3 ms·

I don't know how Stripe can justify these pricing, except for "oh we can extract more money, let's do that!". In other (non-Western) countries pricing for local

by reisse 4y ago

I don't know how Stripe can justify these pricing, except for "oh we can extract more money, let's do that!". In other (non-Western) countries pricing for local payment systems can be less than half of what Stripe charges, e. g. Alipay (one of the biggest Chinese payment services) charges about 0.55% merchant fee without per-transaction cost.

QuarterReptile 4y ago
Why don't Stripe customers shift to Alipay? I don't know anything about the service, but that seems like a pretty straightforward win, if they're as similar as you suggest.
- lima 4y ago
  More work to support multiple payment providers (and their respective APIs, conflict resolution procedures, fraud prevention systems...).
- reisse 4y ago
  Because countries where both work are not completely overlapping. It'd be very interesting to compare Stripe market share in countries where there are strong competitors.
- PeterisP 4y ago
  The key part of the parent comment was 'local payment systems' - that rate is for Alipay payments from China-issued payment instruments, it's not for accepting Visa or Mastercard. It wouldn't be enough for Stripe customers (merchants) to switch to a cheaper payment system, the actual consumers would have to do it as well.
- HPsquared 4y ago
  Different regulations probably.
puzzlingcaptcha 4y ago
Higher costs of compliance in the EU perhaps?
- kzrdude 4y ago
  EU has limited the fees credit card companies can apply on transactions in Europe, doesn't that mean Stripe should have lower overhead costs there?
  - throwaway67743 4y ago
    That only applies to the card networks not merchants or processors, but there is also a dual rate system that the EU are obsessed with where intra EU is much cheaper, they mandated the same for voice calls too, it's very dumb and just insulates the EU further (which is their plan it seems)
    - Symbiote 4y ago
      Yours is a rare anti-EU comment arguing that the EU should extends its regulation beyond its borders/citizens.
      - throwaway67743 4y ago
        It is neither an anti EU comment nor arguing for extending regulation beyond its borders, but alright
    - hocuspocus 4y ago
      It doesn't apply to the card scheme, it applies to interchange, i.e. the part that goes back to the card issuer. I don't see how that is dumb, the EU cannot do anything about issuers outside of it, and PSPs have to reflect the huge difference in interchange fees one way or another.
      - throwaway67743 4y ago
        Correct, merchants do not charge interchange, banks/networks do, and its dumb because it increases the costs of doing business in the EU (which as I said, makes it more insular)
switch007 4y ago
Everyone is increasing prices in Europe. Inflation in the UK is crazy. I'm standing in my local coffee place and a basic Americano went up £0.50 overnight It's crazy and a lot of gouging is happening (not so much these smaller companies. They do have it tough. The owner does drive an expensive BMW though)
- brmgb 4y ago
  > Everyone is increasing prices in Europe. Inflation in the UK is crazy. Yes but payment processors generally take fees as a share of transactions. That naturally shields them for inflation. Raising their percentage fees is just a naked cash grab.
  - switch007 4y ago
    I wasn't attempting to justify it. The opposite.
Traubenfuchs 4y ago
The old rules of supply and demand, competition and vendor lock in? As long as they do not lose customers / don‘t miss out on new customers, it was the right decision.
hocuspocus 4y ago
Even in the EEA if you only care about payments, nothing stops you from going to a cheaper alternative. For instance https://www.stancer.com/en/pricing https://www.stancer.com/en/pricing And I don't know the rates big players negotiate with Adyen but it's probably similar.
xwolfi 4y ago
Yeah but it's not the same economy of scale, you'll reckon. Alipay is also completely systemic in China and cant exactly be considered a private entreprise anymore: they're "more famous than Jesus" in their own way. I barely ever heard of Stripe as a European, and now that I live in China, it's almost mandatory to have alipay.
chinathrow 4y ago
I got hit by the same price increase today - I assume they're prepping up for the IPO.

by reisse 4y ago

QuarterReptile 4y ago

Why don't Stripe customers shift to Alipay? I don't know anything about the service, but that seems like a pretty straightforward win, if they're as similar as you suggest.

lima 4y ago
More work to support multiple payment providers (and their respective APIs, conflict resolution procedures, fraud prevention systems...).
reisse 4y ago
Because countries where both work are not completely overlapping. It'd be very interesting to compare Stripe market share in countries where there are strong competitors.
PeterisP 4y ago
The key part of the parent comment was 'local payment systems' - that rate is for Alipay payments from China-issued payment instruments, it's not for accepting Visa or Mastercard. It wouldn't be enough for Stripe customers (merchants) to switch to a cheaper payment system, the actual consumers would have to do it as well.
HPsquared 4y ago
Different regulations probably.

puzzlingcaptcha 4y ago

Higher costs of compliance in the EU perhaps?

kzrdude 4y ago
EU has limited the fees credit card companies can apply on transactions in Europe, doesn't that mean Stripe should have lower overhead costs there?
- throwaway67743 4y ago
  That only applies to the card networks not merchants or processors, but there is also a dual rate system that the EU are obsessed with where intra EU is much cheaper, they mandated the same for voice calls too, it's very dumb and just insulates the EU further (which is their plan it seems)
  - Symbiote 4y ago
    Yours is a rare anti-EU comment arguing that the EU should extends its regulation beyond its borders/citizens.
    - throwaway67743 4y ago
      It is neither an anti EU comment nor arguing for extending regulation beyond its borders, but alright
  - hocuspocus 4y ago
    It doesn't apply to the card scheme, it applies to interchange, i.e. the part that goes back to the card issuer. I don't see how that is dumb, the EU cannot do anything about issuers outside of it, and PSPs have to reflect the huge difference in interchange fees one way or another.
    - throwaway67743 4y ago
      Correct, merchants do not charge interchange, banks/networks do, and its dumb because it increases the costs of doing business in the EU (which as I said, makes it more insular)

switch007 4y ago

Everyone is increasing prices in Europe. Inflation in the UK is crazy. I'm standing in my local coffee place and a basic Americano went up £0.50 overnight It's crazy and a lot of gouging is happening (not so much these smaller companies. They do have it tough. The owner does drive an expensive BMW though)

brmgb 4y ago
> Everyone is increasing prices in Europe. Inflation in the UK is crazy. Yes but payment processors generally take fees as a share of transactions. That naturally shields them for inflation. Raising their percentage fees is just a naked cash grab.
- switch007 4y ago
  I wasn't attempting to justify it. The opposite.

Traubenfuchs 4y ago

The old rules of supply and demand, competition and vendor lock in? As long as they do not lose customers / don‘t miss out on new customers, it was the right decision.

hocuspocus 4y ago

Even in the EEA if you only care about payments, nothing stops you from going to a cheaper alternative. For instance https://www.stancer.com/en/pricing https://www.stancer.com/en/pricing And I don't know the rates big players negotiate with Adyen but it's probably similar.

xwolfi 4y ago

Yeah but it's not the same economy of scale, you'll reckon. Alipay is also completely systemic in China and cant exactly be considered a private entreprise anymore: they're "more famous than Jesus" in their own way. I barely ever heard of Stripe as a European, and now that I live in China, it's almost mandatory to have alipay.

chinathrow 4y ago

I got hit by the same price increase today - I assume they're prepping up for the IPO.