Online marketplaces thrive when there is seamless, frictionless buying and selling for the end users.
From crafting a seamless user experience to streamlining cross-selling opportunities, online marketplace operators must overcome various unique challenges to establish their brand as a dominant force in their respective niche.
Selling on an online marketplace should also be so intuitive that sellers don't need to spend hours learning how to use it before adding their inventory.
Thankfully, plenty of secure and seamless payment gateway solutions are available today to assist marketplace owners.
One of the most widely used payment gateways available these days is Stripe.
Let's take a look at the payment gateway Stripe.
What is the Stripe Payment Gateway, and How Did It Start?
Stripe is a payment gateway and one of the most popular payment gateways available today.
It was founded in 2010 by brothers Patrick and John Collison to solve the difficulty of accepting online payments.
Since then, the brothers have built Stripe to be one of the highest-valued startups at $95 billion.
Payment gateways provide software and services to help businesses of all types accept payments online.
It is a software-as-a-service (SAAS) product, meaning installing anything on the computer or server is unnecessary.
What makes it simple is that it's entirely web-based.
What are the Benefits of Using Stripe for Online Marketplaces
There are several reasons why we think Stripe is one of the best payment gateways for an online marketplace:
It's Easy to Integrate
Stripe's payment management solution is already integrated into many e-commerce for online marketplace websites.
They've also partnered with companies like WooCommerce to make it easy for non-developers to add Stripe to their platforms via widgets and plugins.
In the case of Yclas, there are already Stripe payment plug-ins.
Far-Reaching International Support for Online Marketplaces
Stripe can take transactions from 47 countries and has 135+ currencies.
That makes it an easy choice if you have an online marketplace for customers from different countries.
For the most part, it allows you to have a one-stop shop for your payment gateway.
There is little need to look for an additional payment gateway or change payment settings for each country.
Easy Support for Various Payment Gateways
Stripe is very easy to use and supports various payment methods.
Using Stripe, you can accept credit cards (VISA, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express and more), debit cards, and even Bitcoin.
Suitable for Large Online Marketplace
Stripe has been used in many large online marketplaces.
It's proven to be very reliable in these large environments.
DoorDash, one of the world's largest online marketplaces when it comes to food deliveries, uses Stripe.
Other well-known marketplaces are Lyft, Deliveroo, Booking.com, Instacart, Goat, Turo, Styleseat, Universe,
Security is PCI-Compliant
Stripe is PCI-compliant, which means they're audited to keep up with the latest security standards.
Something fairly standard these days, but important, none the least.
Stripe's Best Features for Marketplaces!
Stripe has excellent features for marketplaces that are unique to the industry.
Fast Instant Payouts
Payments through Stripe are received within two days or sooner. Stripe has partnered with banks to make instant payouts possible.
No Monthly Fees
Stripe doesn't charge monthly fees, even with a high volume of transactions.
Like with any commission structure, this is can be helpful when starting out when you're bootstrapping your business and there are only a few dollars to go around!
Easy Income Dashboarding
The Stripe dashboard is easy to use and provides all the data needed to manage the payment process.
Users can see an overview of their Stripe account activity on the dashboard.
Users can also manage payments and refunds, monitor integration, and respond to disputes from the interface.
Offers Flexible Financing for Your Online Marketplace Customers
With Stripe Capital, online marketplace operators can offer end-to-end lending to their customers.
The loan program offers another income opportunity that marketplaces can offer their customer.
By partnering with Stripe Capital, online marketplaces share the income generated from extending the loan to their customers.
Easy Reporting
Stripe provides detailed reports that show where the money comes from and where it goes.
It also provides users with analytical tools for transactions.
Fast Risk Evaluation on Transactions
The Stripe Radar system checks and evaluates each transaction processed on the platform.
It uses data, like new customer purchase patterns and business transaction features, to assess if payment is likely to be a fraud.
The amount is voided if the fraud risk level is high.
Easy to Launch Marketplace with Subscription-Based Billing
Stripe Billing offers built-in support for any one-time or recurring billing models.
Some of the more well-known customers that use Stripe's subscription billing are Slack, Atlassian, Notion, Nextdoor, Udacity, The Atlantic, Eero, and Postmates.
A Host of Currencies
Stripe can transact in 135+ currencies and 47 countries around the globe.
Easily Branded Experience
The checkout page can easily be made to match your brand and look like part of your website.
Branding can also be added to the emails that customers receive.
Simple 24/7 Support
Stripe has a 24/7 customer service team that can be reached by email, phone, or chat.
Benefits of Stripe's Security Features
Stripe naturally has security features built into the product as a gateway payment solution.
A PCI-certified auditor assessed Stripe, and the software was given a PCI Provider Level 1 status.
This level of certification is the most meticulous security certification in the payment industry.
Aside from the PCI certification, Stripe uses HTTPS and HSTS for secure connections.
Since Stripe handles sensitive data, the provider uses AES-256 encryption at rest for all card numbers processed.
Stripe's infrastructure for storing, decrypting, and transmitting card numbers is run and hosted in a separate server to ensure a higher level of security.
It also doesn't have the same credentials as Stripe's primary services, including its API and website.
Stripe's Processing Fees for Online Marketplaces
Stripe, as a payment processing platform, is relatively easy to understand with its flat-rate transaction-based fees.
Stripe charges 2.9% plus 30 cents for every transaction to accept online card payments online and 2.7% plus 5 cents to accept in-person payments.
Aside from the stated fees, the following payment methods may be subjected to additional fees.
- 1% fee applies for transactions done with an international card
- 1% fee is charged if currency conversion is required for international cards
- $15 fee per returned or bounced check
- $4.00 for failed ACH Direct Debit payments
- $15.00 for disputed ACH Direct Debit transactions
- $8.00 fee per Wire payment
There are no monthly or annual fees to use the product, which makes their payment structure easier to follow and understand.
How to Setup Stripe for Your Online Marketplace
To start accepting payments with Stripe, an account must first be created on the platform.
The account needs to be verified.
Payment information and account details also have to be set up.
Account approvals with Stripe are quick, and it doesn't take long for users to begin accepting payments.
Once logged in, Stripe is ready to be added to the website.
To add Stripe to the website, two lines of code or API keys needed to be added – one on the checkout page and another on the page where customer payment information is collected.
Depending on the website's content management system, these keys will either be copy-pasted to connect Stripe to the marketplace, or a widget needs to be downloaded.
Once the Stripe API keys have been added to the website, it's ready to accept payments.
Extra functionalities can also be added to get more with the Stripe account.
Not too bad!
Yclas Partnering with Stripe for Online Marketplace Gateways
Aside from the ease of processing payments, which helps the platform and its users, the protection it offers in today's online security risks is unparalleled.
For years now, Yclas has decided to partner with Stripe for our customers' payment gateways.
Interested in learning more about Yclas?
Yclas helps business owners build their online marketplace platform in minutes. Click here to sign up for a free trial and learn more.
