Choosing the perfect payment system for your web application can be a nightmare. While mobile apps can get away with in-app purchases (for a monstrous 30% AppStore cut), web applications need a payment gateway to accept money from their users.
And this is where things get complicated.
50% of online shoppers will abandon their carts if your app doesn’t have their favourite payment method. But there are more than 70 payment systems out there! Each has different terms (read the fine print!), fees, and features.
And today, we will compare two popular gateways (Stripe or Paypal) to make a choice even more accessible.
General overview
PayPal
Once an eBay subsidiary, PayPal has become the world’s most recognizable payment system. Twenty years after its foundation, the gateway processes 7.6 billion transactions from 227 million accounts. 17 million merchants trust the system with their sales online. Among its clients are eBay, Walmart, Best Buy, and Netflix.
PayPal is an excellent choice for startups and small vendors. It pools money from all its merchants into a single aggregate account. This means that PayPal isn’t as picky about approvals as significant banks and won’t reject you because of your short credit history. Moreover, the whole approval process usually lasts 3-5 days.
Still, many enterprises use PayPal as an extra option since 12% of Americans name it as their favourite method of payment.
Integrations: pretty much any platform.
Supported currencies and countries: 24 currencies and 200+ merchant locations.
PayPal accepts major credit/debit cards (American Express, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover), PayPal, Android Pay, Apple Pay, and Bitcoin.
Contractual requirements: Additionally, there are no contractual requirements. You can terminate at any time free of charge.
Remember that you won’t be able to take the customer data with you!
Payout: 1-4 days; Instant Transfer for $0.25.
Unlike other gateways in this article, PayPal offers three different plans:
Payments Standard
An essential gateway you can set up in under 15 minutes and start accepting payments right away. The payment integration is straightforward and requires no technical expertise (although you can’t customize the checkout).
The gateway redirects buyers to PayPal’s website freeing you from most PCI DSS requirements. However, this might cost you some conversions due to the interrupted flow.
Also access: 14 Free P/L Templates
Express Checkout
An excellent choice if you already accept payments online and want another option for your users. Customers enter their credit card details in a secure window that overlays your site. Once the transaction is complete, the gateway returns users to your app. PCI requirements and fees are similar to PayPal Standard.
Payments Pro
Unlike other options, PayPal Pro keeps users on your website. The result is a smoother, fully customizable experience. You’ll have to handle PCI compliance yourself, but transparent redirect makes the task easier.
Stripe
Stripe payments were the first gateway with well-designed APIs, which continue to introduce innovative features. Furthermore, the company has become one of the most trusted payment systems globally, with its value reaching over $9 billion.
Moreover, according to Stripe, 27% of Americans used it to make a purchase in 2015.
High-profile clients: Target, Lyft, Pinterest, Kickstarter, and others.
Integrations: Bigcommerce, Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Spree Commerce, etc.
Supported currencies and countries: 135+ currencies and 25 merchant locations, including the US, Canada, Australia and most of Europe.
Stripe accepts most US debit/credit cards and American Express, Visa, and MasterCard for international payments. It supports Android Pay, Apple Pay, 3D Secure, ACH and even China’s Alipay. Until recently, the gateway accepted Bitcoin, but that is no longer the case.
Contractual requirements: none; you can terminate at any point free of charge.
Stripe will even help you migrate user data if you leave the gateway.
Payout: 7-days for the most countries (2 days for Australia/US, 4 for New Zealand); Instant Deposit for 1% fee.
Conclusion
Thus, this article will help you in analysing Stripe or Paypal.
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