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You may already have an inkling of what Stripe can do for your local business and would like to know more, or you could have absolutely no idea.

Either way, in order to answer why you may need Stripe for your business, let’s travel back in time to discover the payment issues the founders were going through, and ultimately, were trying to solve.

What’s the story?

Stripe was founded by two Irish brothers – Patrick and John Collison. They were brilliant in school and gifted in business.

In just 10 months, they had built, funded, launched, tested and sold Auctomatic – an auction and marketplace management system used by individual sellers on sites such as eBay – for a cool US$5 million. All this, before they had even finished high school!

The Collisons funded their university tuition fees by developing iPhone apps. Through the development process, they observed how convenient the payment system on the App Store was and how easy it was to accept payment.

In comparison, accepting payment on the Internet was a lot more complex for online business owners and it leaned in favour of larger corporations.

This was due to the processes, paperwork and record-keeping that business owners had to carry out just so they could accept money from their customers.

It was especially difficult for start-ups and small businesses that had minimal manpower. With so much time taken handling online payment procedures, small business owners didn’t have time to work on their products and grow their business.

As business owners themselves, the brothers were going through the same woes and were determined to find a solution to their payment acceptance problems.

What is Stripe and how does it work?

In 2010, the Collisons developed Stripe, a payment software that includes a payment processing platform and a credit card payment gateway.

Both are required for a successful online transaction. This will ensure that payment to the seller is delivered safely and efficiently. Stripe is also easily incorporated into mobile applications and websites.

By creating a platform between the seller and buyer for payments made via credit and debit cards, e-Wallets and dozens of payment methods globally, transactions are more secure. That’s because the Stripe software verifies at check out that the funds are available from the buyer.

The payment will then be processed before it is sent to the seller. Once payment has been received by the seller, confirmation of sale will be sent to both parties.

Stripe helps protect business owners against fraud by rejecting a transaction if the customer has insufficient funds.

Transactions that appear suspect will be automatically barred. By implementing spending limits and controls on cardholders, Stripe helps prevent online fraud.

Can Stripe be used in Malaysia?

The good news is, Stripe has been supported in Malaysia since 2019. Well-known local businesses like Grab, SoCar, Dahmakan, Fashion Valet and Jaya Grocer are using Stripe for their payment processes.

Internationally, Stripe is used by start-ups as well as Fortune 500 companies like Google, Amazon, Twitter and Zoom. In fact, the company claims that it has processed nearly 90% of personal credit cards. World’s richest man Elon Musk and Paypal founder Peter Thiel count among its investors.

Stripe can be used for a variety of businesses such as e-Commerce sites, retail online stores, B2B platforms, software services, B2C marketplaces, as well as non-profits and fundraisers.

Here's a look at Stripe’s advantages and weaknesses so you can make a more informed decision for your business.

Do you need Stripe for your business?

Ultimately, the payment processor you decide on will depend on the needs of your business and what works for you.

While its pricing is competitive, one of the biggest plus points Stripe has going for it is that it’s developer friendly and has a host of customisable features that its competitors would charge the customer extra for.

It also has a reporting system that’s more customisable than its biggest competitor, Paypal. If Stripe is for you, you can learn how to set up your account here.

On the other hand, if you’re not particularly tech-savvy and don’t have access to a developer, you may want to consider another option.

To help you in your research, we’ve compared Stripe with its competitors and weighed their pros and cons in the following article:
5 alternatives to Stripe for 2021/2022: Advantages, weaknesses and how much?