An obvious list starter for you on the question above is that you will need an online payment processing platform for an e-commerce site. Fundraisers, charities, and other not-for-profit organizations also do need a payment gateway embedded in their sites to accept donations these days.
There are several options to accept payments online. You can choose to install a payment gateway or a complete payment processing solution.
There is no one-fits-all solution when choosing between the payment processing platforms or gateways. Considering your business needs, transaction volume, and costs, you can best decide to select the payment processing solution.
Stripe has made inroads to the online payment processing providers’ market since its inception in 2011.
Providing a comprehensive set of online payment processing solutions and data security are hallmarks of Stripe. Starting with a vision of increasing the e-commerce GDP globally, Stripe has lived up to expectations so far.
Here are the top five compelling reasons for you to choose Stripe over others.
1) Stripe offers a Comprehensive set of Applications:
Stripe comes with an open-source coding and documentation library that offers valuable customization options if you are tech-savvy.
Otherwise, Stripe has an application relating to online payment processing for every function you can think of. Its flagship applications include:
- Stripe Payment
- Billing
- Payouts
- Issuing
- Connect
- Atlas
- Sigma
- Radar
- Capital
Additionally, Stripe comes with a partner program with industry leaders to offer other utility applications.
For a business of any size, you can find a payment processing-related application with Stripe. It covers a comprehensive set of applications and extensions.
2) Accepted Payment Methods and Checkouts
As a merchant client or not-for-profit organization, you can integrate any payment method with the e-commerce website.
Accepting major cards from Visa, MasterCard, Discover, JCB, and American Express is a standard feature that comes with any payment gateway these days.
The Stripe includes a plethora of digital wallets and checkout options, though. Its range of Digital payment wallets include:
- Alipay
- Apple pay
- Amex Express
- Google pay
- Microsoft Pay
- Visa checkout
- Masterpass checkout
- WeChat pay
The list of accepted payment methods and checkouts has become very standardized these days. In fact, businesses opting for any payment processing platform must carefully examine any missing digital wallet or checkout option.
3) Dedicated Security and Fraud Prevention
Cybersecurity and fraud prevention measures affect online businesses in many ways. An increasing number of fraudulent activities result in more disputed and reversed transactions if not for the direct losses.
Any payment gateway and processing platform charges additional costs for such reversed and canceled transactions. Apart from the increased costs of business, these challenges pose great business risks for all online businesses.
With its flagship fraud prevention and risk mitigation application, RADAR, Stripe provides an additional layer of security to its customer.
If you are concerned about additional costs, the risk prevention app RADAR comes with the standard plan of “Payment.” Stripe is also a PCI level one service provider with strict industry standards of online security protocols.
Stripe uses HTTPS protocols for its clients and Dashboard experience. The data transfer for card processing through Encryption and PGP protocols also provides a secure experience to its clients.
4) Transparent Fees Structure
With millions of customers worldwide and thousands of transactions processed daily, Stripe does come with a fee structure that is acceptable globally.
For the customer base inside the US, the pricing strategies for most payment processing platforms and gateways remain similar. However, Stripe stands out with a lower and consistently transparent pricing strategy for its international customers.
Strip offers a standard transaction fee of 2.9% + 30¢ for credit and debit cards. The differentiation in its pricing comes with international transaction costs of 2.9% + 1% of currency conversion, which is fairly lower than most competitors.
Its disputed and canceled transaction fees of $15 are also lower than others, like PayPal that charges $20 for such transactions.
5) Partner Program and Integrated CRM:
As much as you would like a smooth transaction experience for your customers, you would like additional features from a payment processing platform too.
If there is an online business function that doesn’t come readily available with Stripe, you will find it with their partner program. It is no exception or a unique selling proposition related to Stripe only, but it offers great flexibility and a wider range of choices to you.
Business data reporting and analyses play an integral part in customer retention and increased sales for any e-commerce business. CRM software partnerships with industry leaders like Hubspot, Agile, and Drip make Stripe stand out of the crowd again.