How Paddle protects consumers and companies to sell and buy safely online

Over 6,000 software, digital product and app companies trust Paddle as their payment solution to sell globally with ease. 

We are a Merchant of Record (MoR), which means we handle the complexities involved with international payments, subscription management, global tax compliance, fraud prevention, and much more. As an MoR, Paddle takes on the legal responsibility for the goods and services our partner companies sell.

This means we take risk management extremely seriously to protect not only the businesses we work with, but also the customers who consume software products.

So let’s look at exactly how Paddle protects both consumers and businesses.

Paddle safety for consumers

If you’ve purchased a subscription or product from one of the thousands of businesses we support, you might still have never heard of Paddle. That’s because we work in the background to manage payments and charges on their behalf.

When you buy a product or a subscription developed by one of the companies we provide these services for, Paddle is the one you are purchasing from and who is responsible for charging you for the product you've bought.

It’s understandable to be concerned if you see a retailer on your bank or credit card statement that you don’t recognise, but rest assured that Paddle is a legitimate company. 

We follow strict security rules like GDPR and PCI compliance to protect your personal and payment information. 

Paddle also uses advanced tools to spot and stop fraud before it happens. Your data is always kept secure with strong encryption and privacy protections.

If you’re unsure which company  you purchased from, visit paddle.net to find your transaction. 

You can also read more about what to do if you have a charge from Paddle here.

How we protect companies using Paddle

As a business owner, a default priority will always be to protect your customers by ensuring your products are safe and compliant. At Paddle, adhering to strict industry security standards is important to us as we safeguard:

1. Your business
2. Your customers
3. The thousands of other businesses in our network
4. Paddle’s reputation as a trustworthy company

We build compliance into everything we do, which is why we have a robust risk management system and a strict verification process in place. 

Paddle’s verification process

To start selling with Paddle, you’ll need to get your account and business verified by providing your domain, details about your business and your identity.

Account verification will only take a few moments for you to complete, but it can take Paddle a few days to review your domain and details provided. During this time, we’re making sure that you own the domains you have provided and that you will have full control of who can load your Paddle checkout. This helps us keep your Paddle checkout secure and safe as per industry standards.

See the full Paddle account verification process.

What you can’t sell on Paddle

Paddle’s Acceptable Use Policy outlines our sale restrictions, and this is constantly under review. 

In recent years we put more rules in place around generative AI products and services. That's not to say we won't work with software that allows image generation, but we need to complete the right checks in order to reduce the risk to customers - we might request additional information from you during this process. 

This is standard practice in the finance industry. Mastercard introduced restrictions against generative content that doesn’t have regulations or checking mechanisms in place back in 2021. It’s essential for Paddle to uphold our standards inline with the industry, so that we can provide a trustworthy payment solution to new and existing companies in our network.

Our rules on what you cannot sell with Paddle may seem strict, but our priority is to protect the businesses we work with and the people who use those products.

When you choose Paddle as your payment solution, trust that we’ll take on the liability and risk management when it comes to issues like sales tax compliance and fraud prevention. 

Have peace of mind that you’ll be joining thousands of businesses who can now use their time more efficiently to scale worldwide, while we handle the complexities of billing operations.

Find out more about how Paddle keeps you safe.