Best Way To Set Up Stripe Radar
Setting up Stripe Radar correctly in 2026 means configuring it to block actual fraud without blocking legitimate customers. The biggest setup mistake: leaving Radar on default settings while also not passing customer data in your API calls. Radar needs billing address, customer email, IP address, and customer name to distinguish real customers from fraudsters — without this data, it over-blocks.
Why This Happens
- Configuration gaps between tools or services
- Missing integrations or manual workarounds that weren't designed to scale
- Changes in vendor behavior, pricing, or API that weren't communicated clearly
What To Check First
- Verify your current setup matches the vendor's latest documentation
- Look for recent changes — platform updates, new team members, configuration drift
- Check if the problem is consistent or intermittent (different root causes, different fixes)
When To Escalate
- The problem is costing you money or customers per week
- You've spent more than 2 hours on it without progress
- A vendor quoted you more than $500 and you're not sure if it's necessary
Dealing with this right now?
The right Radar setup: pass all customer data fields in every PaymentIntent creation — `payment_intent.create({customer: customerId, receipt_email: email, metadata: {ip: requestIp}, payment_method_data: {billing_details: {name, email, address}}})`. Enable 3DS for orders where Radar returns elevated risk (`request_three_d_secure: "automatic"`) — this lets Radar challenge suspicious orders rather than blocking them. Only add custom Radar rules after running for 30 days with full customer data — you need real data to know where to draw the lines.
