My paycheck could be delayed 200 days
Please excuse, I'm feeling stressed and have no where to discuss this.
My next automatic deposit was supposed to happen yesterday but I noticed over the weekend that the dates for my upcoming automatic payments were getting pushed further and further out.
I am self-employed and get paid via Stripe. I switched bank accounts last week and updated my info in Stripe. They asked me to send photos of my ID, which I did, and they said payments were re-enabled on Feb 18 ... not!
Long story short, my expected payment is a week late from when I originally should have gotten it and the Stripe team won't tell me what they're doing or if they need anything, just that they're "looking into it" and I should get an email about it. The update that came this morning was quite literally the same message of, "We'll send you an update when we know something."
Now I'm in a pickle. I had started paying down debt at the start of the month before getting into YNAB. I have always kept money in my bank account in case something like this were to ever happen (which it hasn't), except this time I didn't. I spent most money in my account a couple weeks ago to pay down debt and planned to cover my upcoming expenses with money that I (by every right) should now have, but ultimately don't. This is money I earned a month ago and should have been paid a week ago, but it's still not mine.
What a great reinforcer of the YNAB mindset... 😑
As of today, I've got enough in the bank to pay three of my debts for the next 90 days exactly. That's not counting rent, because I currently have no rent (March is my last month here and it was prepaid at the start of the lease). We have to sign a lease elsewhere and now, because of this, I can't cover the necessary deposits to sign said lease. I've never asked anyone for money and I'm very proud of that.
I'm stressing myself out because looking up the issue online only reveals horror stories of businesses that have had indefinite arbitrary holds placed on their Stripe accounts (upwards of 200 days).
I am blindly hoping that my situation will fair better because I've never had a chargeback/refund to my Stripe account and I have no high-risk payments -- all the money that comes into my Stripe account comes from a single source and probably one of Stripe's biggest clients (a platform that exclusively uses Stripe to pay all platform workers). Fingers crossed.
I don't want to use CCs to cover debts and it's barely an option as-is since I'm working to pay them down with very little wiggle room at the moment. I have excellent payment history on all of my accounts, but covering all my minimum payments in addition to my car loan and other debts is looking impossible. I'm good through March, perhaps April, but I haven't put all the numbers into YNAB yet because, frankly, I'm scared to see what this might do to my credit and life right now. 😭
P.S. I have already let my BF know of what's going on. He's already offered to pay the deposits for our new lease if this isn't resolved and even offered to get on the phone with Stripe (which I've done myself) to see if anything more can be done. For now, it feels like a waiting game.
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This sounds like A LOT to process. I've been on the other end of a "We're looking into it" situation from Stripe, too, and thankfully everything was resolved more quickly than my worst case scenario panic had assumed. All that to say: I'm holding out for this to be resolved quickly!!
So glad you have a partner who can help in the meantime. Would it be helpful to remember that money is simply a tool to get what you need and want? There's absolutely no shame in borrowing a tool, as long as you keep your promises around returning it. 😉
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Thanks, Dela ! I've been looking for input from fellow Stripe users who have gone through this, but the only thing I seem to be finding are these absolute horror stories about multiple 90-day holds in a row. I'm really hoping it gets worked out sooner and I'm trying to remain optimistic. I'm glad your issue was resolved much sooner than that!
I am so grateful to have a kind and caring partner during this time. It goes against every bone in my body to even discuss financial troubles like this with anyone and he's been nothing but understanding. Still, I plan to hold out on asking for help until it's the absolute only option.
Here's to hoping Stripe figures it out soon.
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Whew! Update: I posted about the issue on the Stripe subreddit and got a response from someone actually able to do something. He fixed it within the hour. A case of the squeaky wheel getting the oil. Lesson learned about keeping my account reserves high and boy am I relieved!
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Pineapple Gal What a relief!!! 🎉
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This had me so stressed for you!! Glad it all got sorted! Now go get all your details in ynab!!!
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Grogu I'm so glad to have YNAB now! It's so scary that someone can just hit "pause" on paying out compensation without reason. I'll be planning accordingly over the next few months so I'll never be in such an unsure situation ever again.
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Glad you you sorted it too! I am self employed too. Intuit takes a week to send you an ACH payment but it is $10 per month and I have never been delayed plus the link to pay is on the invoice. If stripe is giving you problems that may be a good alternative. Bonus is their calculation for quarterly taxes has been pretty spot on every time I validated it.
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Black cat That's something I'll look into for my own clients! Unfortunately, I have to use Stripe for 99% of my income because that's the only payout option given by my primary contractor. Hopefully they'll choose to change or expand the options. In the meantime, I'll be weary about changing anything to do with my Stripe account for fear of it triggering a verification again.
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That’s unfortunate. Did you let them of the delays? The person I normally work with wanted to send checks. Can you imagine with all the stuff USPS is dealing with?! Plus it is too large to do a mobile deposit. First time it was Wells Fargo that messed up. intuit is so easy so no argument there.
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I think this is not even a bad idea but not exactly legal to delay a pay check in 200 days. My former boss was doing things like this, when I was not registered properly at that job. So changing the job solved the problem.
