How to choose a payment platform for a creator agency: 12 questions to ask any vendor

This guide is for creator agency owners and finance leads who are comparing payment platforms. Here is how to choose a payment platform for a creator agency. Send every vendor the same 12 questions, and get the answers in writing. Then check each answer against the vendor's public help pages and terms.

The questions follow the money. They assume the platforms pay your creators first and your agency collects its percentage afterward. That is the setup Melon automates. The list starts with your creators' earnings, moves through collection and payouts, and ends with compliance, tax and cost.

The 12 questions at a glance

Use this list as the agenda for every vendor call, and ask for the answers in writing afterward.

1. Which platforms can the vendor read earnings from, and how?
2. Can the platform apply each agreement exactly as written?
3. How does the platform charge each creator?
4. What happens when a charge falls short, fails or gets disputed?
5. When does money reach the agency's bank account?
6. Can the platform pay partners, managers and chat teams from the agency's cut?
7. What can creators, partners and the finance team see?
8. Who holds the money until it clears?
9. Who has to verify their identity before money moves?
10. What access does the platform need to creators' bank accounts?
11. Which tax forms does the platform issue, and to whom?
12. What is the fee based on, and who pays each fee?

Questions about your creators' earnings

Which platforms can the vendor read earnings from, and how?

Your split only works on earnings the platform can see. Ask for the full list of creator platforms the vendor supports. For each one, ask how it reads earnings: a direct connection to the platform, or deposits spotted in the creator's bank account.

Where Melon answers it: the Help Center article What is Melon? lists the supported platforms and how Melon reads earnings on each. Platforms with a direct connection give exact daily earnings. For the rest, Melon watches the creator's bank for platform deposits.

Can the platform apply each agreement exactly as written?

Bring two or three real agreements to the demo. Include your hardest one: a tiered rate, a creator with several pages, or a percentage taken only on withdrawals. Ask the vendor to set them up in front of you. Then ask who can change a percentage later.

Where Melon answers it: with tiered rates, Melon charges each tier's rate only on the earnings above that tier's threshold, and tiers reset every calendar month. A creator with several pages can have a split for each page, with billing combined into one charge. To change a percentage, one side proposes it and the other side approves it. Nothing changes until they approve.

Questions about collecting your share

How does the platform charge each creator?

Ask how your share leaves the creator's account: an automatic bank charge, a card, or an invoice the creator pays. Then ask what the charge looks like on the creator's bank statement, so you can tell creators what to expect.

Where Melon answers it: the Melon product page says Melon calculates the agreed agency share and creates a traceable charge or invoice. Creators pay invoices by bank or card from one reusable payment link, and they do not need a Melon account to pay. Melon's Help Center says the charge appears on the creator's statement as "Melon paid your team!" We compare cash-out charges, scheduled billing and invoices in how creator agencies get paid.

What happens when a charge falls short, fails or gets disputed?

Ask for the written rule for each case: who gets notified, what gets retried and when, and what happens to your balance.

Where Melon answers it: when a creator's account is short, Melon charges 80% of what is available and carries the rest forward. Nothing is written off. A failed charge triggers an email and a text to the paying creator and the agency, per Melon's notification list. When a creator disputes a charge, Melon's dispute article says the amount comes off the agency's balance until the creator's bank decides.

Questions about payouts

When does money reach the agency's bank account?

Ask for the full timeline from a creator's charge to money in your account. Include the transfer method, any weekly cutoff and the payout day. If your agency banks outside the US, ask which accounts can receive payouts.

Where Melon answers it: Melon's guide to how money moves says money typically reaches the agency about a week after the charge. ACH transfers take 3 to 5 business days to clear. Anything cleared by Thursday at 19:00 UTC goes out in that week's payout. Melon moves money over US ACH in US dollars, so an agency outside the US needs a US bank account that accepts ACH.

Can the platform pay partners, managers and chat teams from the agency's cut?

If you share revenue with referral partners, account managers or chat teams, ask whether the platform pays them directly. Ask what base their percentage uses, when they get paid, and whether the creator can see the arrangement.

Where Melon answers it: Melon's referral split article says a referral split pays a partner a percentage of your agency's earnings from a split. Only your agency and the partner can see it. Partners get paid one week after your agency's payout for the same split. Referral recipients pay 2% of each transfer to them, and sending costs the agency nothing extra. For people the creator should see, such as an account manager, a multi-participant split pays each participant directly from one charge. Melon's partner payouts page walks through the setup.

Questions about visibility and records

What can creators, partners and the finance team see?

Ask for a demo of each role's view. Check what a creator sees, what a partner sees, and what your finance lead can export at the end of each week.

Where Melon answers it: creators review covered earnings, invoices, cash-outs, payment history and split details in their own dashboard, per the Melon FAQ. Referral partners get a dashboard of what they have been paid and what is due next. Melon's weekly transaction report lines up with the Thursday payout cutoff, and payouts, transactions and deposits each export separately. Our guide on how to stop reconciling creator payouts by hand shows a weekly review built on that record.

Questions about compliance, security and tax

Who holds the money until it clears?

In the US, FinCEN says that, with few exceptions, each money services business must register with the Treasury. Money transmitters are one type of money services business. Ask the vendor who holds and moves your money: the vendor itself, or a payment provider and its partner banks. Get the names in writing.

Where Melon answers it: Melon's Terms of Service say Melon does not operate a bank or a money services business. Payment service providers run the financial transactions, and the Terms name those providers and link to their terms.

Who has to verify their identity before money moves?

US rules require banks to verify each customer's identity, under 31 CFR 1020.220. Before opening an account, a bank must collect at least a name, address and identification number, plus a date of birth for a person. Ask which people on your roster must verify, what they must provide, and what happens to their money until they finish.

Where Melon answers it: Melon's KYC article says every agency, creator and participant who receives money completes identity checks. Creators who only pay are not asked. A split with an unverified participant stays pending, and its balance keeps building until verification finishes.

What access does the platform need to creators' bank accounts?

Creators ask this before they connect a bank, so get the answer first. Ask how the bank login works, what the vendor can read, and which company runs the bank connection.

Where Melon answers it: Melon's security page says bank connections use established financial infrastructure, including Plaid and supported payment providers. Its bank connection guide says Melon never sees a banking password. Melon gets permission to read the account, not the login. Creators connect a bank account they already have instead of opening a new one.

Which tax forms does the platform issue, and to whom?

Ask which forms the vendor issues at year end, who gets them, and what figure each form reports. Share the answer with your accountant before the year closes.

Where Melon answers it: Melon's 1099 guide says agencies and partners who receive payouts get a 1099 if they meet the reporting threshold. Creators who were only charged do not get one. The form shows gross amounts paid through Melon in the calendar year, based on when payouts were released. Melon does not give tax advice.

Questions about cost

What is the fee based on, and who pays each fee?

Ask what the fee is a percentage of: the creator's total earnings, your agency's cut, or each transfer. Then ask who pays card fees, partner transfer fees and currency conversion.

Where Melon answers it: Melon's pricing page says the fee is a percentage of the agency share, not the creator's total earnings, and it lists the published rates. The fee covers split management, payout history, automatic invoicing and operational support. Bank payments carry no fee, and card payments cost 2.9% + $0.30, which the creator pays by default and your agency can choose to absorb. Melon works in US dollars and adds nothing to currency conversion.

How to run the comparison

1. Pick three real creators: a simple split, a tiered or multi-page split, and one with a partner share.
2. Send all 12 questions to each vendor in writing, and ask for a public link behind every answer.
3. Ask each vendor to set up your three creators in a demo, with your real percentages.
4. Check each answer against the vendor's help center and terms. Put any promise you cannot find there into the contract.
5. Move one creator and one partner first, then bring over the rest of the roster.

Melon for agencies keeps each percentage, effective date, creator and revenue source in one agreement record. It shows covered earnings, upcoming invoices, carryover, processing activity and paid totals in one view. On the get started page, agencies can set up on their own or book a 30-minute call for a guided walkthrough.

See how Melon works for agencies