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Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

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Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#91

Post by lisper »

malandrew wrote: post #81
lisper wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO it is time to start promulgating the idea that electronic money transfer should be considered a basic human right just like free cash transactions have been since the invention of money. It already is that way in many advanced countries where electronic money transfer is a service provided by the government. It is only in the U.S. where a private monopolistic cartel is allowed to impose a private tax on all reta…

Without any profit, what's going to support the creation of such service and pay for the talent that is going to make it cheap and reliable? The only answer is likely to have taxes pay for it, but then you're still paying a tax and then you're in the situation where you can't switch to a new company providing a better service. A service being provided by the government doesn't make it free. You're still paying for it…

I very deliberately did not use the word "free". Of course it's not free. Many things that are considered basic human rights are not free. Food, clothing, shelter... none of these are free. We as a society choose to provide them because we'd rather live in a world where everyone has these things rather than one where some people don't.

Of course this does not apply to everything. It's perfectly fine if not everyone has a private jet. It's not so perfectly fine if people are starving in the street.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#92

Post by charlesju »

pc wrote: post #75

Stripe cofounder here. This isn't really new -- it's an extension of our last round ( https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/19/fintech-start-up-stripe-notc... ). That said, we've seen a big spike in signups over the past few weeks. If any HN readers have integrated recently and have feedback, we're always eager to hear it. Feel free to email me at patrick@stripe.com and I'll route to the right team(s). As always, thank you to…

Congratulations. We've recently decided to go with Paypal Pro for better rates on micropayments. Do you guys plan to have a similar program soon?

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#93

Post by tialaramex »

Znafon wrote: post #56
lisper wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO it is time to start promulgating the idea that electronic money transfer should be considered a basic human right just like free cash transactions have been since the invention of money. It already is that way in many advanced countries where electronic money transfer is a service provided by the government. It is only in the U.S. where a private monopolistic cartel is allowed to impose a private tax on all reta…

In what countries can you do free electronic transactions?

If you're a business basically nowhere. Some of the sibling comments are suggesting e.g. the UK where I live. Modestly sized transactions (maybe not the price of a new car or home but from pocket change to a nice family holiday) between individuals are zero cost and typically near instant. But a business can't access those rates.

However the EU forced the payment services sector to cap charges for businesses so you're maybe paying 0.5% or less on a transaction not 2.5% and that's why you don't see amazing cashback card deals or big discounts for cash in the EU normally.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#94

Post by huhtenberg »

fbelzile wrote: post #55

I'm very happy with Stripe and for their success, but I plan on switching all my payments to go through PayPal again. I did some math and PayPal offers a better deal for Canadian businesses after Stripe bumps me off of their grandfathered conversion fees in a couple months. I love the slick interface, but it's simply not worth the thousands per year I'll be saving with the switch. For me the main selling point for an…

Stripe not allowing to withdraw onto USD accounts not located in the US is an absolutely MASSIVE gripe with the service.

We operate internally in USD - we sell in USD, we pay in USD, so we end up being shafted with not one, but two pointless FX conversions. And that's without going into minor stuff like the headaches with refunds done at rates, extra accounting overheads, etc.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#95

Post by adrr »

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #63
kashura wrote: post #58

If they are so successful, why do they need to continuously raise money?

Because they're aiming to be even more successful. $36B is still a tenth of Visa, and I think Stripe believes they can eventually become an equally important part of the financial ecosystem.

It’s larger than Adyen who has a arguably a better platform and bigger customers like eBay and Microsoft. Stripe has Shopify but with their misstep of not refunding processing fees on returns, that’s going away quickly as merchants pressure Shopify.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#96

Post by csa »

adamqureshi wrote: post #6

I wish stripe would offer some relief for the pandemic to their customers. I use them for my business to process CC's but they have not provided anything. I can't get a PPP loan. I'd accept an interest free loan if they would offer it to my business. They did approve me for a loan but want a fee upfront + a slice of daily sales until its paid back.

> I'd accept an interest free loan if they would offer it to my business. They did approve me for a loan but want a fee upfront + a slice of daily sales until its paid back.

Genuine question... is the interest really the major issue with the loan they offered?

The amount of interest in the “slice of daily sales” is not that much (relatively speaking). That slice is just a loan repayment, which you would have to do whether it was interest free or not.

Maybe Stripe could do something like temporarily lower their fees or maybe reduce the up front fee, but I imagine that their current loan offer to you isn’t far from what you would get even if they had a net zero expected value from your loan.

Am I missing something?

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#97

Post by pc »

Beefin wrote: post #87
pc wrote: post #75

Stripe cofounder here. This isn't really new -- it's an extension of our last round ( https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/19/fintech-start-up-stripe-notc... ). That said, we've seen a big spike in signups over the past few weeks. If any HN readers have integrated recently and have feedback, we're always eager to hear it. Feel free to email me at patrick@stripe.com and I'll route to the right team(s). As always, thank you to…

Hey Patrick, understood that this is an extension of a previous round, but do you have any comments on the timing of this capital raise /w covid? I imagine, with the huge spike in ecommerce, your platforms are crushing it, but curious to hear your take.

We've noticed a few things --

- Enterprises pivoting -- brands going direct-to-consumer, malls pivoting to online business models (seriously), and other things like that.

- SMBs going online: see this thread[0] from a French fruit seller, for example, or this thread[1] from a bar in Milwaukee. The restaurant down the street from where I used to live is now running a rapidly-growing online wine club.

- Totally new startups are getting started in response to new needs.

[0] https://twitter.com/FlorentSchmahl/status/125028359535832678...

[1] https://twitter.com/danimalnelson/status/1240004111669460992

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#98

Post by caleb1666 »

fbelzile wrote: post #55

I'm very happy with Stripe and for their success, but I plan on switching all my payments to go through PayPal again. I did some math and PayPal offers a better deal for Canadian businesses after Stripe bumps me off of their grandfathered conversion fees in a couple months. I love the slick interface, but it's simply not worth the thousands per year I'll be saving with the switch. For me the main selling point for an…

No, you're not. I was very happy with Stripe for a few years. As my business grew and I looked at where I could cut costs, I asked around and Braintree's model was going to save me 1% per transaction. At my volume that was going to add up to thousands of dollars in savings a month over Stripe. I went back to Stripe to see if they'd be willing to match Braintree's pricing, because I was happy with them over the years and it would have made things much easier to not have to switch to a new payment processor. But they only offered about 75% of the savings so I switched anyway. Turns out the APIs are roughly the same anyway for the basic functionality that I need, I'm not an advanced user. I estimate the switch has already saved me about $75k.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#99

Post by carapace »

nailer wrote: post #84
fbelzile wrote: post #55

I'm very happy with Stripe and for their success, but I plan on switching all my payments to go through PayPal again. I did some math and PayPal offers a better deal for Canadian businesses after Stripe bumps me off of their grandfathered conversion fees in a couple months. I love the slick interface, but it's simply not worth the thousands per year I'll be saving with the switch. For me the main selling point for an…

If you do anything through PayPal do not keep any funds in your PayPal account. The company is well known for seizing funds in their customers account with no recourse.

PayPal owes me $200.

I got a letter from the state comptroller saying that paypal had been trying to reach me and my money was about to revert to the state and call this number to get it.

So I called the number, and they ask me, "Do you want it in a check or in your paypal account?" Well that account has been frozen for years so I say, "Send me the check."

That was a few years ago now and I'm still waiting.

Fuck PayPal.

Re: Stripe raises $600M at nearly $36B valuation

#100

Post by belzebalex »

pc wrote: post #75

Stripe cofounder here. This isn't really new -- it's an extension of our last round ( https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/19/fintech-start-up-stripe-notc... ). That said, we've seen a big spike in signups over the past few weeks. If any HN readers have integrated recently and have feedback, we're always eager to hear it. Feel free to email me at patrick@stripe.com and I'll route to the right team(s). As always, thank you to…

Is there any way coupons could be added directly on Checkout in the future?
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