Introduction
1VALET uses Stripe to securely process payments made by residents. When a transaction is completed through the 1CONNECT Portal or mobile app, the funds first go into your Stripe balance before being paid out to your connected bank account based on your payout schedule and any minimum balance settings on your account. Depending on how frequently you are paid out and whether a minimum balance is in place, you may occasionally find that there are not enough available funds in your Stripe balance to process a refund directly through the 1CONNECT Portal. If this occurs you will get an error when attempting to refund a payment. For more information on this please see this help article).
To help prevent failed refunds and chargebacks in these scenarios, Stripe allows you to manually add funds to a separate balance for future refunds and disputes. While this can provide short-term protection, there are more reliable and lower-maintenance options available, such as setting a minimum balance, that offer longer-term protection with far less ongoing management.
Understanding Refund & Dispute Prefunding
Stripe allows you to set aside money specifically for refunds and disputes in a separate balance known as: Future refunds or disputes balance
Important details:
These funds are not included in your automatic payouts.
You may initiate a manual payout from this balance at any time from the Stripe dashboard.
Stripe processes refunds and disputes in this order:
From your available payments balance
From your reserved refund/dispute balance
If both are insufficient, you may be blocked from performing a refund for a transaction from the 1CONNECT Portal (see this article for more information).
This feature helps prevent refund or chargeback failures caused by insufficient funds.
Minimum Balance vs. Refund & Dispute Prefunding (What’s the Difference?)
Stripe provides two ways to ensure your building always has funds available for refunds and chargebacks.
Option 1: Set a Minimum Balance (Recommended for all accounts)
A minimum balance tells Stripe to always keep a set amount of money in your Stripe balance before paying out the remaining funds to your bank account. This helps ensure there are sufficient funds for refunds or disputes that is always available to avoid failed refunds in the 1CONNECT Portal. For more information, please reference this help article.
While both options are supported, setting a minimum balance is the recommended approach for most properties and 1VALET support must perform this action on your behalf with your consent.
Option 2: Refund & Dispute Prefunding (Recommended for edge-cases)
Stripe also allows you to add money to a separate balance for refunds and disputes called: Future refunds or disputes balance.
How it works:
These funds are kept in a separate balance
They are never included in payouts
Stripe uses this balance when your main balance is insufficient during a refund or dispute
If this balance runs out, you must manually add funds again
Limitations:
Does not automatically replenish
Requires ongoing monitoring
More manual work
Easier to forget
Higher risk of failed refunds if not maintained
This approach is better suited for edge cases, not day-to-day operations. For example, if your minimum balance is set, but a refund exceeds that amount, the refund may will be blocked in the 1CONNECT Portal.
Which Option Should I Use?
Feature | Minimum Balance | Refund & Dispute Prefunding |
Automatic replenishment | Yes | No |
Requires manual top-ups | No | Yes |
Ongoing protection | Yes | No |
Risk of not being able to refund a transaction | Lower | Higher |
Recommended for most buildings | Yes | No |
In most cases, setting a minimum balance is the better and safer option.
How to add funds for future refunds or disputes
You must add funds through your Stripe account.
You can access your Stripe account in one of two ways:
Option 1: Go Directly to Stripe
Log in here:
https://connect.stripe.com/express_login
Option 2: From the 1CONNECT Web Portal
Go to the Payments tab.
Click Manage Payments.
Select View your Stripe account.
If you do not see an option to "Manage Payments", please contact your staff administrator to change your 1VALET staff account permissions.
Both options will take you to your Stripe Express dashboard.
Add the funds via a wire transfer at your bank (Canada/US), or an ACH payment at your bank (US)
PLEASE NOTE: Adding funds to your Stripe account balance for refunds and disputes requires you to go to your bank to initiate a wire transfer or ACH payment, and obtain a receipt. It is not done automatically through the platform.
Once you are logged into Stripe:
Go to the Home tab.
Look at the top-right corner for the Balance section.
Click See details
Click, Add to balance
Enter the amount and click continue
Choose the transfer method by selecting from the dropdown options. In Canada, the only option available is a wire transfer.
Wire Transfers (Canada/US) or ACH Payment(US only)
The information displayed is the information you will need to use to send the wire transfer to Stripe.
PLEASE NOTE: This step requires you to go to your bank to initiate the transfer, and obtain a receipt. Your bank may charge fees for such transfers.
Once you have the receipt you will upload it here as proof and after you confirm the transfer by clicking the check box, the funds will appear in your refunds and disputes balance on your Stripe Dashboard once Stripe confirms they have been received.
If you have any questions or need further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Support Team at support@1valet.com.