Shopify Payments disabled and funds held for 120 days: what happens to your money

Updated 2026-10-18. Sources: Shopify Payments's own terms and help pages, linked inline and listed below. Information only, not legal or financial advice.

Short answer: when Shopify Payments disables an account or sets a reserve, the money is held to cover chargebacks and refunds, and 120 days is the period Shopify's own reserve examples use. At the end of a reserve, any funds no longer needed for refunds or disputes are returned in full. Before then, Shopify reviews whether to lift, keep, reduce or raise the reserve. [Shopify Help Center: Overview of reserves in Shopify Payments] If the Shopify Payments account is terminated, the payment processor may keep holding the funds it considers necessary for chargebacks, disputes, refunds and investigations. [Shopify: Shopify Payments Terms of Service]

Is it a hold, a reserve or a termination?

Account hold: payouts stop until the reason is resolved, for example a verification request, wrong bank details, product eligibility, sanctions or a creditor action. You can usually keep using your store. [Shopify Help Center: Shopify Payments account holds]
Reserve: part of each sale (a percentage) or a fixed amount is held for a stated period. Shopify's examples are $1,000 for 120 days, and 10% of each transaction for 120 days. Reserves generally don't stop you taking payments unless Shopify says otherwise. [Shopify Help Center: Overview of reserves in Shopify Payments]
Termination: Shopify can close a Shopify Payments account at any time, for any reason, on notice. You then complete pending transactions and stop accepting new ones through Shopify Payments. [Shopify: Shopify Payments Terms of Service]

Your Shopify admin banner and the email to the store owner tell you which one you have. [Shopify Help Center: Shopify Payments account holds] You can paste that email into our free triage checker. It works in your browser.

Why 120 days?

Card networks typically allow cardholders to dispute a payment for 120 days. [Stripe Docs: How disputes work] A 120-day hold after your last sale covers most of that window. That's our explanation, not Shopify's, but it's why Shopify's reserve examples use that length. [Shopify Help Center: Overview of reserves in Shopify Payments] It also explains why funds can be held past 120 days if disputes are still open.

Where to see the held amount

In Finance > Payouts, your total balance is your Payout balance plus your Reserved funds. To see reserve transactions, click View order transactions, export them and filter for reserve funds. [Shopify Help Center: Overview of reserves in Shopify Payments] When a reserve expires without an extension, the amount goes into upcoming payouts, which can take several business days. [Shopify Help Center: Overview of reserves in Shopify Payments]

How to respond

Follow the banner's action first and reply directly to Shopify's email. Shopify says that providing the requested information and replying to its email is the fastest way to resolve a hold. [Shopify Help Center: Shopify Payments account holds]
Appeal a reserve on time. Reply to the reserve email within the timeframe it gives. Some reserves can't be appealed. If the email lists requirements instead, the reserve is removed automatically once you meet them. [Shopify Help Center: Overview of reserves in Shopify Payments]
Show what triggered it has changed. Shopify's listed triggers are extended billing cycles, elevated chargebacks, a higher refund rate, long delivery timelines and big volume surges. [Shopify Help Center: Overview of reserves in Shopify Payments] If an ad campaign spiked your sales, show your fulfillment capacity and tracking.
Check eligibility. If the reason is your business type, compare it with the Shopify Payments prohibited list for your country. [Shopify Help Center: Shopify Payments eligibility]
Creditor holds work differently. Shopify can't remove them. Only the processor can, after it receives a release from your creditor. [Shopify Help Center: Shopify Payments account holds]

Keep taking orders

Switch card providers in Settings > Payments. Only one credit card provider can be active at a time. [Shopify Help Center: Configuring third-party payment providers]
Turn on manual payment methods, such as bank transfer, for urgent orders. They show as unpaid until you mark them paid. [Shopify Help Center: Manual payment methods]
Don't deactivate the store to "reset" things. Shopify says pending Shopify Payments payments keep processing after deactivation, but you lose admin access to fix issues, and chargebacks can still be filed. You'd have to reactivate to contest them. [Shopify Help Center: Deactivating and reactivating your Shopify store]

Frequently asked questions

Why is Shopify holding my payments for 120 days?

Reserves exist to cover chargebacks and refunds, and Shopify's own reserve examples use 120 days. Card networks typically allow disputes for 120 days, so a hold of that length covers most of the window. Your reserve email states the actual terms.

Will I get my money back when the Shopify reserve ends?

Shopify says remaining reserve funds no longer needed for refunds or disputes are returned in full at the end of the reserve period. Before it expires, Shopify reviews whether to lift, keep, reduce or increase it, and released funds can take several business days to reach a payout.

Can I appeal a Shopify Payments reserve?

Often. Reply to the email that sets out the reserve terms, within the timeframe it gives. Some reserves can't be appealed. If the email lists requirements instead, the reserve is removed automatically once you meet them.

Can customers still buy from my store while Shopify Payments is on hold?

In most cases, yes, but you won't get payouts for those orders until the hold is resolved. In some cases the store can't take new orders, so check the admin banner or the store owner email.

Need the letters and the full plan?

The Unfreeze Pack has five Shopify Payments letter templates (reserve review, information response, business-type clarification, dispute remediation plan, reason-and-dates request), the escalation path, a backup-processor plan, customer emails and the 120-day timeline. $79, one-time, 14-day refund.

Free triage first Get the pack: $79

Related guides

Sources

Shopify Help Center: Overview of reserves in Shopify Payments. Current version online; retrieved 2026-10-18.
Shopify: Shopify Payments Terms of Service (Reserves; Termination and Effects of Termination). Current version online; retrieved 2026-10-18.
Shopify Help Center: Shopify Payments account holds. Current version online; retrieved 2026-10-18.
Stripe Docs: How disputes work. Current version online; retrieved 2026-10-18.
Shopify Help Center: Shopify Payments eligibility (prohibited businesses and products). Current version online; retrieved 2026-10-18.
Shopify Help Center: Configuring third-party payment providers. Current version online; retrieved 2026-10-18.
Shopify Help Center: Manual payment methods. Current version online; retrieved 2026-10-18.
Shopify Help Center: Deactivating and reactivating your Shopify store. Current version online; retrieved 2026-10-18.

Unfreeze Pack is templates and information only. It is not legal, financial or tax advice, and it doesn't create a lawyer-client or advisor relationship. We can't get your funds released, and we don't promise any outcome: the processor decides. Processor policies change; check the linked official pages before you rely on them. Unfreeze Pack isn't affiliated with Shopify Payments.