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Get mid-contract reserve increases in writing
A mid-contract reserve increase is the processor (or ISO) raising the withhold percent or adding a new hold after you are live. That is not the same job as when parked cash returns or which shape locks more dollars. Those pages assume you already know the number. This page is whether they can change that number — and what must be on paper before you treat the new percent as real.
Pair: Mid-contract reserve increase checklist on Payments.
What to get in writing
The clause that allows a change. Schedule language for “risk review,” “reserve adjustment,” or similar. If the MPA is silent, a raise is a contract change — not a portal surprise.
Notice. How many days before the new percent hits settlement. Email to a dead address is not notice.
Trigger. What they claim drove the raise — chargeback ratio, MCC move, volume spike, underwriting refresh. Get the reason named.
New percent (or cap) and effective date. The number you will type into the release forecast. We do not fill 10%.
Whether the rolling window or the dollar cap moves. A percent raise on rolling is different from a new hard cap. Name which.
What happens if you refuse. Freeze, termination path, or right to exit without early-term fee. Get that sentence.
What not to do
Do not treat a sales Slack as the clause. Do not bid the old spendable cash after the raise lands. Do not confuse this with a rolling-reserve review date — that clock is whether the hold re-opens for negotiation, not whether they already raised you.
Related: Payments, reserve release, review date, capped vs rolling, fee waterfall.
Procedure
- Find the MPA language that allows a change.
- Get notice days, trigger, new percent or cap, and effective date in writing.
- Name whether rolling % or hard cap moved.
- Retype the release forecast with the new number.
Failure modes
- Treating a sales Slack as the clause.
- Bidding old spendable cash after the raise lands.
- Inventing a typical 10%.
- Confusing a raise with the release forecast or capped-vs-rolling math.
Worked example
None on this page yet. When one lands it will be a real case: what broke, the number, and what changed. Not a composite.
Glossary
- Mid-contract reserve increase
- A raise to withhold percent or a new hold after go-live. Still a hold, not a fee. Needs clause and notice — not a portal rumor.
Work with us — We run this job on your accounts. Services
FAQ
- Can my processor raise reserve after I am live?
- Only if the processing agreement or schedule says they can. Verbal “risk review” is not a clause.
- Is a higher reserve a new fee?
- No. It is still a hold on settlement. Spendable cash shrinks. It is not a rate line.
- Does the release calculator cover a mid-contract raise?
- No. [Reserve release](/manuals/reserve-release) types the hold and tail you already have. A raise changes the percent you type — after it is written.