Sometimes it feels like the internet has been around forever.
However, some areas are still pretty new or just recently developed.
Take making payments online, for example. To say it was challenging would be an understatement. The issues were numerous—from online financing to setting up a secure and reliable system.
That’s the gap Stripe attempted to fill not that long ago.
And since you’re here, reading our collection of essential Stripe statistics, needless to say, it has succeeded. It’s now one of the biggest payment processors in the world.
Is it the biggest, though? How’s it holding up in 2022? What are the challenges it faces? How about its competitors? Stick with us, and you’ll find out all about it!
Let’s start with some:
Engrossing Stripe Stats (Editor’s Choice):
- Stripe was valued at $94.4 billion in 2021.
- Around 3.1 million companies trust Stripe applications with finance handling.
- In May 2021, Stripe had more than 4,000 employees worldwide.
- The company’s 2020 revenue was $7.4 billion.
- Stripe is available in more than 120 countries.
- It’s the third biggest payment processor—at least 343,500 websites use its applications.
- Elon Musk—the world’s richest man—is one of its 39 investors.
- The service’s payment volume encountered a 104% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2015 to 2020.
Stripe History: Key Details About the Payment Processing Platform
The company has been around for more than 12 years now.
You decide if that’s long or not in internet time.
Here are some essential facts about its history that will put things into perspective.
1. Stripe was founded in 2009 by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison.
(Source: The Sunday Times)
The Collison brothers claim that “making online payment processing easier” was their primary motivation. Of course, let’s not forget that this was a highly lucrative business that wasn’t fully developed at the time.
Their efforts certainly paid off—the company’s now one of the world’s most prominent payment processors.
2. Elon Musk is one of the 39 Stripe investors.
(Source: Backlinko)
One of the reasons for the platform’s success is the large number of investors that backed it up early on. Latest Stripe facts suggest there were at least 39 of them who put their faith, time, and money behind the company.
Among them was the world’s wealthiest man—Musk funded Stripe during a seed round in 2011.
3. In May 2021, Stripe had more than 4,000 employees worldwide.
(Source: ThriveMyWay)
4,000 employees is a respectable number.
Considering the company’s revenue and growth rate, we wouldn’t be surprised if its employee count were even higher in 2022.
The Stripe workforce has been rapidly growing, especially since 2019—the company only had around 1,500 workers at that time.
Stripe Revenue: Let’s Talk About Money
Catching the exact earnings of a company is a daunting task—we know Stripe’s profits are constantly growing, but the company is choosing not to disclose precise info on the subject.
Still, we gave it a shot:
4. The company generated $7.4 billion in revenue in 2020.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
Wall Street Journal claims that Stripe made 70% more money in 2020 than in 2019. So if you need any more proof that Stripe is profitable, look no further.
As we’ve already mentioned, 2020 could almost be considered the company’s breakthrough year, even though it did amazing beforehand. But just wait until you hear about 2021.
5. Stripe's annual revenue went above $12 billion for the first time in 2021.
(Source: Business Post)
This makes for a 60% year-on-year increase.
Unfortunately, not much else is known about it. The company simply chooses not to disclose such info to the public.
6. Revenues of companies that opted for Stripe Capital grew by 114%.
(Source: EarthWeb)
Stripe Capital is a service that makes financing more approachable. And is having noticeable success—companies that use it had their revenues more than doubled!
Smaller businesses got it even better, though. The revenues of those with a yearly processing budget below $100,000 increased by a massive 140%!
Stripe Funding: What is the Company’s Valuation in 2022?
Stripe’s been keeping its valuation info, funding, and revenue mostly a secret.
However, here’s the info we managed to glean:
7. Stripe was worth $94.4 billion in 2021.
(Source: Backlinko)
Unfortunately, there aren’t many Stripe statistics pointing to its exact value.
However, it’s apparent that the company’s unique idea grew on people rather quickly—Stripe passed the $1 billion value mark within three years of its inception.
8. Stripe is now worth more than $95 billion.
(Source: The Business of Business)
The company itself claimed it made over $640 billion in payments in just 2021. What’s more, according to the leading publication The Business of Business, this amount is nearing Poland’s GDP.
This begs the question, how does Stripe make money? It’s simple—the company takes 2.9% from every transaction made, adding another $0.35 later. Now everything makes sense, right?
Stripe Market Share: Who Rules the Payment Processing Market?
Is Stripe the most prominent service of this type or not?
You can find more about that here.
9. Stripe is planning on becoming a public company.
(Source: The Business of Business)
The current Stripe valuation makes it the third biggest private company. The only ones worth more than the payment processing platform are Bytedance and SpaceX.
However, the word around is that Stripe will become public. Should it become a reality, the company is likely to grow even more.
10. Stripe has a 16.5% market share.
(Source: Datanyze)
Its only real competition is PayPal, even though the latter has been practically dominating the market—PayPal’s share is a whopping 46.92%.
The industry’s pretty dynamic, and the situation between these two could change rather quickly. Stripe has gained a lot of ground already, and it looks poised to come much closer to PayPal.
What Is Stripe’s Transaction Volume?
Stripe wouldn’t have been as successful if there weren’t for the millions of people using its services.
So here’s how all these transactions fare.
11. Stripe’s payment volume faced a 104% CAGR from 2015 to 2020.
(Source: Backlinko)
“Only” $10 billion went through Stripe in 2015. The number doubled by the following year but was still far from its peak. In 2017, things got a lot better—the estimated payment volume was around $50 billion.
The 2018 figure was already $100 billion, and in 2019, the company got an additional $50 billion. But nothing compares to 2020—the payment volume reached a mind-blowing $350 billion then!
In short—it has increased by at least 50% annually during the last five years!
12. Stripe has more than 40 businesses with more than $1 billion in payment volumes.
(Source: Backlinko)
One of Stripe’s co-founders, John Collison, revealed they service many businesses with payment volumes of over $1 billion. That probably has something to do with the company’s popularity!
Such Stripe facts are pretty astonishing, don’t you think? Unfortunately, the company keeps all additional details about this private as well.
Stripe Merchants: Means to Connect
Stripe is an excellent way to connect merchants with customers.
As you already know, it significantly facilitates the payment-making process.
Here’s how:
13. Stripe does not require a merchant account.
(Source: The Jotform Blog)
The same goes for gateways or payment processors. Instead, the software acts in their stead.
That’s how it makes all parts of the online payment process considerably easier and simpler.
14. The service works with seven different payment methods.
(Source: Stripe)
There are many Stripe payment methods available. The company divides them into seven major sections:
- Cards
- Vouchers
- Wallets
- Bank debits
- Bank redirects
- Bank transfers
- Buy now, pay later
Different methods have different availability around the globe. For instance, cards are not available in Latin America, while vouchers are only available there. That’s how Stripe further strengthens its worldwide influence.
How Many Customers Does Stripe Have?
The available info about Stripe’s user base is somewhat conflicting.
Still, however you turn it, the numbers are admirable.
15. About 3.1 million businesses let Stripe applications handle their finances.
(Source: EarthWeb)
If you thought Stripe had just a single application, think again. It actually boasts a whole network of apps, all with a specific purpose.
The exact number of companies that use Stripe is unknown. What we do know is this: some of the world’s biggest enterprises use Stripe daily. This list includes Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Uber, and Shopify.
16. Stripe has customers in more than 120 countries.
(Source: EarthWeb)
In reality, the payment platform is generally available in 46 countries, five of which can use Stripe as an invite-only service. But the numbers differ highly between the different apps. Take Stripe Atlas, for example—the service that lets you register your company as if it was based in Delaware. It is available in over 140 countries.
Stripe’s Competitors: Who’s Number One?
There are many payment processors.
But which one is the fairest of them all?
17. Around 343,500 websites use Stripe.
(Source: Web Tech Survey)
That makes for third place in the whole world. So which companies are first and second?
Shop Pay is second, as at least 600,000 domains use Shopify’s service. Interestingly enough, Shop Pay is more prevalent in Canada than in the US—it serves more websites there than in all other countries combined.
Unsurprisingly, PayPal decisively leads the scoreboard, with over 1,267,775 websites in its user base.
18. Stripe has bigger swipe fees than PayPal does.
(Source: Forbes Advisor)
We'd need some additional details to put the Stripe vs. Paypal comparison into perspective. Here they are:
Stripe is considered the more challenging service to set up, but according to Forbes Advisor, it’s the better choice for bigger businesses. However, this comes at a price.
PayPal’s swipe fees start at 2.29%, adding $0.09. Additionally, the company’s keyed transactions begin at 3.49%, with a fee of $0.09.
On the other hand, Stripe’s swipe fees start at 2.9% and have an added fee of $0.3. Its keyed transactions go from 2.9% and add $0.3.
Wrap Up
Stripe still severely trails behind PayPal. But our Stripe statistics clearly show that the company is on a stable upward trajectory.
Let’s not forget that Stripe’s more advanced and is also ten years younger than its main competitor.
Predictions are that the platform will only keep getting closer and closer to PayPal. The questions are will it indeed catch up, how soon, and what will happen then?
Sources
Unaware that life beyond the internet exists, Nick is poking servers and control panels, playing with WordPress add-ons, and helping people get the hosting that suits them.
