Stripe

Stripe takes card payments, subscriptions and invoices online. It suits a solo consultant, creator or software founder who wants to get paid without a monthly fee. It is overkill for a business that takes cash or bank transfers only.

There is no monthly fee on standard pricing. Stripe's Australian pricing page lists these fees:

• Domestic cards: 1.65% plus A$0.30 per transaction.
• International cards: 3.5% plus A$0.30, and 2% more if currency conversion is needed.
• Disputes (chargebacks): A$25 for each dispute received.
• Invoices: 0.4% per paid invoice on the invoicing product.
• Subscriptions with Stripe Billing: 0.7% of billing volume on pay-as-you-go.
• Instant payouts: 1.5% (minimum A$0.50). Standard payouts are free.

Refunds are free on standard pricing, but the original processing fees are not returned. Check the pricing page for current figures, as Stripe changes them.

• Create an account and complete the business verification with your ABN and bank account.
• Turn on a payment link for your first product, so you can charge before you build a checkout.
• Add invoices if you bill clients, and turn on receipts and your branding.
• Connect Stripe to your site, newsletter or course tool, then run a small test payment.

Fees are charged on every payment, and international cards cost more. GST still needs to be handled in your bookkeeping, and Stripe Tax is a separate paid product. Keep the fee in your pricing so it does not come out of your margin.

PayPal and Square are common alternatives, and each has its own fee schedule. For recurring bank debits in Australia, look at a direct debit provider. Ghost and many course tools connect to Stripe directly.

Stripe is the payment layer in the Paid Newsletter, Lean SaaS Founder and Solo Consultant Client stacks.