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"You don't need a merchant account or gateway." That's a killer feature right there. I've been considering using Braintree for a project, but seeing this is re

"You don't need a merchant account or gateway." That's a killer feature right there. I've been considering using Braintree for a project, but seeing this is really making me reconsider.

seldo 15y ago
As a beta customer, not having to deal with 95% of PCI and merchant accounts etc. really made a huge difference to how fast we got going.
- davidcuddeback 15y ago
  Sure, but other companies, e.g., Spreedly, let you outsource PCI compliance as well. This is the first I've seen that let's you get away without having a merchant account.
  - boucher 15y ago
    We're abstracting away the problem of having a merchant account, because we generally believe there are too many complex moving parts.
    - dsrikanth 15y ago
      Wow! This feature is what I was looking at. Glad to have something processor that doesn't need me to have a merchant account. Sweet!
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
edash 15y ago
Braintree also acts as your merchant account though, right? I'm really excited to learn more about Stripe, but I have Braintree implemented in one application and have had a good experience. For future apps, why choose Stripe over Braintree?
- swilliams 15y ago
  They do, but you have to pay extra for all that. Stripe's pricing is simple enough for my small mind to comprehend without needing a spreadsheet.
  - edash 15y ago
    That's a strong sell even after sign-up actually. We're trying to sort through Braintree charges right now and it is pretty painful...
    - philipsflat 15y ago
      Hey edash, Shoot to hear you're having trouble sorting it out. Please feel free to reach out to Erin@braintreepayments.com . She'll help you out.
      - edash 15y ago
        Thanks so much, we'll do that!
aculver 15y ago
Yeah, I was referred to Braintree when I was building http://limelightapp.com/ http://limelightapp.com/ and I really liked them. However, using them required getting a merchant account, and getting a merchant account required getting a business license, and getting a business license cost $60 and a few hours going on a trip to City Hall and the Court House. Once I had that, Braintree still had to take a couple days to get the underwriting approved for my merchant account. To their credit, the crazy thing is that this is actually an awesome experience compared to working with other payment gateways. If I could have, I definitely would have done this instead. This is like Square for web apps.
- marcamillion 15y ago
  Definitely agree. Braintree is by far the best of a very, very bad lot of merchant account providers. Try getting an account with Authorize.net...I nearly killed myself when I tried that. Braintree was a breath of fresh air after I went the 'traditional' way. But, even then...as you said, I still had to jump through tons of hoops and even though they were very, very helpful and super attentive - they even bent over backwards for me by going to multiple underwriting banks to increase the likelihood that my business would be underwritten. When one of the banks rejected my application, their decision to go to multiple ones definitely seemed prescient. But even then, the entire process still took at least a week - with LOTS of paperwork back and forth being printed out, scanned, emailed, etc. Little did I know...I didn't NEED a merchant account. I just want to accept credit cards securely and not be gauged by the fees. Stripe does both perfectly...the fees are pretty competitive - no monthly and no merchant account headache. Avoid it if you can, at all costs, and just go straight to Stripe.

"You don't need a merchant account or gateway." That's a killer feature right there. I've been considering using Braintree for a project, but seeing this is really making me reconsider.

seldo 15y ago

As a beta customer, not having to deal with 95% of PCI and merchant accounts etc. really made a huge difference to how fast we got going.

davidcuddeback 15y ago
Sure, but other companies, e.g., Spreedly, let you outsource PCI compliance as well. This is the first I've seen that let's you get away without having a merchant account.
- boucher 15y ago
  We're abstracting away the problem of having a merchant account, because we generally believe there are too many complex moving parts.
  - dsrikanth 15y ago
    Wow! This feature is what I was looking at. Glad to have something processor that doesn't need me to have a merchant account. Sweet!
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

edash 15y ago

Braintree also acts as your merchant account though, right? I'm really excited to learn more about Stripe, but I have Braintree implemented in one application and have had a good experience. For future apps, why choose Stripe over Braintree?

swilliams 15y ago
They do, but you have to pay extra for all that. Stripe's pricing is simple enough for my small mind to comprehend without needing a spreadsheet.
- edash 15y ago
  That's a strong sell even after sign-up actually. We're trying to sort through Braintree charges right now and it is pretty painful...
  - philipsflat 15y ago
    Hey edash, Shoot to hear you're having trouble sorting it out. Please feel free to reach out to Erin@braintreepayments.com . She'll help you out.
    - edash 15y ago
      Thanks so much, we'll do that!

aculver 15y ago

Yeah, I was referred to Braintree when I was building http://limelightapp.com/ http://limelightapp.com/ and I really liked them. However, using them required getting a merchant account, and getting a merchant account required getting a business license, and getting a business license cost $60 and a few hours going on a trip to City Hall and the Court House. Once I had that, Braintree still had to take a couple days to get the underwriting approved for my merchant account. To their credit, the crazy thing is that this is actually an awesome experience compared to working with other payment gateways. If I could have, I definitely would have done this instead. This is like Square for web apps.

marcamillion 15y ago
Definitely agree. Braintree is by far the best of a very, very bad lot of merchant account providers. Try getting an account with Authorize.net...I nearly killed myself when I tried that. Braintree was a breath of fresh air after I went the 'traditional' way. But, even then...as you said, I still had to jump through tons of hoops and even though they were very, very helpful and super attentive - they even bent over backwards for me by going to multiple underwriting banks to increase the likelihood that my business would be underwritten. When one of the banks rejected my application, their decision to go to multiple ones definitely seemed prescient. But even then, the entire process still took at least a week - with LOTS of paperwork back and forth being printed out, scanned, emailed, etc. Little did I know...I didn't NEED a merchant account. I just want to accept credit cards securely and not be gauged by the fees. Stripe does both perfectly...the fees are pretty competitive - no monthly and no merchant account headache. Avoid it if you can, at all costs, and just go straight to Stripe.