# Payouts

The payouts onboarding step during Violet Connect lets your merchant connect a bank account to Violet (if you've integrated with [Violet Payments](https://docs.violet.io/payments#violet-payments)) or your [Platform Stripe Account](https://docs.violet.io/prism/payments/payment-integrations/supported-providers/stripe/connecting-a-platform-stripe-account) for automated payouts.

Stripe Connect Express accounts are a core part of Stripe's product offering and used by companies such as Doordash, Lyft, and Shopify to power their payment stacks. You can read more about it here: <https://stripe.com/connect>.

Violet supports the usage of [Stripe Express](https://stripe.com/docs/connect/express-accounts) to ensure that Stripe handles the onboarding and provides you with the ability to control your own payout schedules and connected bank accounts. This information never leaves Stripe and this account is only used by Violet for payouts. Violet does not currently support linking existing Stripe accounts and the Stripe Express account is not a "full" business Stripe account. The benefit of this flow vs. a full Stripe onboarding flow is that the KYC process is much simpler than onboarding with a full business Stripe account. Merchants select the country their bank account is based in and then complete onboarding through Stripe Connect.

If your merchant already has their own Stripe standard account, Violet also supports connecting existing standard accounts through Stripe Connect OAuth.

You can learn more about payout account onboarding in our [Stripe KYC Guide](https://docs.violet.io/prism/payments/payouts/guides/stripe-kyc-guide).

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**Recommended Restriction: Stripe Express Accounts Only**

We strongly recommend limiting merchants to Stripe Express accounts only during merchant onboarding. Violet can enforce this restriction upon confirmation from your team.

**Why Express Accounts are Preferred:**
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| Aspect                        | Express Account                         | Standard Account                       |
| ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| **Payout Schedule Control**   | Platform controls payout timing         | Merchant controls their own payouts    |
| **Negative Balance Recovery** | Auto-debit from merchant's bank enabled | No auto-debit; platform absorbs losses |
| **Dashboard Access**          | Express Dashboard (limited)             | Full Stripe Dashboard                  |

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**Key Risk with Standard Accounts**: According to [Stripe's documentation](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/account-balances), Standard account holders are responsible for their own negative balances, but Stripe cannot auto-debit their bank accounts. If a transfer reversal is needed (e.g., for refunds after payout) and the account has insufficient balance, the reversal fails and your channel becomes liable.

**Express Account Advantage**: For Express accounts, while platforms are technically liable for negative balances, Stripe enables auto-debiting from the connected account's external bank account to recover funds (with `debit_negative_balances` setting). This provides a recovery path not available with Standard accounts.
{% endhint %}