How does Stripe work?
Online payments just got a little easier, thanks to an innovative digital payment tool, Stripe. Stripe is an online payment and credit card processing platform that's aimed at eCommerce, along with other kinds of businesses.
With Stripe, your business can accept online payments more easily than ever before, which is important now that digital transactions are increasingly the norm.
Are you interested in learning more about what Stripe can do for you and your customers? Read on and we'll help you understand Stripe's features and the ways it can help your business.
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What is Stripe?
Stripe allows you to accept payments from customers using credit cards, debit cards, and other popular payment methods. While Stripe is most commonly associated with eCommerce and online shopping, modern companies often offer an omnichannel approach that relies on both in-person and online sales. This requires your business to have the flexibility to process payments from a variety of settings and sources.
But that's precisely where Stripe excels. Stripe provides efficient processing of funds from credit and debit card payments, ensuring these funds reach your merchant account quickly. And thanks to its intuitive software, you'll have no trouble accepting and processing Stripe payments from all of your valued customers.
Want to get paid faster?
At Invoice2go, a Bill.com company, we're proud to count Stripe among our vendor partners. Stripe integrates with our existing software so that your invoices and transactions can take place with lightning speed.
By partnering with a payment processor, you can have greater confidence when you're accepting credit cards and other electronic payment methods.
Invoice2go offers excellent solutions for businesses that are looking for an online payment processor. Our innovative tools can help you to process multiple payment methods, linking to your bank so that you can deposit payments into your merchant account.
You can also rely on our mobile app to accelerate your invoicing process and get paid even faster. By streamlining your invoicing process, you can keep tabs on your billing and optimize your cash flow.
How does Stripe work?
What does a credit card processing company do exactly? Stripe helps businesses to conduct online and in-person transactions, thanks to its simple, efficient technology.
Set up your Stripe account
To accept credit card payments, you'll first need to set up a Stripe account. The process is simple. After registering with Stripe, you'll be asked to verify your email address and register your account. You'll then provide your business details and banking information to link your accounts.
Once you've completed the basics, you can select the option to "build a platform or marketplace," which will allow you to start processing payments with Stripe. After you complete your profile and update the settings for your business, you'll be ready to begin receiving payments through Stripe.
Don't forget to double-check that "Connect" is enabled on your account and that your company details are up-to-date. Otherwise, you're ready to get started!
Accept online payments
Now that you've set up your Stripe account, you're ready to start accepting payments. How does Stripe make this happen?
Once the order is complete, the payment information will be sent through Stripe's software from the website. Stripe will verify that the funds are available and then process the payment. The funds will be deposited into your merchant account. Both you and your customers will receive a receipt to confirm that the transaction is complete.
Accept in-person payments
eCommerce isn't the only place where Stripe excels. Your business can also use Stripe for in-person credit card processing when customers come to your store. Stripe Terminal allows companies to receive payments with Stripe at the point of sale. Stripe Terminal uses a card reader so that you can process credit and debit card payments from your customers.
The checkout experience is essentially the same as when using any type of credit or debit card payment; however, the sale is processed as described above. The Stripe software will facilitate the transaction and ensure that the money is deposited into your company's bank account.
Accept recurring payments
Your business may need to process recurring payments, especially those associated with subscription payments or other regular services. This can be particularly beneficial if you're a freelancer and rely on recurring payments for the services you provide to your clients and customers. Stripe can help you optimize your payment flow and ensure that you receive payments in your bank account regularly.
What other payment types does Stripe support?
Out of convenience, we've been speaking primarily in terms of debit cards and credit card transactions. But Stripe can accept various payment options, including modern, contactless payments, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Additionally, customers can rely on their digital wallets to make their purchases. The tool can also allow customers to pay by bank transfer, sending money between bank accounts using Stripe's simple interface.
Buy now, pay later with Stripe
If your business sells big-ticket items, such as mattresses or luxury goods, you may want to allow customers to make their purchases and then set up a payment plan to pay you in full.
When you do this, the checkout process will be a little different, and your payment options will include the choice to use a "buy now, pay later" method. The customers will be directed to another part of your website or mobile app, where they will create an account.
By asking your customers to complete this additional form, you can ensure that they agree to make recurring payments on what they're purchasing.
If they accept, they will provide additional information to deduct the funds they owe from their bank account or received from future credit card processing procedures.
Why use Stripe?
Many businesses are discovering the advantages of using Stripe to process credit card payments and other payment methods. These advantages include the following:
Expansive range of payment options
Stripe serves as a credit card processor, but it's equally capable of handling the payment method of the customer's choice. Stripe can allow you to accept payments from the following:
- Credit cards from today's leading card networks (Visa, MasterCard, American Express)
- Payments using debit cards
- Digital wallets
- Google Pay
- Apple Pay
- Bank transfers
- Alipay
The latter two payment methods are a recent addition, thanks to a partnership between Stripe and Alipay — part of ANT Financial Services Group — and WeChat, both of which dominate China's mobile payment processing platforms.
You can also set up recurring payments on Stripe, allowing customers to pay for subscription services and other regular payments.
Stripe is easy to set up and customize
Stripe doesn't have an extensive underwriting process. This means that businesses can get up and running quickly and easily when they begin using Stripe.
Stripe includes developer tools that you can use to customize the software for your site, ensuring that it integrates with your brand, as well as your checkout form.
PCI compliance and data security
Stripe ensures a secure checkout experience, protecting your customers' financial information so that each payment is worry-free. Stripe boasts about their PCI compliance, which means that they adhere to regulations set by the Payment Card Industry (PCI) data security standard.
PCI compliance can also be advertised on checkout forms to assure customers that their card payments are secure.
Stripe Radar
Making payments with Stripe is a secure process for the customer, but Stripe Radar also protects business owners from fraudulent credit card payments. Stripe Radar is free to most businesses that already have Stripe pricing plans, but other business owners can expect to pay $0.05 for each screened transaction.
If you're a business owner, Stripe Radar can give you peace of mind that you can process credit card payments without worrying about fraud or theft.
How much does Stripe cost?
Stripe charges businesses a flat rate for processing your transactions, though this flat rate depends on the type of payments that the tool processes.
For eCommerce transactions, Stripe charges 2.9%, plus an additional $0.30 for every successful transaction online. This includes traditional credit cards, as well as transactions made from digital wallets. For in-person sales, Stripe charges 2.7%, plus an additional $0.05 for every successful transaction.
Pay-as-you-go pricing
Stripe offers pay-as-you-go pricing, which means that Stripe billing will take place on an as-needed basis, rather than requiring you to pay a monthly fee.
Disputes and chargebacks
Like any credit card processor, Stripe has procedures in place for handling disputes and chargebacks. In a dispute, a customer makes a request for information about a particular Stripe payment. This may escalate to a chargeback, which would reverse the payment.
Stripe has a chargeback fee in the amount of $15.00. This chargeback fee is deducted from your business account balance.
Is Stripe right for my business?
Thinking about using Stripe? Many businesses have come to rely on credit card processors to facilitate payment processing. Stripe can be a great choice if your business relies on online payments. It can also be helpful if your customers prefer to use credit card transactions for your goods or services.
Are you a freelancer? You can use Stripe to set up and process recurring payments from your customers, allowing you to receive payments in your bank account with regularity and accuracy. When you use Stripe, accepting payments from your customers is simple. Businesses of any size can process credit card payments with ease.
Stripe and Invoice2go
At Invoice2go, we're passionate about seeing businesses succeed, especially in today's fast-paced, technologically driven business climate. That's why we're pleased to have Stripe as one of our vendor partners.
Whether you run an eCommerce business or are a freelancer, you can rely on our tools and resources to process online payment methods, including credit cards and payments made using Google Pay and Apple Pay.
You can also use our mobile app and other resources to monitor your invoices and payments, ensuring that your business is always operating at peak capacity.
Ready to give it a try? Sign up now, and receive a free, 30-day trial. When it comes to accepting payments from your online customers, few tools measure up to the combined strength of Stripe and Invoice2go.
Frequently asked questions
Stripe can make a significant impact on every order you process. But we understand that you might have a few remaining questions. Below, we'll try to answer the most common questions we hear.
When processing in-person payments, Stripe's card reader is set up to receive chip cards. A chip card can also be used in an online payment, where the presence of the chip has no impact on the sale.
Stripe includes some basic developer tools that you can use to customize some basic things about your account. Most business owners can use these tools without any advanced training.
However, Stripe also offers customizable features that can be used to integrate with your checkout forms and other aspects of your eCommerce site. These advanced features are not essential, but if you choose to use them, you'll need to have some basic web development and coding skills.
While Stripe is a great tool for credit card processing, some customers may wish to make a bank transfer, in which a payment is sent directly from their bank account to yours.
If you wish to provide this payment option, you can instruct your customers to send funds to a "virtual account number" provided by Stripe. The customer can then transfer money from their bank account using their bank's website, mobile app, or by visiting their actual bank.