Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Stripe launches German beta

stripe.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 167 posts

Re: Stripe launches German beta

#61

Post by pc »

kfk wrote: post #51
frank_boyd wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no problem with cloning, everybody does it if we're being honest. It's just that I'm not sure it's a good idea to give your business data to people whose main business model it is to look for the best ideas/markets/businesses and then to copy them. To me, there seems to be a pretty obvious conflict of interest that might work against you.

I disagree. Do you know who is going to buy stripe? No. You could very well end up in worst hands. At least with Paymill you are clear on what you get. We have seen their execution already.

> Do you know who is going to buy stripe? No. You could very well end up in worst hands.

Our plan is "nobody" :).

Re: Stripe launches German beta

#62

Post by marijn »

stephanos2k wrote: post #3

It's astonishing how quick they can expand something as complicated as payment processing to many - bigger and smaller - countries in Europe.

They've been talking about this for more than a year. Not sure if that qualifies as quick. That being said, it's awesome that they got there—I got into the Dutch beta and can say the process of dealing with Stripe is an order of magnitude better than dealing with Paymill (the clone that rolled out earlier).

Re: Stripe launches German beta

#63

Post by marijn »

k__ wrote: post #4

Sadly Germans hate credit cards.

That's not quite accurate, as other comments pointed out. But even if no German resident ever used a credit card, the significance of this is that German-based merchants can start using Stripe to accept Internet payments from people all over the world.

Re: Stripe launches German beta

#64

Post by kfk »

kfk wrote: post #51
frank_boyd wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no problem with cloning, everybody does it if we're being honest. It's just that I'm not sure it's a good idea to give your business data to people whose main business model it is to look for the best ideas/markets/businesses and then to copy them. To me, there seems to be a pretty obvious conflict of interest that might work against you.

I disagree. Do you know who is going to buy stripe? No. You could very well end up in worst hands. At least with Paymill you are clear on what you get. We have seen their execution already.

@pc, I didn't know that. Well, what I said still applies anyway ;)

But hey, let me say I only looked into Paymill because you guys were not around.

Re: Stripe launches German beta

#65

Post by legulere »

skrause wrote: post #15
wozniacki wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I'm certain they hate the notion of credit too which has long been attributed to their post-war mindset. Are other European notions similarly disposed towards credit (and thus credit cards), too?

Credit card usage isn't low here because Germans hate credit, it's because we simply have had better alternatives for ages. Instead of credit cards people use Electronic cash ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cash ) in stores which is much cheaper for merchants, so they often don't even accept credit cards because of the fees. Online payments and payments of bills are usually done through direct withdrawals…

Also wire transfers, which are also often used for online payment cost essentially nothing.

Re: Stripe launches German beta

#66

Post by microtonal »

PavlovsCat wrote: post #59
levosmetalo wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has to do with privacy. Germans are quite fond of keeping up personal information personal, and they just don't want that bank can keep track of their purchases. That's the main reason why people here prefer cash as a method of payment. Of course, when paying or order something online, you need to provide your shipping address anyways, so credit cards brings at least a benefit of possible dispute if anything goes…

That's one reason. Another one, for me, is that I'd feel bad about being too lazy to simply withdraw some cash from the ATM and carry it around with me. To me it's like walking around with an umbrella in light rain, refusing to eat a piece of bread that dropped on the ground, or the recentish plague of luggage with wheels. I consider it the hobbitification of humans, and I'm not playing. Then there is the fact that p…

Another one, for me, is that I'd feel bad about being too lazy to simply withdraw some cash from the ATM and carry it around with me.

It's the 21st century. I don't want to think about whether I should get 20 or 30 Euro from an ATM, let alone carry 100 Euro in my wallet. In fact, I find you reasoning quite weird: technology exists to make mundane and boring tasks unnecessary.

Even worse is this 'digital wallet' that is required in some busses, etc., where you have to precharge the chip with a certain amount of money.

Then there is the fact that people who pay digitally tend to hold up the queue. Just plop down some cash and take the change, will ya. Gah.

That's because the checkout process in Germany is not optimized for bank card payments. Try to go to a Dutch supermarket (e.g. Albert Heijn in city centers) and it's usually cash payers who are slowing down the queues. Thank god, they have counters these days where they only allow bank cards.

Re: Stripe launches German beta

#68

Post by iSnow »

frank_boyd wrote: post #12

Honest question to everybody: Would you trust your financial data (= growth data, etc.) to a company like Paymill that's owned by a clone factory (i.e. the Samwers') or do you think that's being paranoid? EDIT: I wasn't asking for downvotes, I was asking for rational comments, explanations, thoughts.

Well, Paymill is German and Stripe is based in the US, so from a trust viewpoint, I'd go with Paymill, maybe their customer data gets fleeced a bit less by the NSA than Stripe's.

Re: Stripe launches German beta

#69

Post by the_mitsuhiko »

StavrosK wrote: post #56
m_st wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What speaks against Paymill? Are there any problems with them? They support a lot more countries than Stripe right now. Edit: Just read that its from the Samwers. Might be enough to wait for Stripe then.

When I tried to use them, they required me to mail in a bunch of paperwork. Stripe doesn't.

How does Stripe get away without the paperwork?
Post reply on HN