Stripe just gave merchants a big win. Radar, a well-known fraud prevention tool, now protects ACH and SEPA payments—two of the most widely used bank debit options around the world.
Until now, Radar focused mainly on card-based transactions. With this update, Stripe fills a major gap that’s been bothering developers, finance teams, and risk managers alike: fraud protection for non-card payments.
What Changed: Radar Covers More Ground
Stripe Radar already protects billions of dollars in card transactions every year using machine learning models trained on real-time data. Now, that same infrastructure is expanding its reach. ACH debits (popular in the US) and SEPA Direct Debits (widely used across the EU and UK) are finally getting the same level of fraud defense.
This isn’t just a feature bump—it’s a structural shift. For a long time, merchants handling ACH or SEPA had to rely on their own heuristics, filters, or third-party vendors to detect fraud. Radar now analyzes the risk of these bank debit payments automatically, using signals that Stripe collects across its global network.
Why It Matters for Businesses Using ACH or SEPA
ACH and SEPA aren’t built like card rails. They don’t offer the same kinds of dispute rights, and their processing timelines are longer. For instance, an ACH return for unauthorized use might take several days to hit your system. That lag makes reactive fraud management tricky, especially for high-volume businesses or recurring billing setups.
Stripe’s Radar closes some of that gap. It can flag suspicious bank debit attempts before the money even starts moving. For example, if a fraudster is trying to use a bank account that’s linked to unusual behavior, like dozens of failed transactions or a history of reversals, Radar will identify that pattern and can block the payment before it settles.
This is especially useful for:
- Subscription platforms with trial-to-paid conversions
- SaaS companies charging monthly via bank debit
- Marketplaces that pay out to vendors or collect from buyers via SEPA
It gives you a proactive layer of risk filtering, instead of just reacting to returns and disputes after the fact.
How It Works: Machine Learning for Bank Debits
Stripe’s fraud detection models evaluate hundreds of signals in real time. With card payments, this includes things like IP address, device fingerprinting, purchase history, and issuer response codes.
Now, Radar’s decision engine extends that approach to bank-based payments. That includes:
- Patterns of behavior tied to the bank account itself
- Signals from across Stripe’s network (shared risk data)
- Timing, amount, and velocity of the transaction
- Whether the account or user matches known fraud markers
Radar scores each transaction based on the likelihood that it’s fraudulent. You can configure your dashboard to automatically block high-risk debits or send them to manual review. For developers, it’s all wrapped into Stripe’s existing API calls, so integration is minimal.
If you’re already using Radar for card transactions, you don’t need to start from scratch. The protection now extends across payment methods with the same interface and tooling.
How to Start Using Radar for ACH and SEPA
If you’re accepting ACH debits via Plaid + Stripe or SEPA Direct Debits through Stripe’s API, Radar is already working in the background. No additional setup is required, but you can customize behavior through your Radar rules.
You can:
- Adjust risk thresholds to block more or fewer transactions
- Use webhooks to trigger alerts or internal workflows
- Combine fraud detection with customer verification steps (e.g. microdeposits or email checks)
Stripe’s documentation for Radar now includes examples tailored to bank debits, and new dashboard analytics let you track fraud rates across all payment types.
This Is a Quiet but Major Upgrade
Stripe didn’t launch this with flashy branding, but the impact is significant. Fraud on bank debit rails can be devastating for merchants, especially when there’s no card issuer to push back on. Radar’s expansion into ACH and SEPA finally gives businesses more control, earlier visibility, and a chance to stop fraud before it becomes a financial mess.
If you’ve been holding off on adding SEPA or ACH as a payment option due to fraud concerns, this update may change your mind.
Better Fraud Protection Starts Here
Stripe’s move to protect ACH and SEPA payments is a big step toward a safer, smarter future for global transactions—but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. If your business relies on recurring payments, direct debits, or high-risk transaction flows, now’s the time to rethink how you handle fraud, chargebacks, and returns.
Chargeblast helps companies take control of their payment disputes from start to finish. Whether you’re dealing with card chargebacks or bank returns, our platform gives you the insights and tools to act fast, automate dispute resolution, and protect your revenue. Don’t wait for a fraud spike to figure it out—get ahead of the problem now.
Book a demo or try it for yourself below.
