# Supported Countries

Violet uses [Stripe Express](https://stripe.com/docs/connect/express-accounts) to power our payments and payout flows to ensure that you have the ability to control your own payout schedules and connected bank accounts. As a result, Violet is limited to supporting countries and currencies that are also supported by Stripe.

You can find a full list of supported countries here: [Stripe Supported Countries](https://stripe.com/docs/connect/cross-border-payouts).

### Cross-Border Transfer Regions

Stripe Connect enables cross-border transfers within five primary regions:

| Region                           | Notes                                                     |
| -------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| **United States**                | Full cross-border support with other regions              |
| **United Kingdom**               | Full cross-border support; fee waived within UK-EEA       |
| **European Economic Area (EEA)** | Includes EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway |
| **Canada**                       | Full cross-border support with other regions              |
| **Switzerland**                  | Full cross-border support with other regions              |

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Cross-Border Fee**: A 0.25% processing fee applies to cross-border transfers. This fee is waived for transfers between UK and EEA countries, or within the EEA.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
Violet's primary Stripe account is based in the US. Any payout account that is connected from outside the US is considered a cross-border account and may be subject to the cross-border fee.
{% endhint %}

### How Country Support Is Determined

Country support for payout accounts depends on your app's [transfer mechanism](https://docs.violet.io/prism/payments/payment-settings/transfer-mechanisms) configuration:

| Transfer Mechanism               | Country Support Check                 | Reference                                                                                             |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Standard Transfers** (default) | Stripe's supported transfer countries | [Stripe Cross-Border Payouts](https://stripe.com/docs/connect/cross-border-payouts)                   |
| **Destination Payments**         | Stripe's destination charge support   | [Stripe Destination Charges](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/destination-charges#supported-countries) |

{% hint style="info" %}
**Important**: The same country may have different support status depending on your transfer mechanism. A country might support standard Stripe transfers but not destination charges, or vice versa.
{% endhint %}

### Unsupported Countries

If a merchant attempts to onboard from a country not supported by Stripe for your platform's transfer mechanism, Violet will automatically create an **EXTERNAL payout account** instead of a standard Stripe payout account.

With an EXTERNAL payout account:

* The merchant can still be onboarded to your platform
* Distributions are still calculated and tracked in Violet
* **Transfers must be processed by the Channel outside of Violet's payment infrastructure**
* The Channel must register transfers with Violet to keep distributions in sync

{% hint style="info" %}
EXTERNAL payout accounts do not have an underlying Stripe account, so there is no KYC validation or Stripe dashboard access.
{% endhint %}

### When to Use Each Transfer Mechanism

Consider your merchant base geography when choosing a transfer mechanism:

| If Your Merchants Are...                            | Recommended Approach                                                            |
| --------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Primarily in Stripe's supported transfer countries  | **Standard Transfers** - Maximum country coverage for standard Stripe transfers |
| Primarily in destination charge-supported countries | **Destination Payments** - Atomic transfers with platform as merchant of record |
| In a mix of supported/unsupported countries         | **Standard Transfers** with EXTERNAL handling for unsupported countries         |
| **In regions outside standard transfer support**    | **Destination Payments with Scheduled Transfers** - See below                   |

{% hint style="success" %}
**Expanding Geographic Reach with Destination Payments**

Destination payments combined with [Scheduled Transfers](https://docs.violet.io/prism/payments/payment-settings/scheduled-transfers) can support merchants in **more countries** than standard transfers.

With this configuration, Violet charges a saved payment method on your platform account and uses destination charges to move funds directly to the merchant's connected account. Because the charge originates from your platform (rather than being a balance transfer), this can bypass standard cross-border transfer restrictions.

**This means**: Merchants who onboard with a Stripe account in regions that wouldn't normally support Stripe transfers can still receive automated payouts through Violet.

See [Transfer Mechanisms](https://docs.violet.io/prism/payment-settings/transfer-mechanisms#expanded-geographic-reach-with-destination-payments) for full details.
{% endhint %}

See [EXTERNAL Payout Accounts](https://docs.violet.io/prism/payments/prism-payout-accounts#external-payout-accounts) for more details on how these accounts work, and [Using External Transfers](https://docs.violet.io/prism/payments/payments-during-checkout/guides/using-external-transfers) for the guide on processing transfers for these merchants.


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