Stripe says you need a website
Stripe will not finish activating your account until it can see a working business website. This is what Stripe actually looks for, what it only needs later, and how to put it up today.
Quick answer
Stripe needs a publicly accessible page, with no password, showing your business name and a clear description of what you sell. Before you start taking payments it also wants customer service contact details, a refund and dispute policy, and a return policy if you ship physical goods. A single one-page site satisfies all of it. On Adviita, describe your business, add a contact section and a short refunds section, publish, then paste the URL into Stripe.
Step-by-step
- 1
Understand what Stripe is checking
Stripe is not judging your design. It is confirming that a real business stands behind the account and that a customer could find out who they paid and how to reach you. Stripe states that the information on your site must align with what you told Stripe during onboarding, so use the same business name and the same description of your goods or services.
- 2
Put up the two things required immediately
Stripe requires your business name and a description of the goods or services you offer straight away. Be specific. 'Mobile dog grooming in Leeds, full groom, bath and tidy, nail clipping' passes; 'services' does not. If your prices are fixed, list them, because a reviewer can match them against your account.
- 3
Add customer service contact details
Stripe accepts a phone number, email address, postal address, contact form, or online messaging service. One is enough, but an email or a form plus a location reads as more legitimate than a form alone. Put it on the page itself, not only in a footer link, so it is visible without clicking.
- 4
Add a refund and dispute policy
This is required by the time you start selling, and Stripe advises adding it as soon as possible to avoid disruption. It does not need legal drafting. State how long a customer has to ask for a refund, how they ask, and how long it takes. If you sell physical goods you also need a return policy and process covering who pays return postage.
- 5
Make sure the page is publicly reachable
The page must be accessible without a password. A site still behind a coming-soon gate, a staging password, or a login wall will fail the check even though it loads for you. Open the URL in a private browsing window before you submit it. If it asks for anything, Stripe's reviewer sees the same thing.
- 6
Submit the URL and keep the site up
Paste the live URL into your Stripe dashboard where it asks for your business website. Stripe re-checks periodically, not just once: it says it regularly verifies that the site still complies, and will ask you to update it or supply a new one if it finds a problem. Taking the site down after activation can put the account back into review.
Tips & best practices
- Use the same business name on the site as on your Stripe account. A mismatch is the most common reason a resubmission fails.
- If you sell in a higher-risk industry, Stripe applies these requirements faster, so add the policies at launch rather than later.
- A social media profile or app listing can satisfy the requirement, but a page you control is safer, because a suspended profile takes your payment account down with it.
- Keep the description honest and narrow. Claiming a broader product range than you sell invites questions rather than avoiding them.
Common questions
Can I use my Instagram or Facebook page instead?
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Stripe does accept a social media profile or a mobile application listing in place of a website, provided it carries the same information. The risk is that you do not control it. If the platform restricts or removes the profile, the payment account that depends on it is affected too. A page on your own domain avoids that.
Do I need a full online shop?
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No. Stripe is not asking for a storefront or a checkout. It wants a page that identifies the business, explains what it sells, and tells a customer how to reach you and how refunds work. A single page covers it, including for invoicing and payment-link businesses that never sell from the site.
How quickly does Stripe re-check?
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Stripe does not publish a schedule, but it states it regularly checks that the website provided still meets the requirements. Treat the site as a permanent condition of the account rather than a one-off submission, and keep the contact and refund information accurate if anything changes.