Requirements and Setup (Stripe)

The first step to setting up an ActBlue account is to submit the ActBlue setup form. Once your account setup request is received, ActBlue staff will review your submission and determine whether your account requires a merchant account. If so, you will receive an email from support@actblue.com with an invitation to the Stripe onboarding process and specific instructions for completing it.

To complete the Stripe onboarding process, you will need:

• Your committee’s federal tax ID (EIN)
• An active campaign bank account
• An authorized representative from the campaign to sign terms and agreements 

Stripe may require additional information–you will be prompted for that if so.

After completing some initial account creation steps on ActBlue and reviewing our terms and conditions, you’ll land on a secure setup form hosted by Stripe. Stripe collects information on their end for verification and security purposes, and after completing the Stripe setup process, you’ll land back on ActBlue.

Your committee must have a federal tax ID (EIN) to set up your Stripe account. Stripe will not accept a Social Security Number in place of an EIN. If you do not have an EIN, you can obtain one in minutes via the IRS website. Make sure to save your EIN confirmation document (usually an SS-4), as we may ask you to provide that to expedite the verification process.

Because the IRS does not update its database in real-time, Stripe may be unable to verify your EIN if you obtained it recently. If this is the case, you may need to upload a document from the IRS confirming the issuance of your committee’s EIN; this is usually an IRS Letter SS-4 or IRS Letter 147C.

After completing the onboarding steps in Stripe, you'll return to ActBlue to securely upload your bank documentation for payouts to your bank account. Stripe will transfer your funds directly to your committee’s bank account, so we'll need one document from your bank confirming your account information:

• Voided check
• Bank statement
• Account confirmation letter

We can only accept an original and unaltered bank document that meets all of the following requirements:

• The document includes the committee (or DBA) name associated with the account in print (not handwritten). Registering the campaign bank account to this name proves ownership of the account.
• The document includes the full name of the bank in print.
• The document includes the name of the bank in print.
• The document includes the full bank account number in print (not handwritten).
• The document includes the full bank routing number in print (not handwritten).

The image you upload must include the entire document, and all text must be legible. If the bank document does not meet the requirements above, we'll notify you of our inability to accept the document, and you'll need to upload a new one that fits the requirements. 

Once we receive and approve your bank documentation and confirm that you successfully created your Stripe account, we'll queue your account for review and activation by ActBlue staff. This process typically takes 1-2 business days, though we may need additional time in some circumstances. 

Not ready to announce your campaign publicly yet? We can discreetly and privately set up your account so that as soon as you’re ready to make your big announcement, you can begin fundraising immediately. If you do not want your account to be publicly accessible immediately, let us know.

If you have any questions, please contact our support team using the email address you use to access your ActBlue account.