Stripe: what it does well, and who it fits
Stripe is an online payments platform built for software: checkout, subscriptions, billing and marketplaces, driven through its APIs. This profile covers what it does well, who it suits, and where Kubera's work sits alongside it.
What Stripe is and does well
Stripe is a payments platform whose centre of gravity is online. It provides hosted and embedded checkout, subscription and invoicing tools, billing for software platforms and marketplaces, multi currency acceptance, fraud tooling and a developer toolkit that lets a product team build payments directly into their software.
What it does well is the developer experience and the dashboard. The documentation is thorough, the APIs are consistent, and the dashboard is a genuine strength. For a business whose product is software with payments woven in, Stripe's platform capabilities are the product.
Who Stripe suits
Stripe fits businesses that live online: software companies, subscription businesses, marketplaces and platforms that pay out to other parties, ecommerce brands with engineering teams, and any business selling across borders in more than one currency. If your product is software and payments are part of the product, Stripe is built for you, and we say so without hedging.
How Kubera works alongside Stripe
Stripe runs its own platform, sold directly by Stripe, and Kubera does not resell it.
Kubera is an independent payments consultancy and a registered agent of multiple acquirers. Our work is deploying acquiring, gateways and terminals behind the systems a business already runs. Where a business runs its online channel on Stripe and also runs an in person channel, a retail floor, a restaurant, a front desk, we can deploy that in person channel through the partner platforms we represent, while the website and its checkout stay exactly where they are. The two channels run side by side.
If your business is online only and runs on Stripe, there is nothing here to change. The statement review is still open to you: send a dashboard export and we read it the same way we read any statement.
What to read on any statement
Every processing statement, whoever issues it, is built from the same three layers. Interchange is set by the card networks and is the same whoever handles your processing. Network assessments are the card networks' own fees, also fixed from your side. The third layer is the margin your agreement sets, and it is the only one of the three that changes from one agreement to the next.
Where pricing is presented as a single blended rate, the three layers are folded together, and the first job is working out where each one sits on your account. That is what the review does. We read a recent statement line by line, label each line, and tell you whether the structure matches how you run. No figures are quoted on this page. The review shows what yours are.
Common questions
Does Kubera resell Stripe?
No. Stripe runs its own platform, sold directly by Stripe. Kubera is an independent payments consultancy and a registered agent of multiple acquirers, and we deploy acquiring, gateways and terminals behind the systems a business already runs.
What kind of business is Stripe built for?
Businesses that live online: software companies, subscription businesses, marketplaces and platforms, ecommerce brands with engineering teams, and businesses selling in more than one currency. Where payments are part of a software product, Stripe is doing exactly what it was built to do.
Can we keep Stripe online and have Kubera deploy the counter?
Yes. That engagement keeps your online checkout on Stripe and adds deployed terminals at the counter through one of the partner platforms we represent. The two channels run side by side, and the website stays untouched.
Can Kubera review a Stripe dashboard export?
Yes. Send a recent export from your Stripe dashboard and, if you already take cards in person, a recent statement from that provider. We read both the same way we read any statement: which lines are interchange, which are network assessments, and which are the margin the agreement sets. There is no obligation.
Does Kubera replace Stripe's reporting?
No. Stripe's dashboard stays exactly as it is for the online channel. Where we deploy an in person channel, it comes with its own online reporting tools, with customizable reports and CSV export, and we train your bookkeepers on them.
A recommended payments partner of the BC Chamber of Commerce
Send a Stripe export and see each layer
Send us a recent statement. We read it line by line and come back within 1 to 2 business days with exactly what you are paying and whether the structure matches how you run. No obligation, just a straight read.
Built for businesses that expect more from their payment systems.