Introduction
Fidelity Private SharesSM has released a new payment feature on a limited basis through a collaboration with Stripe. This feature allows option holders and grantees with RSAs under the Stock Incentive Plan to purchase their shares using an online payment via ACH or through Singe Euro Payments Area (SEPA).
Click on the links below to jump to that section of the article:
- Enabling Online Payments
- Permissions and access
- Online Payments overview page
- Online Payments history report
- Exercising options with Online Payments
- Accepting RSAs with Online Payments
- Notes on SEPA
- FAQs
Enabling Online Payments
If a company wants to enable Online Payments, they should contact their CSM or the Fidelity Private Shares support team at support.fps@fidelity.com. At that time, the company will need to select an account owner. The account owner is the only user who can manage and alter the company's Stripe account and bank account information in Fidelity Private Shares. Be aware that if your company has an existing Stripe account, you will need to create a new account to use in the platform.
Setting up the Online Payments feature
Once the Online Payments feature has been enabled, Fidelity Private Shares will contact the established account owner to let them know that they can kick off the setup process. The account owner should take the following steps:
- Sign into your Fidelity Private Shares account at privateshares.fidelity.com.
- Click the Company icon of the lefthand sidebar.
- Under the Online Payments section, click on Overview.
- Click Add Account to add the company's bank account information.
- The Add Account button will take you to the Stripe account onboarding workflow on Stripe's website. This process will guide you through setting up the company's Stripe account and linking it back to Fidelity Private Shares for use in ACH and/or SEPA payments.
Permissions and access
Users with Full Company Permission Access can grant Online Payment access to others from the User Directory. Follow these steps to grant permissions to another user:
- Navigate to the User Directory.
- Click on the three-bar menu to the right of the user.
- Click Permissions.
- Click Edit Access Levels.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and check the box next to All Payments Access.
- Click Save.
Online Payments Overview
Once the Online Payments feature is set up, the account owner and those with All Payments Access can view an overview of the company's Online Payments settings in two ways. The first is by clicking the Company icon of the lefthand sidebar, then clicking Overview under the Online Payments heading.
Alternatively, navigate to the Administration Workspace > General Settings > Online Payments. The Overview page provides a snapshot of the company's Online Payments setup. The account owner will see a screen like the one below. This is where the account owner can make updates to the company's account.
Users with All Payments access will see a screen resembling the one below, but without the option to Manage Account.
Bank account status
The overview page will show the status of the connected bank account.
| Online Payments is enabled. The connected account is verified and in good standing. | |
| Online Payments is disabled for this connected account. For more information, go to Manage Account. | |
| The bank account is in the process of being verified by Stripe. Verification may take up to 1-3 business days. |
Online Payments History report
Adjacent to the Overpage is the Payment History which lists all Online Payments transactions the company has conducted through Fidelity Private Shares. This report includes the grantee's name, a link to the associated document (the grant or option exercise) in the Transaction column if applicable, submission date, approval date, completion date, payment amount, and status.
The Options button allows you to filter the report for a specific data range.
To download a copy of the report, click on the Export Report button. This will download the report as an .xlsx file.
Transaction Status
Below are the statuses that can be associated with a given transaction.
| Status | Description | |
| The transaction is waiting on approval from the company before it's submitted to the company's Stripe account. | ||
| The transaction has been approved by the company, but has not yet landed in the Stripe account. | ||
| Money has been moved to the company's Stripe account and is awaiting transfer to the company's bank account. | ||
| Money is in the progress of transferring to the company bank account. | ||
| The transaction has been completed and the company has received the funds. | ||
| The transaction was rejected by the company in the Approval workflow. | ||
| The transaction was not approved by the company within 30 days. | ||
| Funds were moved to the company's Stripe account, but could not be moved to the company's bank account. | ||
| The transaction failed (a reason specific to the transaction will be provided, e.g. insufficient funds). | ||
| A grantee has initiated a refund (SEPA only). | ||
| The dispute investigation has completed and Stripe will begin refunding the funds (SEPA only). | ||
| The refund has been sent to the grantee (SEPA only). | ||
Proof of Payment documents
The account owner and those with All Payments Access can view all active, inactive, and pending proof of payment documents in the Data Room. Navigate to All Documents > Stockholder Information > Stock Purchase Evidence.
The Exercise Options workflow
The Grantee Experience
If the company is utilizing Online Payments, their grantees can purchase their options via an ACH or SEPA payment by taking these steps during the Exercise Options workflow:
- Click the Start New Workflow button.
- Select Exercise Options.
- Select the grant you wish to exercise and click Continue.
- Review the instructions on the Let's Get Started page, then click Continue.
- Indicate the number of options you wish to exercise.
- In the Payment Type dropdown menu select Online.
- Select Bank Transfer (ACH) or Direct Debit (SEPA).
Note that the options available will be dependent on the company settings. - Click Continue.
- Review the Option Exercise document and sign it once you are satisfied with the content. Continue forward in the process.
- You may be asked to obtain spousal consent, if applicable.
- At the Checkpoint, review the documents a final time. If there are errors, you can go back to a previous step in the process to make updates. Once you are satisfied, click Continue.
- You may be asked to accept the terms of a Disclosure - this is required in order to utilize the Online Payment feature. To proceed, click Accept Terms.
- The Pay for Options step will display the Exercise Cost and ask you to select what bank account you wish to use to complete the payment. If you have paid for options via Online Payments before, your bank account information may already be present. If not, use the Link a bank account button to add your bank account. You will need your routing number and account number. Once you've selected your preferred account, click Submit to submit the payment.
- A company representative will receive an alert asking them to approve your exercise documents. After they approve the exercise documents, the transfer of funds will be initiated. Funds will land in the company account in approximately 10 business days. Holidays may impact this timeline. This includes holidays in any SEPA eligible countries or territories.
The Company Experience
If the company is utilizing the Online Payment feature, their grantees can purchase their options via an ACH or SEPA payment. This process requires the company to approve the exercise before initiating the transfer of funds. These are the steps, as well as the corresponding Transaction Status that displays in the Payment History report while at that step.
| Step in Process | Transaction Status |
| 1. The company representative receives an email requesting their approval for a pending option exercise. | Pending approval |
| 2. The company representative has 30 days to approve the exercise before it will expire. If changes are required, click the Request Changes button to send the workflow back to the grantee. To approve the exercise, click Continue. | Approved |
| 3. Once the request is accepted, the transfer of funds will be initiated. The company representative will be prompted to sign the corresponding exercise documents. Click Submit to complete the signature process. | Approved |
| 4. The president and secretary will be prompted to sign the corresponding stock certificate. This concludes the option exercise workflow. | Approved |
| 5. The funds will land in the company's Stripe account within 5 business days of when the company representative approves the exercise (step 2). | Payout pending |
| 6. The funds are received by the company's bank account in approximately 10 business days of when the company representative approves the exercise (step 2). | Complete |
If the company fails to accept the transaction within the allotted 30 days, the exercise will be sent back to the grantee for their re-approval. The company representative will not have to approve the transaction a second time.
The Accept Grant workflow for RSAs under the SIP
The Grantee Experience
If the company is utilizing the Online Payments feature, their grantees can purchase their restricted stock via an ACH or SEPA payment by taking these steps:
- You will receive an email asking you to review the new grant the company has issued. Click the Accept Grant link in the email to navigate to the workflow.
- Review the terms of the grant and consider using the Review Agreement button to download the grant document.
- In the Payment Type dropdown menu select Online.
- Select Bank Transfer (ACH) or Direct Debit (SEPA).
Note that the options available will be dependent on the company settings. - Sign the corresponding grant document(s).
- You may be asked to obtain spousal consent, if applicable.
- At the Checkpoint, review the documents a final time. If there are errors, you can go back to a previous step in the process to make updates. Once you are satisfied, click Continue.
- You may be asked to accept the terms of a Disclosure - this is required in order to utilize the Online Payment feature. To proceed, click Accept Terms.
- The Pay for Shares step will display the Total Cost and ask you to select what bank account you wish to use to complete the payment. If you have paid for shares via Online Payments before, your bank account information may already be present. If not, use the Link a bank account button to add your bank account. You will need your routing number and account number. Once you've selected your preferred account, click Submit to submit the payment.
- A company representative will receive an alert asking them to approve your transaction. After they approve the transaction, the transfer of funds will be initiated. Funds will land in the company account in approximately 10 business days. Holidays may impact this timeline. This includes holidays in any SEPA eligible countries or territories.
The Company Experience
If the company is utilizing the Online Payments feature, their grantees can purchase their restricted stock via an ACH or SEPA payment. This process requires the company to approve the transaction before initiating the transfer of funds. These are the steps, as well as the corresponding Transaction Status that displays in the Payment History report while at that step.
| Step in Process | Transaction Status |
| 1. The company representative receives an email requesting their approval for a pending purchase of restricted stock. | Pending approval |
| 2. The company representative has 30 days to approve the purchase before it will expire. If changes are required, click the Request Changes button to send the workflow back to the grantee. To approve the purchase, click the Continue button. Once the request is accepted, the transfer of funds will be initiated. | Approved |
| 3. The president and secretary will be prompted to sign the corresponding Stock Certificate. This concludes the Accept Grant workflow. | Approved |
| 4. The funds will land in the company's Stripe account within 5 business days of when the company representative approves the purchase (step 2). | Payout pending |
| 5. The funds are received by the company's bank account in approximately 10 business days of when the company representative approves the purchase (step 2). | Complete |
If the company fails to accept the transaction within the allotted 30 days, the workflow will be sent back to the grantee for their re-approval. The company representative will not have to approve the transaction a second time.
Notes on SEPA
- Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) is a payment method offered by the European Central Bank (ECB) and applies to Euro to Euro transaction only. Currency conversion is handled by the initiating bank if the originating currency isn't Euro. This transaction is assessed a fee of approximately 3% to cover chargers by our payment processor (Stripe) and any variations in the conversion rate before the payment is successfully charged.
- A list of countries in the SEPA area can be found here: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/integration/retail/sepa/html/index.en.html
- EU law requires the Company to honor refund requests from grantees for up to 8 weeks after payment is considered completed by Stripe, for any reason, without question. These refunds must be processed offline to avoid dispute fees from our third-party payment processor.
- Grantees should confirm eligibility, transaction limits, and any applicable fees with their bank.
FAQs
I'm trying to pay for options/shares and I'm getting an error message. What should I do?
The error messages you may receive are displayed below, with accompanying next steps.
The payment type you chose is not working. Please confirm that the account number and routing number are correct and try again. If you are still having issues, reach out to support.fps@fmr.com.
The Disclosure pop-up was not accepted. Click the disclosure link in the error to view and accept the Disclosure before proceeding.
If you are a grantee and have received an error message other than the two above, please contact support.fps@fmr.com.
I'm a company representative waiting for the funds to transfer to the company account and I got an error message. What should I do?
The error message you may receive is displayed below, with accompanying next steps.
Visit the Online Payments Report to learn more about why the funds failed to transfer. Once the underlying issue is resolved, the transfer will initiate when the user returns to the workflow and clicks Continue.
If you are a company representative and have received an error message other than the one above, please contact support.fps@fmr.com.
When should I expect Online Payment funds to hit my account (as the company)?
Approximately 10 business days from when you approve the purchase, although this transaction processing time is an estimate. The funds are pulled from the grantee account, within 5 business days. This is where the process can vary. Once the funds are received in the Stripe account until payout. It will take up to 5 business days to hit the client account, and for the transaction to be marked as complete.
When should I expect Online Payment funds to be removed from my account (as a grantee)?
Funds will be removed from the grantee's account within 5 business days after the company approves the transaction. The grantee should ensure they have the funds in their account for at least 30 days after they complete the exercise or purchase.
What happens if the payment fails?
Clients should work directly with the grantee to resolve the issue. Clients can view the status of the payment and failed reason. For failed option exercises, the grantee will need to submit a new exercise workflow. For failed RSA purchases, the grantee will have the option to change bank accounts or select an alternative payment option.
What happens if the company representative does not approve the grantee transaction within 30 days?
To encourage timely approval from the company representative for a transaction request, there is a limit of 30 days for Online Payment transactions to be approved. If the company approves the transactions after 30 days, the exercise is returned to the employee to be confirmed. Once returned and reapproved by the employee, the workflow will not require approval by the client again. The same is true for RSA purchases.
Is there a fee to use Online Payments in Fidelity Private Shares?
Currently, there is no additional cost to clients to use this feature.
Can I refund an ACH payment?
Currently, there is no refund option for ACH payments. This feature is planned for future releases.
I know my transaction was processed, but it’s showing as failed in the Payment History report.
If a transaction is canceled, then reprocessed in the same day, it will display as two line items. This is normal and expected. The company should refer to the top transaction for the most up to date status.
When can I expect SEPA funds to be removed from my account (as a grantee)?
SEPA funds can be removed instantly after the transaction is confirmed. The process can take several hours to days, but our platform is not given a status update by Stripe.
Can I Get a SEPA refund?
Grantees have a legal right to a refund for 8 weeks with no questions asked. These refunds should be processed offline by the clients. If the grantee asks their bank for a refund, the client will be charged a dispute transaction fee of $15.
Screenshots are for illustrative purposes only.
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Fidelity Private Shares LLC provides cap table management and other administrative services to private companies and their equity compensation plans.
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