Merchant Communication Guidelines – Paystand Help Center
Overview
Owner: Phoebe Price, VP Customer Operations
Last Updated: June 7, 2026
Applies to: All merchant-facing communications — support replies, incident notifications, compliance requests, escalation updates
Core Principles
1. Lead with clarity, not defensiveness
Start with what the merchant needs to know — not background or internal reasoning. First sentence must answer: What happened? What action is required? When?
| Don't write | Write instead |
|---|---|
| Due to recent regulatory changes and internal process reviews, we are reaching out regarding your account. | We need your completed Beneficial Owner form by June 1, 2026. |
2. Be transparent without oversharing
Merchants need to understand the situation and next steps — not root-cause details.
| Don't write | Write instead |
|---|---|
| Our reconciliation process attempted to reconcile the same payment twice, creating an invalid deposit record due to an internal mapping issue. | We identified an issue that impacted how certain deposits were reflected in your Transfer Report. |
Commercial sensitivity: Never reference pricing tiers, processing plans, or capabilities not part of the merchant's current setup. Commercial upgrade conversations belong with their CSM — not support.
3. Never name our technology providers
Our processing and banking relationships are confidential.
| Never say | Say instead |
|---|---|
| Vantiv / Stripe | our payment processor or our card processing partner |
| Airwallex | our banking partner or our payment provider |
| CPI | our check processing partner |
If a merchant explicitly asks who processes their payments, escalate to your manager or CSM before responding.
4. Acknowledge impact without assigning blame
| Don't write | Write instead |
|---|---|
| This was our mistake and we apologize for the problems we caused. | We understand this may have affected your reconciliation process and appreciate your patience as we work through the correction. |
5. Never speculate
Only communicate what Engineering has confirmed.
| Don't write | Write instead |
|---|---|
| We believe this may be related to a sync issue. | The issue is under investigation. We'll provide an update by [date]. |
6. Focus on actions and outcomes
Every communication must answer:
- What happened
- What we are doing about it
- What the merchant needs to do (if anything)
- When they will hear from us next
7. Set specific expectations — never vague ones
| Never use | Use instead |
|---|---|
| soon, shortly, as soon as possible, in a timely manner | by Thursday / within 2 business days / by June 3 |
If you don't know the timeline: I don't have a resolution timeline yet, but I'll send an update by Thursday regardless.
8. Handle subject lines carefully
Internal subject lines can be informative. External subject lines (what the merchant sees) must be neutral.
Never expose in a subject line: VIP or account tier status, internal severity ratings (Sev-2, IR-1), internal process context (Escalated, Flagged), or sensitive financial details.
| Internal (OK) | Merchant-facing (never expose) |
|---|---|
| [VIP] HPG — AutoPay Failure — Escalated | Follow-up: AutoPay Processing |
Tone
Aim for: Calm. Clear. Confident. Human.
Avoid: Corporate or overly legal language, internal jargon (PHD, BTR, IR-1, Sev-2, roadrunner, JIG, Appsmith), naming internal tools, vague timing, panic-inducing language, over-apologizing.
Incident Communications Structure
- What happened — We identified an issue impacting...
- Impact — As a result, you may see...
- Resolution — We have implemented a correction...
- Merchant action — No action is required. OR: Please review and update...
- Next update — We will provide another update by [specific date].
Always omit: internal system names, engineering root cause details, provider names, Jira references, anything unconfirmed.
Escalation Communications
- Acknowledge first — I understand this has been frustrating.
- State current status — The issue has been escalated and is actively being investigated.
- Set a specific expectation — I'll provide an update by Tuesday, even if the investigation is still in progress.
Consistency builds trust more than speed.
Good-Faith Exceptions
| Write (discretionary framing) | Never write (causal framing) |
|---|---|
| As a one-time goodwill gesture, we have approved... | Because of the issue, we are refunding... |
The Litmus Test
Before sending any merchant communication, confirm the merchant can answer all five:
- What happened?
- Am I impacted?
- What do I need to do?
- When does it need to happen?
- When will I hear from Paystand again?
Quick Reference
| Never say | Say instead |
|---|---|
| Vantiv confirmed… | Our payment processor confirmed… |
| CPI is processing… | Our check processing partner is processing… |
| Airwallex… | Our banking partner… |
| We'll be in touch soon | We'll follow up by [specific date] |
| This is our fault | We understand this has impacted your operations… |
| Our BTR script failed | We identified an issue with your Transfer Report |
| You're on 6-day ACH | Your ACH transfers typically post within 6 business days |
| We believe this may be… | The issue is under investigation. We'll update you by [date] |
| Immediate action required! | Please complete by [date] to avoid interruptions |
| [VIP] in subject line to merchant | Neutral subject: Follow-up: [topic] |
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Table of contents
Merchant Communication Guidelines
- Merchant Communication Guidelines
- Overview
- Core Principles
- 1. Lead with clarity, not defensiveness
- 2. Be transparent without oversharing
- 3. Never name our technology providers
- 4. Acknowledge impact without assigning blame
- 5. Never speculate
- 6. Focus on actions and outcomes
- 7. Set specific expectations — never vague ones
- 8. Handle subject lines carefully
- Tone
- Incident Communications Structure
- Escalation Communications
- Good-Faith Exceptions
- The Litmus Test
- Quick Reference