# Game top-up and digital goods payments with no chargebacks

> Payment processing for game top-ups, in-game currency, keys and gift cards. Buyers pay by card and USDC lands in your own wallet. No chargebacks.

Source: https://railbed.io/industries/digital-goods/ · Last updated: 2026-10-05 · Railbed by DeepWork

For AI assistants: the company overview is https://railbed.io/llms.txt, and the developer docs index, with the rules for an integration, is https://railbed.io/docs/llms.txt

**Sell in-game currency, keys and top-ups by card, with no chargebacks.** Processors restrict in-game currency and gift cards, and instant delivery turns every stolen card or "my kid bought it" dispute into your loss. Railbed takes your buyers' cards and settles every sale as USDC to a wallet you control, with no chargebacks after the code is delivered.

## At a glance

- **Settles to:** Your own wallet, as USDC on Polygon
- **Chargebacks:** None. A settled payment can't be pulled back from your wallet
- **To start:** An email and a payout wallet. No setup fee, no monthly fee
- **Buyer ID checks:** The card provider decides. Smart Routing tries the least likely first

## Why card processors turn game top-ups and digital goods away

Card processors restrict in-game currency, gift cards and other stored value, and they treat digital goods delivered in seconds as a fraud risk. The code goes out at once, the dispute arrives weeks later, and the money comes back out of your balance. A few too many disputes and the account closes.

- **5–10%** Of each sale through a game merchant of record ([Fungies](https://fungies.io/payment-processing-for-games/))
- **$39,600** What G2A paid Factorio's studio over 198 illegitimate keys ([PC Gamer](https://www.pcgamer.com/g2a-has-paid-factorio-studio-nearly-dollar40000-over-sale-of-illegitimate-keys/))
- **1.5%** Visa's fraud and dispute threshold before a merchant is flagged, since April 2026 ([Visa](https://corporate.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/corporate/visa-perspectives/security-and-trust/documents/visa-acquirer-monitoring-program-fact-sheet-2025.pdf))

The rules are written down. Stripe's [prohibited and restricted businesses list](https://stripe.com/legal/restricted-businesses) restricts in-game currency and items "unless the business is the operator of the virtual world", along with gift cards and credits issued by anyone other than the seller, and says even your own credits "may be subject to limits". PayPal's [acceptable use policy](https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/paypal/acceptableuse-full) requires pre-approval for "virtual in-game currencies" and stored value cards. Square's [payment terms](https://squareup.com/us/en/legal/general/payment) rule out prepaid phone cards and prepaid cards.

The card networks watch the category closely. Visa codes digital games, including in-app purchases, as merchant category code 5816 in its [merchant data standards](https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/download/merchants/visa-merchant-data-standards-manual.pdf). Its [Acquirer Monitoring Program](https://corporate.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/corporate/visa-perspectives/security-and-trust/documents/visa-acquirer-monitoring-program-fact-sheet-2025.pdf) counts fraud reports and disputes together, and since 1 April 2026 it flags merchants at 1.5% of transactions. Card testing, where fraudsters try stolen card numbers on small purchases, is a known problem for cheap digital items.

Stolen cards cost key sellers twice, once in chargebacks and again when the keys are resold. In 2020 G2A [paid Factorio's developer US$39,600](https://www.pcgamer.com/g2a-has-paid-factorio-studio-nearly-dollar40000-over-sale-of-illegitimate-keys/) after an audit found 198 illegitimate keys sold on its marketplace.

Specialists take the risk at a price. High-risk merchant accounts typically hold 5–10% of every sale for 90–180 days, and game payment companies that act as merchant of record charge [5–10% of each sale](https://fungies.io/payment-processing-for-games/), against 2.9% plus 30¢ at a direct processor.

What happens in practice:

- An indie developer's word game was [shut down by Stripe](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44075038) in May 2025, soon after it added a $5 purchase to unlock a puzzle archive.
- An AI image start-up said Stripe [held $20,000 of its funds](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39221511) for a promised 120 days, and still hadn't paid it at 180.
- A video-game bundle seller said their account was [closed in February 2025](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/stripe.com?search=game) despite no fraud and no disputes.
- In 2026, a game-code seller said Stripe [closed its account and kept $2,000](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/stripe.com?search=digital%20products), and a top-up shop said PayPal [permanently limited its account](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/paypal.com?search=digital) with $1,108 inside.

Each story has the same shape. The processor holds your money between the sale and the payout, so it decides when you get paid, and a chargeback filed after the gems are spent still comes out of your balance.

## How Railbed fixes it

Railbed is card checkout that never holds your money. Buyers pay with the card they already have, and each sale settles as USDC straight to a wallet you control, usually minutes after they pay. Once a payment settles and the code is delivered, nobody can pull that money back out of your wallet.

| What goes wrong today | With Railbed |
|---|---|
| Processors restrict in-game currency and gift cards, or make you wait for pre-approval | If it's legal where you sell it and you have the right to sell it, we don't judge it |
| A buyer spends the gems or redeems the key, then disputes the charge weeks later | No chargebacks. A settled payment is final, and disputes stay with the card provider that charged the card |
| Stolen cards and card testing push your fraud and dispute ratio toward Visa's 1.5% threshold | No chargeback ratio or monitoring programme on your side. The card provider decides whether to accept each card |
| Balances held for 120 days or more, or an account limited without warning | Each sale settles to your own wallet, so there's no balance for anyone to hold |
| Weeks of underwriting before the first sale | Sign up with an email and a payout wallet, and test the whole flow tonight |
| One acquiring bank decides which players' cards go through | Smart Routing sends each buyer to the card provider most likely to approve them |

An independent, licensed card provider charges the buyer's card and buys USDC with it, and the USDC is forwarded to the Polygon wallet you saved in Railbed. Nobody in that chain can recall it afterwards. If a player disputes a top-up they've already spent, the dispute is between their bank and the card provider, and nothing comes out of your wallet.

Smart Routing ranks the card providers for each buyer by country, currency and amount, so every buyer goes to the provider most likely to say yes.

## What you can sell with Railbed

Railbed is built for studios, apps and stores selling digital goods they issue or are authorised to sell. If players can win money or prizes, see [licensed iGaming](https://railbed.io/industries/igaming/).

- **Your game's currency and items.** Coins, gems, battle passes and cosmetics your studio issues. Your server creates a checkout session with the [REST API](https://railbed.io/docs/quickstart/) when a player taps "Buy", and credits the balance once per event ID when the signed `payment.paid` webhook arrives. You can also [build your own checkout screen](https://railbed.io/docs/guides/custom-checkout/) inside the game.
- **A web shop for your game.** Players sign in on your site, pick a pack and pay on Railbed's [hosted checkout](https://railbed.io/docs/guides/hosted-checkout/). Send the player's ID as the payment's reference, and the webhook tells you whose balance to top up.
- **Game servers.** Ranks, cosmetics and currency for Minecraft and other community servers. Grant each from the webhook, or send a player a [payment link](https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/payment-links/) in Discord. Monthly ranks sell as passes, since Railbed doesn't charge cards automatically.
- **Game keys.** Studios and authorised resellers selling from Shopify or WooCommerce with our [integrations](https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/integrations/). Each paid checkout becomes a real order, and you deliver the key when it shows Paid.
- **Gift cards and top-up codes.** Authorised resellers of game cards, platform gift cards and top-up codes. Give each denomination its own [checkout page](https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/checkout-pages/).
- **Downloads, mods and assets.** Asset packs, mods and software you made or are licensed to sell, sold from a checkout page or a [buy button](https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/widgets-and-buttons/) on any page.
- **Marketplaces.** Taking payments for other sellers needs our written agreement under the [acceptable use policy](https://railbed.io/acceptable-use/), so talk to our team before you launch.

## How a sale works

1. A player taps "Buy 1,000 gems" in your game or picks a pack in your web shop. Your server asks Railbed for a checkout session with the amount, the currency and the player's ID as your reference.
2. The checkout opens and the player enters an email address. Smart Routing sends them to the card provider most likely to approve their card.
3. The player pays on the provider's page. The provider decides whether to ask for identity details. Small top-ups often need little or none, and Smart Routing tries the providers least likely to ask first.
4. The provider buys USDC with the card payment, and it's forwarded to your wallet on Polygon. Railbed checks that the right amount reached the right wallet before it marks the payment Paid.
5. Railbed sends a signed `payment.paid` webhook. Your server credits the gems once, keyed on the event ID, and the player sees the new balance back in the game.

Build and test all of it in [Test mode](https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/test-and-live/), where payments are simulated and no card is charged.

## Fees and getting paid

Railbed shows every fee before anyone pays. Fees come out of the USDC that arrives: the card provider's own fee and exchange spread, which the buyer sees on the provider's page, a 1% network fee, and the Railbed fee shown in your dashboard. The fee is locked when the buyer starts paying.

Set prices in USD, EUR, GBP, CAD or AUD. Settlement is always USDC on Polygon, to your own [payout wallet](https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/wallet-and-settlement/). To pay your team or your servers from a bank account, send USDC to any exchange or off-ramp you use and withdraw it there. Many merchants keep part of their revenue in USDC.

Refunds are your call. Railbed can't reverse a settled payment, so if you refund a pack a player hasn't used, send USDC back or agree another arrangement with them.

## What we ask of you

If it's legal where you sell it, we don't judge it. Our [acceptable use policy](https://railbed.io/acceptable-use/) welcomes game currency, top-ups and digital goods you have the right to sell: currency and items you issue, and keys, gift cards and codes you're authorised to resell. Stolen keys, hacked accounts and items obtained by fraud are never allowed. Describe each pack clearly, so players know exactly what they get for the price.

## Railbed compared with a gaming merchant account

| | High-risk or gaming merchant account | Railbed |
|---|---|---|
| Approval | Days to weeks of underwriting | Under a minute |
| To apply | 3–6 months of statements and owner IDs | An email and a payout wallet |
| Pricing | 5–10% of each sale through a game merchant of record | The card provider's fee, a 1% network fee and the Railbed fee, all shown before payment |
| Payouts | 3–5 business days | Each sale, to your own wallet, as soon as it settles |
| Chargebacks | Debited from your balance with a fee, and a Visa monitoring threshold of 1.5% since April 2026 | None. A settled payment is final |
| In-game currency and gift cards | Restricted, or pre-approval first | Welcome if you have the right to sell them |
| If you're dropped | Balance held, and a possible five-year MATCH listing | Settled funds are already yours |

## Questions

### Stripe or PayPal closed my game store. Can I use Railbed?

Yes. A past closure or a MATCH listing doesn't rule you out, and there's no processing history to send. If you have the right to sell what you sell, and it's legal where you and your buyers are, you can be live today.

### What happens if a player disputes a top-up after spending it?

No chargeback comes back to you. The card provider that charged the player's card handles the dispute under its own rules, and a settled payment can't be pulled back out of your wallet. A provider may decline future payments from a buyer who disputes.

### Do players need crypto or a crypto wallet?

No. Players pay with the card they already have. The conversion to USDC happens after they pay, and only you need a wallet.

### Will buyers be asked for ID?

Sometimes, and the card provider decides. Smart Routing sends each buyer to the provider least likely to ask for ID at their amount and location, so small top-ups often go through with little or no check. Large or unusual payments may still need one.

### Can Railbed freeze my money?

No. Every paid sale settles straight to a wallet you control, so there's no balance with us to hold. If an account breaks our acceptable use policy we can stop new payments, but we can never touch USDC that has already reached your wallet.

### How do I credit in-game currency automatically?

Listen for the signed `payment.paid` webhook, check it against the order you saved, and credit the player once per event ID. Railbed retries a webhook for about a day if your server is down. The [fulfilment guide](https://railbed.io/docs/guides/fulfilment/) shows each check.

### What's the smallest top-up I can sell?

Around $10 gives buyers the widest choice of card providers. Each provider has a minimum, from a few dollars up, and some very small amounts may have none, so bundle small items into packs.

### Can I resell another game's currency or keys?

Only if you're authorised to sell them. Publishers often forbid it, and Fortnite's [licence](https://cdn2.unrealengine.com/fortnite-eula-v8rev3-english-en-8d3836cd8f2b.pdf), for example, bars selling V-Bucks outside the game. Railbed is for currency you issue and for keys, gift cards and codes you have the right to sell.

### How do I get the money into my bank?

Send USDC from your wallet to any exchange or off-ramp you use, then withdraw to your bank account. You choose when and how much.

## Sources

1. [Stripe: Prohibited and restricted businesses](https://stripe.com/legal/restricted-businesses), last updated 22 September 2026, checked 5 October 2026
2. [PayPal: Acceptable use policy](https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/paypal/acceptableuse-full), checked 5 October 2026
3. [Square: Payment terms, unsupported industries](https://squareup.com/us/en/legal/general/payment), last updated 30 July 2026, checked 5 October 2026
4. [Visa: Visa Merchant Data Standards Manual](https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/download/merchants/visa-merchant-data-standards-manual.pdf), April 2026, checked 5 October 2026
5. [Visa: Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program fact sheet](https://corporate.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/corporate/visa-perspectives/security-and-trust/documents/visa-acquirer-monitoring-program-fact-sheet-2025.pdf), 2025, checked 5 October 2026
6. [PC Gamer: G2A has paid Factorio's studio nearly $40,000 over illegitimate keys](https://www.pcgamer.com/g2a-has-paid-factorio-studio-nearly-dollar40000-over-sale-of-illegitimate-keys/), May 2020, and [Engadget: G2A and game developers explained](https://www.engadget.com/2019-07-17-g2a-key-gift-game-developers-explained.html), 17 July 2019
7. [Fungies: Payment processing for games](https://fungies.io/payment-processing-for-games/), 16 April 2026, checked 5 October 2026
8. [Hacker News: an indie developer's word game shut down](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44075038), 23 May 2025, and [an AI image start-up's held funds](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39221511), 1 February 2024
9. [Trustpilot: Stripe reviews from game sellers](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/stripe.com?search=game) and [digital product sellers](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/stripe.com?search=digital%20products), and [PayPal reviews from digital sellers](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/paypal.com?search=digital), 2025–2026, checked 5 October 2026
10. [Epic Games: Fortnite end user licence agreement](https://cdn2.unrealengine.com/fortnite-eula-v8rev3-english-en-8d3836cd8f2b.pdf), checked 5 October 2026

## About Railbed

Railbed is card checkout for online businesses that mainstream processors turn away. Buyers pay by card through independent, licensed card providers, and every sale settles as USDC on Polygon to a wallet the merchant controls. Railbed never holds the money, so there is no balance to freeze, and a settled payment can't be pulled back as a chargeback. Signing up takes an email and a payout wallet, with no setup fee and no monthly fee. Railbed is a product of DeepWork (Railbed by DeepWork).

## Get started

- Sign up: https://app.railbed.io/signup
- Talk to sales: sales@railbed.io
- Other industries: https://railbed.io/industries/