Whose Bank Account the Money Goes Into
Money raised on Raised is paid out through Stripe, into the bank account attached to the connected Stripe account. That one sentence answers most questions on this topic, but the consequences catch people out.
The Stripe account must belong to the person or organisation being paid
You cannot sign up, connect your own Stripe account, and have the money land in someone else's bank account. Stripe requires the account holder to authorise the bank account themselves, and anti money laundering rules mean funds have to go to an account belonging to the verified account holder.
This applies no matter how well you know the person or how good the reason is.
Fundraising for a friend or family member
If the money is meant to reach someone else, they need to be the one with the Stripe account. In practice:
They sign up to Stripe and connect their own bank account. They complete the identity verification themselves, since only they can authorise it.
You can still do the day to day work of running the fundraiser. The Raised login and the Stripe account do not have to be the same person.
This does mean a fundraiser cannot be kept a complete surprise from the person receiving the money. They have to take part in the setup. It is worth knowing that before you start planning.
Fundraising for a school, club or charity
Same principle. If the funds belong to the organisation, the Stripe account should be in the organisation's name, with the organisation's bank account attached.
There is a separate approval step for this, covered in Fundraising on Behalf of an Organisation.
Why your page says the money goes to you
Your fundraiser page names the recipient, and that name is pulled directly from the connected Stripe account. Nothing else on Raised changes it.
So if you set up Stripe personally and are raising for your school, the page will show your name even though you intend to hand the money over. To have it show the school, the school needs its own Stripe account.
Changing the bank account
You can update bank details through your payment settings. Changes made during the first payout waiting period take effect once that period ends.
If the account number displayed looks wrong, check it carefully before worrying. Stripe pads New Zealand account numbers, so the last part of your account number can show with extra zeros in front of it. That is expected and your account is correct. Stripe explains it in additional numbers for New Zealand bank accounts.