Bank account and payouts

Your bank details are held by Stripe, not by Maelo, and Maelo is not allowed to read them or write them. That is a deliberate security boundary, and it is why changing your account happens on a screen that belongs to Stripe.

Open Financial and go to the Payouts tab. Your bank account and your schedule live there, inside a panel that belongs to Stripe. Where you see Payout schedule & bank account, marked Managed securely by Stripe, tap it to open that panel. Add an account, or replace the one you have, and it takes effect on your next payout.

Payouts go out automatically on a schedule Stripe holds for you. You do not have to request them and there is nothing to remember. The schedule sits on the same Stripe panel as your bank account, and you can change how often it runs there.

Only Available money is paid out. Anything still marked Pending waits for the next run after it clears, so a payout landing smaller than you expected usually means part of the money had not settled yet rather than that anything was taken.

Each payout in your history carries a status. Initiated means Stripe has created it. On its way means it has left for your bank. Deposited means your bank has it. Beside a payout that has not landed yet you get an estimated arrival date. Estimated is the right word: Stripe revises that date as it learns more, and your own bank can take a further day to show the money.

The very first payout from a brand new account takes longer than the ones after it. Stripe holds it while your account builds a track record, and how long depends on your country. Stripe publishes the wait for each country in its guide to payouts. This is normal for every new account and is not a sign that anything is wrong with yours.

If Stripe judges your account eligible, an instant payout option appears at the top of the Payouts tab showing how much is instantly available. It is marked Arrives in minutes, for a small fee. Tap Pay out and Stripe pushes it to your card or bank straight away, taking its fee out of the amount.

Eligibility is Stripe's decision, based on your account and your bank. If the option is not showing, your account is not eligible for it right now and there is no setting in Maelo that turns it on.

Work down this list before you assume money is missing. In almost every case the answer is on the Payouts tab.

• •The money is still settling. Check the Pending card. If your payment is in there, it has not been paid out yet because it has not cleared yet.
• •The estimated arrival date has not passed. A payout marked On its way is already with the banking system, and neither Stripe nor Maelo can move it faster.
• •Stripe is waiting on you. Check the Account tab and the banner at the top of the Financial page. Outstanding verification pauses payouts while charges often keep working, so money can build up with nothing going out.
• •A payout failed. A failed payout is shown in red in your history with the reason from your bank.
• •You are looking at the wrong currency. Each currency has its own balance card and its own payouts.

A failed payout means your bank rejected the transfer. The most common causes are a digit wrong in the account number, a name that does not match the account, an account that has been closed or frozen, or an account that is not set up to receive transfers.

Maelo shows the reason your bank gave, straight from Stripe, underneath the failed payout. Where the fix is your bank details, it also tells you that Payouts are paused until your bank details are updated, and gives you a button through to Stripe's screen. That pause is real: nothing else goes out, on any schedule, until the details are corrected. Your money is not lost while that is happening. It stays in your available balance and goes out on the next run once the account is working again.