Payout and Holding-Period Disclosure

1. How a payment moves

SmartKourse uses Stripe Connect in a separate charges and transfers arrangement. The learner’s payment lands on the SmartKourse platform account first, and the creator’s share is moved afterward as a distinct Transfer. It is not a destination charge and it does not use Stripe application fees.

1. The learner pays through Stripe Checkout or a Stripe subscription invoice.
2. The charge settles to the SmartKourse platform Stripe account.
3. SmartKourse records the sale, computes the platform fee, and credits the creator ledger with the creator share.
4. After the holding period, SmartKourse creates a Transfer of that share to the creator’s Stripe Connect account.
5. Stripe pays out from the Connect account to the creator’s bank.

2. Platform fee

SmartKourse retains 20% of each qualifying charge, or $5, whichever is greater. At prices above $25 the percentage is the binding rule; at or below it the $5 minimum is. The fee is computed on the amount the learner actually paid, so discounts reduce both the fee and the creator share.

The minimum is also why the lowest permitted subscriber price is $5; at exactly that price the entire charge is the platform fee and creator earnings are zero.

3. Stripe processing fees

Stripe charges a processing fee on each transaction. In SmartKourse accounting that fee is assigned to the creator share rather than absorbed by the platform. Creator net is therefore the gross charge minus the platform fee minus the attributable Stripe fee — and it is floored at zero, so a transaction can never produce a negative creator balance or a debt.

Stripe sets those rates and they vary by payment method, card type, and country. SmartKourse does not mark them up.

4. A worked example

A $49 charge, using an illustrative Stripe processing fee of $1.72:

• Learner pays $49.
• Platform fee: $9.80 (rule applied: 20%).
• Creator share before processing fees: $39.20.
• Less Stripe processing fee: $1.72.
• Creator net transferred: $37.48.

The Stripe figure above is illustrative only; the actual fee for any given transaction comes from Stripe.

5. The holding period, and why it exists

Creator funds are held on the platform for approximately 30 days after a qualifying sale before SmartKourse creates the Transfer. The ledger records an eligibility time (`availableAt`) equal to the sale time plus the configured hold (30 days for payout-eligible creators). That is a minimum holding period, not a guarantee that the Transfer will fire at an exact clock time.

After funds become eligible, a scheduled transfer job promotes them and creates Stripe Transfers. On the current platform schedule that job runs at least daily (and may run more frequently when infrastructure allows). Creators should therefore expect the Transfer within about a day after eligibility, then Stripe’s separate Connect-to-bank timing described below.

The reason for the hold is timing mismatch. Learners can request a refund for 30 days, and card disputes can arrive months after a sale. Holding funds through the refund window means the overwhelming majority of reversals are settled against money still on the platform, instead of being clawed back from a creator who has already spent it.

6. Bank payout timing

Once the Transfer reaches the Connect account, Stripe typically makes the funds available for bank payout in about 0 days. We deliberately keep the Connect-side delay short so creators are not delayed twice. Actual arrival depends on Stripe’s payout schedule, the creator’s country and banking partner, verification status, weekends and holidays, and Stripe’s own risk review. That final leg is controlled by Stripe and the receiving bank, not by SmartKourse.

7. Risk review and suspension

The platform holding period is 30 days for every payout-eligible creator, regardless of trust tier. Staff may review account history, dispute rates, and fraud signals to assign risk tiers or require manual review, but those classifications do not change the platform holding period.

• Trusted, new, standard, and high-risk creators use the same platform holding period while they remain payout-eligible.
• Suspended accounts do not receive payouts while the suspension is in effect, and elevated-risk accounts may require staff review before other account restrictions are cleared.

These are staff decisions informed by dispute history and fraud signals, not the output of an automated scoring pipeline.

8. Refunds, disputes, and reversals

A refund or lost dispute reverses the creator credit for that sale. If the sale is still inside the holding period, the adjustment happens on the ledger and no transfer occurs. If a transfer has already been made, SmartKourse may reverse the transfer, recover the amount from future earnings, or request repayment. Stripe dispute fees on a disputed transaction are allocated to the creator share for that transaction.

Refund eligibility itself is governed by the Refund Policy, and refund decisions are made by SmartKourse.

9. Requirements before you can be paid

• A completed creator profile (including your payout country) and accepted Instructor Terms.
• Completed Stripe Connect onboarding, including identity verification and any tax information Stripe requires.
• A valid, verified bank account or payout method on the Connect account.
• No unresolved Stripe verification requirements or platform investigation.

Transfers can be blocked or delayed until Connect requirements are satisfied. Those requirements come from Stripe and from financial regulation, and SmartKourse cannot waive them.

10. Currency, minimums, and bank rejections

Payouts are made in the currency supported by your Connect account. Currency conversion, cross-border fees, and any minimum payout amount are set by Stripe and your bank. If a bank rejects a payout — closed account, wrong details, name mismatch — the funds return to your Connect balance and you will need to correct the details in Stripe before the next attempt.

Before you finish onboarding, confirm that Stripe can present and settle for your country using Stripe’s supported currencies list. Creators in the United States and Canada can generally continue without that extra check. If your country is outside the United States and Canada, review the list carefully.

If your country is not supported for the payout / presentment path you need and you join SmartKourse anyway, you remain responsible for any transfer fees, currency conversion costs, intermediary bank charges, and related Stripe or banking fees needed to move funds. SmartKourse does not absorb those costs and cannot guarantee that unsupported corridors will become available later.

11. Records and reconciliation

SmartKourse keeps a ledger of each sale, platform fee, creator credit, transfer, reversal, and adjustment, along with the Stripe identifiers for each. Creators can see their balances and payout activity in the creator area, and Stripe provides its own record on the Connect dashboard. If the two ever disagree, write to Contact form on this website (email address pending owner configuration) with the transaction date and amount and we will reconcile it.

12. Changes to these figures

Fee percentages, minimums, and holding periods can change. Changes apply prospectively to sales occurring after the effective date, with notice to creators beforehand. Because this page reads its numbers from the shared configuration used by the accounting code itself, the published disclosure updates in lockstep with the behavior.

13. Contact

Payout questions: Contact form on this website (email address pending owner configuration), or the contact form. Related reading: Instructor Terms and Marketplace Disclosure.