What is Stripe and why do I need one?

Stripe is a payment processor. It takes the guest's card details, checks them with the bank, and moves the money into your bank account. Almost every website you have ever paid on uses Stripe or something like it.

You connect your own Stripe account, and the guest's payment is charged on it. That is what makes you the merchant rather than us: your name on the statement, your money from the moment it clears, no commission taken out along the way.

Setting one up takes about ten minutes and Stripe will ask for more than you might expect — your legal name or business details, a bank account, and some form of identity document. This is not us being nosy. Any company moving money is legally required to verify who is receiving it, and Stripe will hold your funds until that is finished. It is the single most common reason a host says "the guest paid but nothing arrived".

A few things worth knowing early:

Stripe charges its own processing fee per payment. That is separate from what you pay us, and it is what any website taking cards would pay.

Payout timing is Stripe's. New accounts often wait several days for a first payout. We cannot speed that up or see inside it.

One account per business, not per property. If you let several places under the same name, they share one Stripe account.

For anything about verification, payouts or your balance, Stripe's own dashboard and support can see your account. We genuinely cannot.