Stripe has rapidly become a popular choice for accepting credit card, debit card and ACH payments online. Based in San Francisco, Stripe’s proximity to Silicon Valley is largely responsible for its meteoric growth.

Started in 2010, Stripe has humble roots as a startup inside the infamous Y-Combinator business accelerator. Fast forward to Stripe’s most recent funding round, Stripe was reported valued at an astounding $20 billion dollars back in late 2018.
 

Stripe’s Pricing Structure

 
One of the appealing things about Stripe is that if you are accepting less than a million dollars annually in credit card payments, your fee structure is simple and predictable.

Stripe charges 2.9% of the total price of the purchase as a merchant processing fee. Stripe also charges a 30 cent fee for each successful transaction.

If you are processing ACH payments, Stripe charges .8% of your ACH payment up to $5.

Keep this in mind when setting up recurring payments with your customers. If you use ACH, you can potentially save on card processing fees for those who remit large amounts to your company on a regular basis.
 

No Hidden Setup Fees

 
The most intriguing part of Stripe is that is designed with small to medium sized businesses in mind. For years, these businesses were forced to pay monthly fees and hit quarterly transaction volume numbers.

With some merchant processing companies, you really do have to read the fine print in order to be cognizant of all the penalties and fees. Stripe is fairly open and transparent about its fees structure and customer service agents are available 24/7 in order to assist in case you have any questions.
 

Stripe Works with your Apps

 
Stripe is ideally located near Silicon Valley and it is connected to some of the biggest names in venture capital. Consequently, Stripe has become one of the defacto payment infrastructure behind many of your favorite apps.

From a software development standpoint, the creators of Stripe have made it easy to integrate the payment platform into almost any application. There have even been use cases of developers implementing Stripe as a way to accept payments over the telephone using an IVR. Stripe can be used to accept credit cards, debit cards and ACH payments using:

• Websites
• Custom Built Apps
• Traditional Chip & Swipe
• Using a Mobile Card Reader
• And many more!

Because of Stripe’s interoperability and simplicity to implement, Stripe’s merchant services continue to gain in popularity by startups and large businesses alike.
 

No Confusing Paperwork

 
If you’ve ever applied for a merchant account through a bank for example, you’ll know that there is typically a good amount of paperwork that you must sign and your business must strictly abide by all the terms and conditions.

This is true for any merchant service, however, Stripe’s commitment to transparency and simplicity helps Stripe rise above other merchant services with their commitment to openness and ease of use.

Stripe reviews each one of its merchant applications and your business should have all of its ducks in a row before applying. With this in mind, everything you need to bring to the table is clearly listed on the Stripe website.
 

Cons of Using Stripe

 
Stripe was built with startups and small to medium sized enterprises in mind. If your business is already performing large transaction volumes monthly, Stripe may not be the most economical option available to your business.

When your business is performing over 1 million dollars per year in credit card transactions, Stripe could potentially be competitive and a representative can possibly create a structure that is advantageous to your business model.

If you are doing millions per year in credit card transactions, a tiny fraction of a percent can help your enterprise’s bottom line. Many top rated merchant account providers will fight for your business and offer you perks such as same day funding on all credit card captures.

According to Stripe’s website, most credit card transactions hit your corporate bank account in two business days. If cash flow is king in your business model, Stripe’s 2 day wait for funds availability might prove to be a negative when evaluating this credit card merchant service.