I’m looking for advice from Shopify Plus merchants or anyone familiar with how Shopify handles merchant risk.
My store is currently on the standard Shopify plan.
Back in April, Shopify Payments placed a 30% reserve on my account following a temporary card-testing/chargeback event.
Support explained that the reserve could be eligible for early release if I maintained a chargeback rate below 1% for 30 consecutive days while continuing to process through Shopify Payments.
I met those conditions on May 15.
As of today (July 6):
It has been 52 days since meeting those conditions.
My last 30-day chargeback rate is now 0.00%.
My 90-day chargeback rate is approximately 0.20%.
I’ve continued processing through Shopify Payments without interruption.
Despite that:
My case has been with the Credit Risk / Trust Platform team for weeks.
Support says there are no visible blockers and no documents are needed.
One advisor even told me they couldn’t see any activity on the file since it was escalated.
The reserve has now grown to roughly $12,000 USD, creating a significant cash-flow issue.
My question is:
Would becoming a Shopify Plus merchant actually make any difference in a situation like this?
I’m not asking if Plus would automatically remove the reserve—I understand the Credit Risk team makes those decisions independently.
I’m wondering whether Plus merchants receive:
faster access to the appropriate teams,
better communication during reviews,
an account manager who can actually follow up internally,
or whether the process is exactly the same regardless of plan.
If anyone has upgraded to Plus while dealing with a reserve or another Credit Risk issue, I’d really appreciate hearing whether it changed anything.
I’m trying to decide whether investing in Shopify Plus would provide better support for situations like this in the future, or whether it would make no difference at all.
That sounds like a frustrating situation, especially with that amount tied up in reserve.
From what I’ve seen, upgrading to Shopify Plus doesn’t usually change how Credit Risk or Shopify Payments reviews are handled. Those decisions are generally made by specialized internal teams, and even Plus merchants aren’t guaranteed a faster review or a different outcome.
Where Plus can help is that you typically have more direct support resources and someone who may be able to follow up internally or help keep communication moving. However, they still can’t override or influence the Credit Risk team’s decision.
Given that support has confirmed there are no outstanding documents or visible blockers, I’d continue asking for updates on the existing escalation and request confirmation that the review is still active. Hopefully, you’ll get movement soon, but I wouldn’t upgrade to Plus solely with the expectation that it will resolve the reserve issue.
I hope you get a resolution soon—cash flow is critical for any business.
Previously, when going Plus you were assigned a success manager – kinda your rep at Shopify.
Unfortunately, lately they were (mostly?) removed.
I doubt you would get any personalised treatment with your gross sales.
And you will burn through that reserve in just several months on rate increases alone – you can as well just forget about this money and stay on your current plan then.
I wouldn’t upgrade to Plus just for this. Plus may get you better general support or a clearer path to someone internally, but I don’t think it changes the Credit Risk / Shopify Payments decision itself. I’d keep pushing the existing escalation and ask support to confirm in writing that the review is active, there are no missing documents, and that the reserve release conditions were met on May 15.
From what I’ve seen, upgrading to Shopify Plus probably won’t change how your reserve case is handled.
Plus does give you better day-to-day support and a Merchant Success Manager, but the Credit Risk team works independently, and reserve decisions are based on your account’s risk profile not your Shopify plan.
If you’re considering Plus solely because you hope it will speed up the reserve review or improve communication with the Risk team, I wouldn’t expect it to make much difference.
In response to your inquiry concerning Shopify Plus, upgrading to Plus does not ensure that credit risk or reserve issues would be resolved more quickly. Regardless of your subscription type, the Credit Risk team functions autonomously and maintains the same internal procedures.
Although a Plus account has an Account Manager for strategy, they typically lack the power to override or expedite decisions made by the Risk department. I would advise against upgrading just for this reason because it might not fix your existing cash flow problem.
