Getting Started with FreezeAlert

This guide walks you through everything you need to go from sign-up to your first risk report. The entire setup takes less than two minutes.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

• A Stripe account with at least one month of transaction history for meaningful risk analysis.
• Admin or developer access to your Stripe dashboard, so you can authorize the read-only API connection.
• A notification channel — decide whether you want alerts via email, Slack, or SMS (you can configure all three).

Connect Your Stripe Account

After creating your FreezeAlert account, you’ll be prompted to connect Stripe. Click “Connect Stripe” and you’ll be redirected to Stripe’s OAuth flow. This grants FreezeAlert read-only access to your transaction data, disputes, and account events. We never request write permissions.

Once authorized, FreezeAlert begins ingesting your historical data to establish baselines. This initial sync typically completes within a few minutes, depending on your transaction volume.

Configure Alerts

Head to Settings → Alerts to customize your notification preferences:

• Dispute rate threshold: Set the chargeback ratio at which you want to be warned. We recommend starting at 0.5%—well before Stripe’s danger zone.
• Volume anomaly sensitivity: Choose between low, medium, and high sensitivity for transaction spike detection.
• Notification channels: Add your email, connect a Slack workspace, or enter a phone number for SMS alerts.
• Alert frequency: Choose between instant alerts, daily digests, or both.

Reading Your Dashboard

Your FreezeAlert dashboard gives you a single view of your account health. Here’s what each section means:

• Risk Score: A 0–100 composite score reflecting your overall account health. Green (0–30) is healthy, yellow (31–60) needs attention, red (61–100) requires immediate action.
• Dispute Rate: Your current chargeback ratio plotted against card network thresholds and historical trends.
• Volume Chart: Transaction volume over time with anomaly markers highlighting unusual spikes or drops.
• Recent Alerts: A chronological feed of all triggered alerts with their severity and recommended actions.

Next Steps

Now that your account is connected and alerts are configured, FreezeAlert is working in the background to keep your Stripe account safe. Here are a few things to do next:

• Invite your team: Add co-founders or operations staff so they receive alerts too.
• Review your first report: After 24 hours, check your dashboard for the initial risk assessment based on your historical data.
• Bookmark the dashboard: Make it a habit to check your risk score weekly, even when things look healthy.

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