The Freeze/Reserve Playbook - Stripe, Square, PayPal, SumUp Compared

Four processors, four different ways your money can end up out of reach. Here's how each one actually works.

PayPal held a 22-year customer's account for six months, then seized $26,984 from it without explanation.

Square deactivated a merchant's account and left $1,500 unpaid for nearly a year.

Stripe can apply a reserve of up to 15% of your transactions for 120 days, without needing your permission first.

SumUp merchants report weeks-long holds with no clear reason given, a pattern documented across BBB complaints.

Reserve or freeze, it still isn't your money

Processors draw a line between a "reserve" (routine risk management, applied to an account in good standing) and a "freeze" (a response to something flagged). From where you're sitting, the distinction barely matters. Either way, money you've already earned isn't in your hands, and you didn't get a vote on when it comes back.

Why Artega doesn't have a version of this table

Artega can't apply a reserve and can't apply a freeze, because it never holds the money to begin with. Your client pays by card, our payment partner Wert converts it, and it goes straight to your own wallet. There's no balance sitting anywhere for Artega to hold back.

Sources: Terms.law: when Stripe holds your money · WATE News: the Square deactivation case · BBB: SumUp complaint pattern · Engadget: the PayPal seizure lawsuit