Reserve & Hold Policy

Why reserves and holds exist

Reserves and holds protect PayKato, its partners, and end customers against losses from refunds, chargebacks, fraud, regulatory action, and merchant insolvency. They are standard practice across regulated payment processing.

Types of controls

• Rolling reserve — a percentage of each transaction is held for a defined period (for example, 5–10% for 90–180 days).
• Fixed reserve — a specific amount held for a defined period.
• Transaction hold — a specific transaction is paused pending review.
• Payout hold — payouts to your bank are temporarily paused.

When we may apply them

• New accounts during initial ramp.
• Sudden change in transaction volume, average ticket size, or geography.
• Elevated chargeback or refund rates.
• Suspected fraud, account takeover, or use by an undisclosed third party.
• Regulatory, sanctions, or partner-required review.
• Pending KYC/KYB documentation.
• Business categories with extended consumer-protection windows (e.g. travel, events, pre-orders).

Notice

Where lawful and operationally possible, we will notify you of a reserve, its terms, and how it can be reduced. In some cases (suspected fraud, legal process) we may not be able to disclose details.

Release

Held funds are released after the applicable hold period, net of any refunds, chargebacks, fines, and fees. You remain responsible for any negative balance after release.