A payment partnership discussion is easier to use when the commercial, operations and technical teams are working from the same facts. Before negotiating individual clauses, prepare a short pack showing what the arrangement is meant to do, which documents support it and what still needs a decision.
This checklist is for businesses preparing collections or payout arrangements with a payment provider. It is a preparation aid, not a statement that every arrangement needs identical terms.
1. Start with a one-page description of the arrangement
- Entities and customers: name each proposed contracting entity and identify who contracts with the merchant or end customer.
- Service and geography: describe collections, payouts or both, the countries, currencies and payment methods involved.
- Funds flow: draw the path from payer to recipient, identifying the accounts and organisations involved at each step. Separately map the information exchanged.
- Commercial assumptions: list expected transaction sizes and volumes as estimates, the proposed charges and the conditions attached to them. Do not present forecasts as established demand.
- Open approvals: identify questions requiring regulatory, legal, security or internal commercial review before launch.
Check the proposed partner's exact entity and relevant service against current official information. CBK's National Payments System page provides a starting point for Kenyan payment-sector information. A familiar brand name alone does not establish the scope of a particular arrangement.
2. Bring a small evidence pack, not just the main agreement
Request the current draft agreement and the schedules or policies it refers to. Depending on the arrangement, useful supporting documents include:
- the complete fee schedule, including any minimums, currency conversion assumptions and charges for exceptions;
- the proposed settlement timetable and the meaning of each processing or payout status;
- reserve, hold, refund and dispute procedures;
- a sample transaction export and settlement statement with fictional or properly anonymised data;
- support contacts, escalation arrangements and incident procedures;
- data-handling, security and exit documents relevant to the service.
Record the version and date of each document. Mark anything missing or inconsistent. Avoid circulating customer data or confidential contracts more widely than the review requires.
3. Test settlement with a worked example
Ask both teams to walk through one ordinary transaction from successful payment to money available in the agreed destination account. Identify the reference used to match the transaction, deductions, any reserve, the payout reference and the person responsible for reconciling a difference.
Then repeat the exercise for a payment made just before a cut-off, over a weekend or in a different currency. Write down the applicable timezone and business-day assumptions rather than relying on phrases such as “next day”.
Provider terminology matters. For example, Paystack's payout guidance distinguishes a received payment from its subsequent payout and explains that the experience varies by country, payment type and payout account. Its settlement documentation also illustrates why reporting access belongs in the discussion. These are provider-specific examples, not terms that automatically apply to another partner.
4. Rehearse exceptions before agreeing the operating model
- A missing payout: what evidence starts an investigation, who owns it and how is the business updated?
- A refund or dispute: who receives the request, what information is needed, which deadlines apply and who records the outcome?
- A reserve or hold: what triggers it, how is it communicated, what information can be requested and how is release addressed?
- An outage: who coordinates the response, what does the customer hear and how are transactions reconciled afterwards?
- An exit: how will outstanding payments, disputes, records and access be handled during the transition?
These questions help expose operational gaps. They do not determine liability or replace review of the actual agreement and applicable requirements.
5. Leave the meeting with a decision record
For each unresolved topic, record the question, document or clause reference, next action, responsible person and target date. Separate a proposed position from an agreed term. “Documented” should mean that a source has been identified, not that the term has been approved or found suitable.
A useful next step might be a revised settlement schedule, a demonstration of the reporting export or a legal review of a specific clause. Keep the list short enough that the next meeting can resolve it.
Use PaymentDealBuilder to organise the discussion
PaymentDealBuilder groups preparation into eight topics: funds flow and roles; settlement; reserves and holds; refunds and reversals; chargebacks and disputes; liability and claims; data and security; and exit and continuity.
Choose your perspective and whether the arrangement concerns collections, payouts or both. For each topic, record whether it is documented, still to agree, unclear or not applicable, and flag priorities. Review the brief on screen or download it as a text file. You can optionally save up to five sets of selections in the same browser. Take care with saved selections and downloaded briefs on shared devices.
The tool uses fixed choices and does not accept contract uploads. Its enquiry option lets you select topic titles, preview the text and open an email to review and send yourself. It does not send the email automatically.
For a matter-specific discussion, see our PSP and merchant contract review page. A review requires the relevant facts and documents. This article and PaymentDealBuilder do not produce a completed agreement, legal opinion or approval to sign.
Updated 3 November 2026. Public references were checked for this refresh. Provider documentation and proposed commercial terms should be checked again for the arrangement under review.