Stripe is a so-called third party online payment processing system. It means that Stripe offers services that transfer money and facilitate buying and selling. In Finland, its direct competitor PayPal is more well-known, but internationally, Stripe is also very popular.
What Does Stripe Really Do?
Stripe’s services are web-based, which means that it deals with debit and credit card payments specifically online. In practice, this means that one of the payment options offered in an online store is called Stripe. Its infrastructure has been built to safely transfer money from the buyer’s payment card to the seller’s account. It operates internationally, so no matter where a purchase is made, payments are easily transferred between different countries and continents.
Stripe is a payment processor that takes a small cut of the sums it transfers. In online stores, Stripe’s cut is part of the price of the items, or it is clearly stated before a purchase is made.
In its operations Stripe is very similar to PayPal, which is one of its well-known competitors in Finland. Like PayPal, Stripe uses strong identification methods and all other possible safety measures to keep payments secure.
It is worth noting that transferring payments is Stripe’s entire business idea. In other words, if Stripe was unable to reliably and transparently transfer money from the buyer’s card to the seller’s account, year after year, it would have no business, because its customers would stop using it very quickly.
What Are the Advantages to Using Stripe?
Right now, there are many payment processing options to choose from. A popular method in Finland is transferring money directly from the buyer’s bank account to the seller’s bank account. However, even that requires the use of a third-party processing system in order to be convenient enough for the buyer. That means that there are currently no widely-used systems that are not provided by third parties, and that is nothing to be afraid of.
Stripe has been designed to be as straightforward and easy-to-use as possible, and with Stripe, there is no need for either the buyer or the seller to be in touch with their bank. In other words, Stripe is the only middleman needed to transfer the money from the buyer’s card to the seller’s account. All connections that are made are secured, ad Stripe strives continuously to keep the customers’ data as safe as possible on their own servers.
The advantage to using Stripe is that the buyer does not need to register for an account. Having a Visa or a Mastercard debit or credit card is enough to complete the payment. Outside of Finland, for instance in Germany, some local payment cards are also accepted for purchases. As such, Stripe is an excellent choice for an online store that wishes to go international.
With Stripe, the risks of payments are smaller. Like with credit card or PayPal payments, it is possible to cancel payments afterwards, if for instance the product that was ordered fails to be delivered.
What Does It Take to Use Stripe?
As mentioned before, Stripe has made buying simple and doesn’t require the buyer to register for an account or come up with a difficult password. A debit or credit card with a Visa or a Mastercard logo is enough to make purchases online.
For the seller, Stripe comes with notable advantages. Compared to the competition, using Stripe is generally straightforward, and it is often less expensive, too. All the seller has to do is create an account and connect it with his or her online store, and accepting payments can begin. And if there are any problems, Stripe offers high-quality customer service.
One of Stripe’s features is creating sales reports. It can visually demonstrate to the seller what has happened in the store and how sales figures are developing. As such, it is not only a payment processing system, but also a sales tool.
Stripe has been Marknad’s number one choice for a payment processing system from day one. Due to its buyer-friendliness, it is one of the best payment systems out there, and it shares Marknad’s vision of offering simple solutions to online stores in a world that is growing more and more complicated.