In the US Stripe charges 2.9%. That's 66% more than in Australia. Do you think it costs Visa that much extra to process a payment in the US? No, it clearly does not.
Whilst I'll happily congratulate Stripe for the investment, I don't myself see it as a good thing. With Stripe having investments from both Visa and AmEx they have little incentive to challenge the current fee structure. Stripe processes its payments in the US through a strategic deal with Wells Fargo, who have a substantial (> $1 billion) investment in Visa, who in turn have an investment in Stripe. Do any large retailers or merchants have similar investments in Stripe? I don't believe they do.
If you're a merchant I wouldn't see Visa and American Express investing and taking equity in Stripe as a good thing. These are companies that have every possible reason to keep credit card fees as high as possible and prevent regulation from reducing them (which is exactly why Australia's fees are much lower - they're regulated).
I like Stripe as a company. I think they do great stuff. But a Stripe that's received investment from the card networks is a Stripe less likely to make disruptive moves to break the monopoly card networks have today.
Whilst I'll happily congratulate Stripe for the investment, I don't myself see it as a good thing. With Stripe having investments from both Visa and AmEx they have little incentive to challenge the current fee structure. Stripe processes its payments in the US through a strategic deal with Wells Fargo, who have a substantial (> $1 billion) investment in Visa, who in turn have an investment in Stripe. Do any large retailers or merchants have similar investments in Stripe? I don't believe they do.
If you're a merchant I wouldn't see Visa and American Express investing and taking equity in Stripe as a good thing. These are companies that have every possible reason to keep credit card fees as high as possible and prevent regulation from reducing them (which is exactly why Australia's fees are much lower - they're regulated).
I like Stripe as a company. I think they do great stuff. But a Stripe that's received investment from the card networks is a Stripe less likely to make disruptive moves to break the monopoly card networks have today.