Stripe is a payment processor where you can pay by credit/debit card or another form of payment. Its payment gateway, Stripe Payments, works best for companies that do a large percentage of sales on the internet because most of its special features focus on sales online. 

What payments does Stripe take

Stripe is a payment gateway, and it offers merchants Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners Club, China UnionPay and debit cards. Businesses can also pay from mobile wallets and buy now, pay later services. Stripe takes payments in many different currencies. For POS payments (point-of-sale), the company provides Stripe Terminal. 

Stripe has lots of other services such as billing, invoicing, and sales tax automation too. 

It allows you to take payments, and payouts and deal with financial transactions in a very easy manner. Let’s dive into how to use Stripe:

Sending invoices and subscriptions 

Sending Invoices:

• On Stripe Dashboard go to Invoices. 
• Click Create Invoice.  
• Enter the customer details and lines (products/services). 
• Email the invoice or a link to pay. 

Managing Subscriptions:

• Navigate to Billing > Subscriptions.  
• Create recurring billing plans.  
• Billing frequency (weekly, monthly, etc.) and pricing.  
• Customers are automatically charged according to the subscription. 

Receiving Payments 

• In-transit payments are real-time. 
• Cash transfers to your connected bank account in 2-7 business days (depending on location and method of payment). 
• Cash out in real-time at an additional cost. 

Handling refunds and disputes

Issuing refunds:

• Navigate to Payments in the Dashboard. 
• Choose the transaction to refund. 
• Click Refund Payment and confirm.  

Managing disputes:

• You are notified by email or the Dashboard of disputes with Stripe. 
• Send evidence to Stripe (Receipts, Customer Notes). 
• Stripe takes care of disputing with the customer’s bank. 

Stripe Fees

• Normal Transaction Fee: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (depends on country). 
• International Payment Fee: An additional 1% fee for the exchange rate. 
• Instant Payout Fee: 1% of payout (can be different). 

Security and Compliance

• PCI DSS Level 1 Compliance Safe Transactions. 
• Data security encryption for customers. 
• Fraud protection such as Radar blocks fraud activity. 

Processing payments on Stripe 

The consumer enters his or her card details either online or in person. 

Those card numbers are sent to Stripe’s payment gateway and that gateway encrypts them. 

Stripe sends that information to the acquirer which is a bank that will charge the merchant for the transaction. Here Stripe is the merchant (and business owner is a submerchant). The issuer’s bank approves or rejects the exchange. 

That message gets out from the issuing bank, through the card network to the acquirer. And then down through the gateway to the consumer who sees an alert telling him or her that the payment has been accepted or rejected. After your cardholder’s issuing bank approves you, you can withdraw the money from Stripe to your business bank account. Stripe clients can get paid out after the transaction is complete (about 2 business days). 

It is also possible to get paid any time you want (daily, weekly or monthly). 

The Stripe charges you’ll be charged will depend on what type of payment is being made: 

• 2.7% + 5 cents for physical stores. 
• 2,9% plus 30 cents online). 
• 3.4% + 30 cents on hand-in transactions. 
• 4.4% + 30c per card international purchase. 

Is Stripe safe to use

Stripe is audited and approved as a PCI compliance Level 1 service provider which means it needs to submit an annual compliance report and regular security scans and tests. Stripe protects all customers’ credit card numbers with encryption and encrypts decryption data in-house so Stripe doesn’t have to peek at credit card numbers. 

Stripe also requires that every online payment be done via the safer HTTPS network. 

How to take payment with Stripe

Stripe payment processing is a 3-step process: 

Create a Stripe account

It is only by entering your name and email. 

Provide business details

These will be addresses and legal entities. Stripe will also ask for some of your data like your name and date of birth. 

Link a bank account

Here is where Stripe will pay you. 

You won’t be able to win cash right away, however. Most times you won’t get your first payment until 7 days after you receive your first payment. : For some professions, the wait times can extend up to 14 days. 

Stripe is a very open platform with everything from basic payment links to custom integrations. This tutorial will get you up and running with Stripe for your business in no time.

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