stripe behind the scenes, you don't need to install the Stripe app yourself. Instead, you’ll send customers to a checkout page with your own branding. After customers pay, you won’t need to log into a separate account and can instead track and manage all of your data in HubSpot.

How do I migrate data from my other Stripe account?

Stripe does not support migrating data from an existing account to HubSpot.

How do I disconnect HubSpot payments?

To disconnect HubSpot payments, follow these steps.

Chargebacks and ACH returns

What is a chargeback?

A chargeback is a reversal of a card-based transaction. It is a forced refund from you, the seller, to your customer, the buyer. Chargebacks occur when a buyer disputes a charge by contacting the bank that issued their credit or debit card. The cardholder’s bank will then take one of the following actions:

1. Dismiss the case and inform the cardholder that the charge is valid,
2. Send an inquiry to the seller to gather more information about the case, or
3. Decide the customer’s claim is legitimate and issue an immediate chargeback.

Cardholders may initiate chargebacks only for certain permitted reasons. Those reasons include:

• Fraud, where the cardholder claims the purchase was made by a fraudster using stolen card information. Learn how to mitigate risk of payment fraud.
• Duplicate or incorrect transaction amount, where the cardholder claims they were charged twice for the same transaction or were charged the wrong amount.
• The goods or services were not received from the seller.
• The goods or services are defective, or are different from the description provided by the seller.
• The cardholder cancelled a recurring transaction but was charged for it anyway.

In most cases, the cardholder must initiate the chargeback no later than 120 days following the original transaction.

How will I be notified of a chargeback and how do I respond?

HubSpot’s payments risk team will notify you via email if you receive a chargeback. HubSpot will assist you with challenging the chargeback if you do not believe the reasons for the chargeback are valid. HubSpot will also handle all communications with the card networks on your behalf and inform you of the outcome.

If you decide to challenge the chargeback, respond to the notice quickly, because most of the card brands only provide a 20-day response window from the chargeback date. After that, the chargeback will be final. If the chargeback is upheld by the card network, HubSpot will recapture the original transaction amount by deducting it from your future payouts or debiting it from your bank account. You do not need to issue a refund for the chargeback amount, as the cardholder's bank will issue the credit for the disputed charge, and the cardholder should contact their bank to check on the status.

Why do I see two reverse transfers for a chargeback?

When a chargeback is initiated by the card issuer on behalf of a buyer, Stripe debits the disputed amount from the HubSpot account. If the dispute is then lost, the disputed amount will be reverse transferred back to the HubSpot account from Stripe. Sometimes the disputed amount will be greater than the original transaction amount due to the currency conversion rate applied at the time that the dispute was initiated. When this occurs, HubSpot will first reverse transfer the original transaction amount from Stripe, then will transfer the remaining amount as a second transaction, resulting in two transfers.

What are some ways I can minimize chargebacks?

1. Make sure your customer terms and conditions are very clear on your website, proposals and contracts, especially with respect to refund and cancellation policies.
2. Use a statement descriptor that your customers will recognize. Your statement descriptor is the name that will show up on your customers’ credit card or bank statements when they are charged for a transaction. If you’ve branded your business or website with something other than your company’s legal name, HubSpot recommends using your branded, doing business as name on the statement descriptor instead. You can add your statement descriptor by going to your payment account info settings in HubSpot, or reach out to HubSpot support to get it edited.
3. Be available to customers for questions by clearly providing your contact information, including email address and phone number, at the time of transaction.

What is an ACH return?

Transactions passing through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system can fail or be reversed later for a variety of reasons. The most common reasons for upfront failure are:

• Insufficient funds: the buyer does not have enough money in their bank account to cover the transaction.
• Account closed: a previously active bank account has been closed.
• Unknown account: no such account exists.

An ACH transaction that initially succeeds may be reversed later for the following reasons:

• Unauthorized transaction: the buyer claims they did not authorize you to debit their bank account.
• Previous authorization revoked: the buyer who previously authorized you to debit their account has revoked the authorization.

How will I be notified of an ACH return?

HubSpot’s payments risk team will notify you via email. For upfront failures, HubSpot will notify you within five business days of the transaction date.

When an ACH transaction initially succeeds and is reversed later, HubSpot will notify you as soon as the team is aware of the return. ACH rules provide a two business day window for business bank account holders to reverse an unauthorized transaction. However, consumer bank account holders have up to 60 calendar days following the original transaction date.

When responding to an ACH return, you will need to directly contact your buyer to arrange an alternative payment. If this is not successful, your remaining recourse is to take legal action against the buyer. If your buyer has reversed the transaction due to a claim that they did not authorize the transaction, and you believe this is incorrect, providing evidence that the buyer authorized the transaction may be helpful to your case. To retrieve a copy of the buyer’s original authorization, navigate to the Transaction history tab in your payments settings.

Reconciliation

Is there a way to sync payments and payouts with my accounting system?

You can use QuickBooks workflow actions to sync payments collected in HubSpot to your QuickBooks Online account. These payments can be synced as paid sales receipts or paid invoices based on your business requirements.

If you use accounting software other than QuickBooks online, you can export the data from HubSpot then upload it into your accounting system. For security purposes, only users with super admin permissions may perform this action.

Transactions

Why was my customer's transaction declined?

Transactions may be declined for reasons such as (but not limited to):

• Incorrect billing information
• Insufficient funds
• Incorrect account number
• Making a payment through a blocked IP address

If your customer's payment is declined, you can ask them to verify their payment method and billing information on the checkout screen before they try again. If they continue to experience issues, you can request that the customer try a different payment method or try again at a later date. If the customer experiences a failed transaction while using a VPN, the customer should consider trying to complete their purchase again off of the VPN or on a different device.

Why haven't I received a payout for a recent transaction?

There are multiple reasons for why you may not be receiving payouts for processed payments. Below, review the most common reasons and the steps you can take to resolve them.

In the event of any of these issues occurring, HubSpot's Payments Underwriting & Risk team may have already contacted you. You should check your email for a message from paymentsrisk@hubspot.com and follow the provided instructions.

Issues with your connected bank account

• Incorrect or missing bank information: you haven't yet added your bank account information to your HubSpot account or your bank account information is incorrect. To resolve this, log in to your account and confirm your bank account information. After updating your bank account information, HubSpot will automatically retry sending the payout. Please contact paymentsrisk@hubspot.com if you have any questions.
• There's a limit on the number of payouts you can receive: the bank account that you connected might have restrictions on the number of payouts you can receive. To resolve this, you'll need to contact your bank to remove the restrictions on your account and allow Stripe (HubSpot payments) to send payouts and debit your account. Once this is done, contact paymentsrisk@hubspot.com to resume payouts and answer any remaining questions you might have.
• Stripe is restricted from crediting/debiting your account: in some cases, the bank account on file may have restrictions on the parties that can credit and/or debit your bank account. This typically indicates that the account is a savings or other non-checking account. To resolve this, please contact your bank and ask that they add Stripe (HubSpot Payments) as a party that can credit and debit your account. You can provide your bank with the following IDs:
  • Stripe ACH debit ID: 1800948598
  • Stripe ACH deposit ID: 4270465600

Outstanding document request or risk review request

Stripe and/or HubSpot may have temporarily restricted your payments account due to an outstanding document or risk review request. Check your email for a message from paymentsrisk@hubspot.com and follow the provided instructions to resolve the issue. You may contact HubSpot's Payments Underwriting and Risk team if you have any questions.

• Document request: Stripe may have temporarily restricted your account if they need to verify information about your business and its owners/signors. In this case, payouts would automatically be disabled and HubSpot will contact you via email to request further documentation before enabling your account again. To resolve this, you may need to provide Stripe with the following documents:
  • EIN letter
  • bank statements or voided check
  • driver's license or identification document, such as social security number or card
• Risk review: there may be an issue with the payments submitted through HubSpot payments. In this case, payouts would automatically be disabled and HubSpot will contact you via email to request additional information or documentation before enabling your account again. Depending on the case, payouts may be disabled immediately. Risk review can include:
  • Fraud concerns
  • Processing transactions that exceed your approved limits
  • Multiple failed payments
  • Excessive chargebacks/disputes
  • Excessive refunds
  • Abnormal payments activity