Stripe is a world-renowned service for making and processing secure digital payments, and it’s loved and respected by plenty of developers. It’s supported in a number of countries, it’s simple to integrate, and, what is most important, it is secure for regular users. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of using Stripe and find out how to integrate Stripe into SaaS.
5 Reasons Why We Switched from Braintree to Stripe
Using SaaS for Stripe in particular, you will get more than a regular payment gateway. Stripe’s benefits exceed the ones provided by its competitors like Braintree. Below are five benefits of using Stripe for your SaaS that proves Stripe is superior to Braintree.
Security
Apart from using one of the most secure encryption algorithms (AES-256), Stripe also includes an automatic fraud detection system based on machine learning (it was first introduced in 2015). Although Braintree uses TLS protocol as well, it doesn’t use machine learning to detect fraud (like Stripe does).
Convenience
One more thing that makes Stripe stand out is its convenience for developers - it has well-thought-out detailed documentation. Besides, you can set transactions based on several parameters simultaneously - no other service can provide you with such an opportunity. Braintree, in turn, is not that easy to integrate - so you may need to spend a lot of time to figure out how to implement it.
Advanced Regular Payments Functionality
Using its own unique prognostic technology, Stripe automatically determines the most appropriate time to collect debts from those who skipped the regular payment. Braintree doesn’t have such a feature at all.
Low Commission Fees
Stripe clients pay a fixed commission fee - 2.9% of the amount of transaction plus 30 cents for the US-based transactions. If you are based in the EU, the fee will be 1.4% plus €0.25 for European cards and 2.9% plus €0.25 for non-European ones. The fees depend on the country, so check them out yourself. Custom pricing models are available if your transaction volumes are large or your business model is unconventional.
In its turn, Braintree takes the same fee for US-based transactions. On the other hand, it requires 1.9% fee plus €0,30 per EU/EEA-based transaction (2.9% plus €0,30 for transactions outside of EU/EEA countries).
Fast Transaction Processing
With Stripe, transactions are made within two business days for the US-based operations. As for non-US based transactions, they will take seven business days. In comparison, if you use Braintree, US-based AMEX payments will take you twice as much - four business days.
Integrating Stripe into Your SaaS Platform
Now, let’s find out how to integrate Stripe Billing API into your SaaS platform. Generally speaking, Stripe integration can be divided into two stages: the back-end and the front-end integration. Besides, you will need to take care of your customers’ data protection.
Ensuring End-to-End Security
As you may already know, any organization that collects its clients’ banking data has to be compliant with PCI. In turn, if the company decides to use a third-party payment gateway instead of its own, it doesn’t need to deal with this bureaucracy (and acquiring the certificate of compliance with PCI is not the easiest procedure).
On the other hand, to make sure your platform provides the users with end-to-end security, you will need to follow five standard recommendations provided by Stripe:
- use only verified libraries for collecting personal data (such as Checkout, Stripe.js and Elements);
- use TLS and HTTPS protocols when realizing user requests;
- make sure that Stripe is compliant with PCI every year;
- use only the test keys provided by Stripe (no third-party keys!);
- check your Stripe signature using Webhooks;
- use only the API version you have tested successfully;
- don’t store keys used for integration in git;
- ensure that you registered in Stripe client database only once (i.e. that you used your corporate email only one time).
When you integrate your platform with the Stripe API, you transfer the responsibility for processing users’ personal banking data from your servers to Stripe’s. So, you get automatically compliant with PCI, without any additional bureaucracy. But that’s not it - you can also use this service to create a fully customizable payment processing, both on the front-end and the back-end of your platform.
Front-End Stripe Integration
When it comes to front-end integration, the Stripe Elements library is going to be your helper. This library will help you set up a page for processing transactions according to your business needs. This is where you can adjust everything, starting from buttons to the dialog box size and multilingual support.
Stripe Elements can also help you apply its more advanced functionality. For instance, using it, you can create several levels of subscription or update the subscription plan for former clients.
Back-End Stripe Integration
During this integration stage, you will need to set up the user request processor that will react to abnormal behavior of the system after getting user data. Such situations may occur if the client’s card was marked illiquid.
You will need the Stripe API libraries and other tools (such as Webhooks, for instance). They will help you work on all the possible exceptions and cover the widest range of force majeure scenarios that could happen during processing credit card information by your platform.
As for Webhooks, you can use this tool to receive notifications about various events on Stripe, such as malfunctions or the banking card not being valid. So, you’ll be able to react to such disruptions as fast as possible and avoid potential losses.
...Before We Wrap Up
Undoubtedly, you will need to fully customize your platform by adjusting a number of settings. Although you do get a wide range of inbuilt features with Stripe, they are not guaranteed to solve all of your business tasks. This is why you may need the help of a SaaS Stripe development company (particularly, PHP SaaS Stripe specialists can implement a tailor-made multilevel tariff system without any additional efforts for you).
Conclusion
Stripe is close to being the perfect payment gateway. It includes all the tools you may need for making the integration with your SaaS platform smooth. Besides, it offers a range of customizable settings that any other alternative lacks.
If you want to integrate Stripe with your ready-made software solution or build a SaaS platform from scratch, reach out to us at Axisbits! Our Stripe SaaS developers will create a scalable and customizable solution that will fit your current needs and can be optimized for the changes in them in the future.
