Getting paid: Stripe setup and payouts
Costello pays affiliate commission through Stripe — the same trusted payment provider that handles Costello's own billing. You connect your bank once, and from then on your commission is paid out automatically.
Setting up payouts with Stripe
You get paid through a Stripe Express account. This is a free, Stripe-hosted account that lets us send money to your bank — you don't need a Stripe business account or any technical setup.
Go to your affiliate dashboard. Near the top you'll see a “Set up payouts to get paid” banner.
This sends you to Stripe's secure onboarding. We never see or store your bank details — Stripe handles all of it.
Stripe asks for the basics needed to pay you legally: your name, address, date of birth, and bank account details. Depending on where you are, Stripe may ask you to verify your identity (this is a standard legal requirement for paying out money).
When you finish, you're returned to your dashboard. The payout banner turns into a green “Payouts active” confirmation, and you're ready to be paid.
You don't have to connect Stripe before you start referring. Commission still builds up in your account while you're not connected — it simply waits. Just make sure you've connected before a payout run if you want that month's money to land. We recommend doing it early so there's nothing to remember later.
Updating your bank details
Need to change your bank account or check your Stripe payouts? Click Manage on the “Payouts active” banner — it opens your Stripe Express dashboard, where you can update everything.
How and when you get paid
There are three stages between earning a commission and the money reaching your bank:
The moment a referred business pays, you earn 30% of it. It lands in your dashboard as pending, inside a 30-day hold.
After the 30-day hold (60 days for annual plans), the commission clears and becomes ready to pay out. This buffer exists so refunds can be handled cleanly.
On the next monthly payout run, if your cleared balance is over £50, we send it to your bank via Stripe.
The key numbers
| Commission rate | 30% of each payment (calculated after card-processing fees) |
| How long it recurs | 12 months from a referral's first payment |
| Hold period | 30 days (60 days for annual plans) before commission clears |
| Minimum payout | £50 cleared balance |
| Payout schedule | Monthly |
| Paid via | Stripe Express transfer to your bank |
| Currency | GBP |
Payouts run monthly, but we only send money once your cleared balance is over £50. If you're under £50 in a given month, your balance simply rolls over and is paid the first month it crosses the line — nothing is lost. This keeps transfer fees from eating into small balances.
A realistic timeline
Say a business you referred starts paying on the 10th of the month:
- That commission is pending immediately.
- It clears about 30 days later.
- It's paid on the next monthly payout run after it clears, provided your total cleared balance is over £50.
So your first payment typically arrives one to two months after your first referral starts paying. After that, it's a steady monthly rhythm.
Refunds, chargebacks, and your balance
Commission is only ever paid on money Costello actually keeps. So:
- If a referred customer is refunded while their commission is still pending, that commission is simply cancelled — no money had moved, so there's nothing to claw back.
- If a refund or chargeback happens after a commission was already paid to you, the equivalent amount is deducted from your next payout.
- For a partial refund, only the matching portion of the commission is reversed.
- If a customer disputes a charge and later loses the dispute, any reversal we made is put back — you keep the commission.
This is why the 30-day hold exists: most refunds happen quickly, so they're caught and reversed before any payout, keeping your real balance accurate.
A note on payout review
For everyone's protection, payout batches can be reviewed before money is sent — this is a normal anti-fraud safeguard and, in the vast majority of cases, completely invisible to you. Genuine referrals are paid on the normal monthly schedule.
Questions about a payment?
If a payout looks wrong or hasn't arrived when you expected, email affiliates@costellohq.com with your affiliate code and we'll look into it.