Everyone is talking about PayPal in Ukraine. What are the prospects for Stripe?

Stripe is probably the most popular of all PayPal alternatives. Integration with an always-improving toolchain that gains new features every month ─ an alluring prospect. However, is this prospect suitable for merchants and will it fit into the Ukrainian online payment market?

Will Stripe become popular among Ukrainian e-commerce platforms?

It's difficult to find fault with the functionality of Stripe today. The system accepts 135 currencies and combines the latest technologies and fairly adequate basic transaction fees.

A lot of people praise the system for a simple API. This is particularly important for those who need to work with payment gateways for websites or build-in solutions for applications. Stripe allows you to make a variety of payments: bank cards, Bitcoin transactions, ACH payments.

In short, Stripe combines everything you need for a successful business development: real-time data access, fraud prevention, updated accounting, international support, etc.

What are their competitive advantages on the Ukrainian market?

As with PayPal, we are primarily talking about access to the international market. But in terms of basic functions, Ukrainian acquiring banks and non-bank payment service providers are no worse: clear API, comprehensible documentation (for the majority of strong players) and the ability to quickly develop an out-of-the-box solution for the needs of a large merchant. Big world brands like Stripe will not come up with a new feature for you ─ most likely, they either already have it, or simply consider the additional development costs unpractical.

Nevertheless, any competition with a big western player raises the quality level. Do you remember how greatly the quality of the Uklon service and its application design was improved after Uber and Bolt had entered the Ukrainian market? Here will be the same story: more loyal commissions, widgets, improved user experience, loyalty - our brands will use everything. Do not doubt.

But will Stripe enter the Ukrainian market?

Stripe has not yet officially entered the Ukrainian market, but a lot of people already use its services, for example, IT specialists who work on outsourcing for western companies. However, it is still the same principle “you can get money, but not send it”, according to which we live with PayPal. The key point here is the liberalization of legislation with the active participation of the regulator. After that, all the arguments I have named here will make sense, and the Ukrainian payment market will change beyond recognition.