STRIPE PAYMENT GATEWAY

Without discussing Stripe, one cannot cover the topic of online payment gateways. At present, Stripe has become the backbone of online-only businesses and helps them handle international customers as well. Technically speaking, Stripe is a credit card processor that helps businesses with online transactions.
An introduction to Stripe
Stripe was established in 2010, and it is an American- SaaS(Software as a Service) company. It helps mobile apps and eCommerce companies by offering them payment processing software and API that helps them incorporate payment processing in the company’s website.


The significance of the Stripe payment gateway for online businesses
Stripe is popular among online businesses for various reasons. In some ways, it is similar to PayPal and other payment platforms. What gives Stripe the advantage is the free API it offers to eCommerce platforms.
Stripe doesn’t charge an extra fee from businesses, unlike PayPal. This makes it a strong choice for small businesses and doesn’t cost much.
At the same time, Stripe has very low procession rates and almost zero added costs. The free API adds to the customer’s smooth experience.

Services offered by Stripe
Stripe provides various services that include many different things apart from online payment credit-card processing. Some of these services are-
1. Payment processing- this is the primary service offered by Stripe.
2. Online fraud prevention- to prevent online frauds, Stripe launched ‘Radar’ which aims to curb financial frauds happening online.
3. Corporate finance- Stripe launched Atlas to assist startups in the registration process.
4. Loans- Stripe also started offering credit cards and loans to startups based in the US.
Pros and cons of stripe
Just like any other company, Stripe has its own advantages and drawbacks. If you make up your mind to use it, you should know what are its pros and cons.
Pros
1. Once incorporated, the payments will happen automatically.
2. The processing rates are very low and there are no additional monthly fees.
3. The dashboard is detailed and Stripe takes payments from different currencies as well.
4. Last but not least, Stripe offers safer transactions and is trustworthy.
Cons
1. 12% of people prefer using PayPal for online payments. Stripe doesn’t accept payments via PayPal.
2. Stripe is not available in many countries. For example, in India Stripe isn’t fully functional.
3. Stripe doesn’t refund the processing fees.
Conclusion
Stripe offers great services to customers around the world. It also supports budding businesses with easy payment processing. After 10 years of its inception, Stripe has successfully managed to increase its presence along with helping other brands.
Along with many advantages, Stripe has various disadvantages too. These disadvantages also affect Stripe’s overall acceptance.
But overall, one can’t deny the fact that Stripe has changed how online payment processing used to work. Now, businesses can cater to worldwide customers, thanks to Stripe.