Penalties

At SHARE, we prioritize fairness, transparency, and trust in all merchant-customer transactions. However, to maintain a safe and reliable platform for all users, we enforce a set of penalties when merchants violate our guidelines or engage in practices that negatively affect the platform's integrity, financial health, or customer experience.

Understanding penalties

The following table outlines possible penalty scenarios, their associated costs, and whether the penalties are reversible. These penalties are enforced automatically or after a compliance review by our team. Please read refund policy and chargebacks policy.

Blocked payments

If a client uses a stolen or unauthorized card to make a payment through your SHARE link, the payment will be automatically blocked by our system. In such cases:

A penalty of $20 will be imposed for each blocked payment.
Your merchant account will be suspended for 7 days.
Merchants are strictly advised to share payment links only with verified clients.
Always deactivate a payment link immediately after receiving a successful transaction.
Do not post or share your payment link on public platforms or with untrusted individuals.

Failed payment attempts

SHARE monitors the number of failed payment attempts on each merchant account. To maintain security and prevent abuse, the following rules apply:

Each merchant is allowed up to 3 failed attempts per month.
Beyond this, a fine of $1 to $2 will be applied to each additional failed attempt.
If the number of failed attempts exceeds 5 in a single month, your account will be temporarily held for 7 days.
All penalties will be automatically deducted from your account balance at the end of each month.
This counter resets on the first day of each new month.

Certain failed payment types may incur penalties. Please see the table below for more information.

Type	Penalty	Outcome
Incorrect number	$1	Warning – The customer entered an invalid card number. No action needed unless repeated.
Card velocity exceeded	$1	Warning – Too many attempts from the same card. Monitor for abuse or unusual activity.
Invalid expiry month	$1	Warning – The card's expiration month was incorrect. This is usually a user mistake.
Invalid expiry year	$1	Warning – Expiration year was invalid. If frequent, consider adding input validation.
Invalid number	$1	Warning – The card number doesn’t exist. You may ignore unless it's recurring from one user.
Invalid PIN	$2	Risk Review – PIN entry failed multiple times. Consider flagging or blocking after repeated attempts.
Invalid CVC	$2	Risk Review – Incorrect CVC suggests the customer may not have the card in hand. Proceed with caution.
Incorrect PIN	$2	Risk Review – Customer entered the wrong PIN. Review the transaction if pattern is detected.
Incorrect CVC	$2	Risk Review – Incorrect security code entered. Check for multiple failures on the same card.
Insufficient funds	$2	Risk Review – The cardholder doesn’t have enough balance. You may retry later or prompt for another method.
Expired card	$2	Risk Review – Customer attempted to pay with an expired card. Suggest updating their payment method.
Lost card	$10	Account Flagged – The customer’s bank marked this card as lost. Block the transaction and consider reporting the user.
Merchant blacklist	$10	Account Flagged – Your business is blacklisted by the issuer. Contact SHARE support immediately for investigation.
Pickup card	$10	Account Flagged – Issuer requested this card be retained. This is a major red flag – block user.
Restricted card	$10	Account Flagged – The card has restrictions set by the issuer. Do not process further charges.
Stolen card	$10	Account Flagged – Card reported as stolen. Immediately block user and avoid further transactions.

ACH/Bank transfer payment failure

It is the merchant's responsibility to ensure that their customers have sufficient funds in their bank account before initiating ACH or bank transfers. Failed transactions create additional processing costs and delays.

A penalty of $6.00 will be applied for each failed payment attempt due to insufficient funds.
Multiple failed attempts may lead to delayed settlements or temporary account restrictions.
We strongly advise merchants to notify clients in advance to maintain sufficient balance before making a transfer.
SHARE is not liable for failed payments or any related fees resulting from bank-side rejections.

Avoiding penalties

SHARE encourages all merchants to follow best practices to avoid unnecessary penalties:

Clearly list all services and deliverables in your product descriptions.
Use only SHARE’s approved payment systems and refrain from off-platform transactions.
Respond to customer queries and dispute requests promptly.
Deliver services as promised and avoid overcommitting.
Familiarize yourself with SHARE’s terms of service and prohibited product list.

Repeated offenses may lead to temporary or permanent suspension of your merchant account. For detailed policies, contact our support team or review our terms and conditions.