How Packhood Payments Work: Stripe Escrow, SCA, Payouts
Every Packhood payment runs through Stripe. Packhood does not handle card numbers, does not hold cash float, and does not custody funds outside the Stripe stack. That choice has three concrete consequences for renters and hosts: the platform inherits Stripe's PSD2 / SCA compliance for every booking, money is held by Stripe (not by Packhood) until move-in is confirmed, and payouts settle to host bank accounts via Stripe Connect on Stripe's standard SLA.
This page explains what each side actually sees during a booking, what happens to the money at each step, and how the dispute layer interacts.
Renter side
At the moment a renter confirms a booking:
- Stripe captures the payment method (card or, where supported, bank transfer / iDEAL / Bancontact).
- Strong Customer Authentication (PSD2 SCA) runs against the card issuer for every EU/UK booking. Most banks complete SCA in 5-15 seconds via a banking-app prompt or one-time code.
- Funds are authorised and held by Stripe. They are not transferred to the host yet. They are also not transferred to Packhood — Stripe is the custodian.
- The renter receives a booking confirmation with the agreed move-in date.
Card details are tokenised by Stripe and never stored on Packhood servers. The renter sees a `*1234` last-four-digits reference in their dashboard; the actual card number is held only by Stripe under PCI-DSS rules.
If the booking continues for multiple months, the stored Stripe token re-authorises on the monthly anniversary date. The renter can cancel auto-renewal at any time from the booking dashboard; subsequent months will not charge.
Host side
When a renter confirms move-in:
- Stripe releases the escrowed first-month payment to the host's Stripe Connect account.
- Payout settles to the host's verified bank account, typically in 3-5 business days depending on country and bank.
- Subsequent monthly payouts run on the booking's monthly anniversary date.
- A monthly tax-friendly statement is available for download in the host dashboard, summarising gross, platform commission (5% host fee), and net.
Hosts complete one Stripe Connect bank-account verification at onboarding; subsequent payouts use the verified account without further checks.
The "until move-in" boundary
The single most important property of Packhood's payment model: hosts are not paid before the renter actually moves in. This is enforced at the Stripe layer, not at the application layer, which means there is no Packhood-side override that can release funds early.
The practical consequences:
- No-show booking: if a renter cancels before move-in, funds return to the renter's card. The host has lost the slot for the booking duration but has not received funds — there is nothing to claw back.
- Renter silence: if a renter confirms a booking but is then silent for 14 days past the agreed move-in date, the host flags it as a no-show in the dashboard. The trust team reviews and (where appropriate) releases the booking back to the host's calendar and refunds the renter.
- Move-in dispute: if the host claims the renter did move in and the renter claims they did not, the trust team adjudicates against photographs, message history, and any third-party evidence.
Chargebacks
Card scheme rules typically give a renter 120 days to dispute a charge with their issuer. Because hosts are paid only after the escrow window closes, the host-side chargeback exposure is limited to the post-move-in window. A chargeback initiated after the move-in confirmation is investigated by Packhood's trust team in parallel with the issuer's process, with evidence collated from in-platform message history and any host-uploaded documentation.
The fee structure (verified)
- Renter fee: 20% of the host price, added to the booking total at checkout.
- Host fee: 5% of the host price, deducted from the payout.
- Total platform take (split across both sides): 25% of the host price.
- Host net payout: 95% of host price.
- Renter total billed: 120% of host price.
These percentages are the same in every Packhood market and on every booking. They are visible in the price breakdown the renter sees at booking confirmation and on the host's monthly statement.
Where this fits in the trust stack
Payment security is one of four trust mechanisms. The others are detailed in their own pages:
- Stripe Identity KYC on every host before listing publishes; every renter at first booking.
- Packhood Host Guarantee — €300/£260 per booking aggregate + €25k items cover + €100k host liability cover, every booking, no opt-in.
- In-platform dispute adjudication — 14-day claim window after move-out, 10 business-day adjudication SLA.
FAQ
When does the renter actually pay? At booking confirmation. Stripe captures the renter's payment method and authorises the first month's payment, including Strong Customer Authentication (PSD2 SCA) where the card issuer requires it. The funds are then held by Stripe — not by Packhood — until the renter confirms move-in.
When does the host get paid? Once the renter confirms move-in, Stripe initiates payout to the host's Stripe-connected bank account. Settlement typically takes 3-5 business days depending on the host's bank and country. For continuing monthly bookings, subsequent payouts run on the same monthly anniversary date.
What if the renter never moves in? If a renter cancels before move-in, Stripe releases the funds back to the renter's card and the host receives no payout. If a renter is silent for 14 days after the agreed move-in date, the host can flag the booking as no-show in the dashboard; the trust team reviews and releases the booking back to the host's calendar if appropriate.
How are chargebacks handled? Chargebacks follow the card scheme rules (typically 120 days for renter-side dispute). Because hosts are paid only after the escrow window closes, host-side chargeback exposure is limited to the post-move-in window. Disputes that arrive during the booking are routed through Packhood's adjudication (14-day filing window after move-out, 10 business-day SLA).