Is Stripe Safe? Review of Security Methods for Stripe UK

Stripe is a popular platform helping businesses in the UK and around the world to process payments. With the Stripe payment gateway you can get paid conveniently on and offline by customers, and send and receive business transfers for things like covering supplier invoices and paying contractors.

There are also handy ways to automate processes, issue payment cards, send invoices, and manage your overall business finances.

If you’re a business owner looking for a payment processing service, there’s probably one key consideration - security. So - is Stripe safe in the UK? This guide walks through all you need to know about Stripe security, and how to keep your Stripe business account safe.

If you're a business sending more than 100,000 GBP (or equivalent) monthly across different currencies, get in touch with the Wise Business sales team to discuss the best solutions for your needs.

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What is Stripe payments UK?

After launching in 2009, Stripe is now available in around 45 countries globally, offering services to help businesses receive payments from customers, as well as managing company finances more broadly.

Stripe payments UK has a full package of solutions aimed at businesses of all sizes. You can get set up fairly quickly, and solutions are scalable, making it an attractive option for new entrepreneurs and enterprise level customers alike.

While Stripe offers a lot of different services, at its core it’s a payment gateway. With the Stripe payment gateway you can accept secure payments from customers, in person, through apps and online. That means it’s convenient for your customers to pay for your goods and services by card.

Is Stripe safe?

Stripe is considered to be a safe service, which complies fully with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).

As with any financial service provider, how safe Stripe is comes down to a couple of things - the security measures the provider has running 24/7 to keep your account safe, and how well you also protect your own account.

This guide will walk through some points about each of these aspects so you can use Stripe safely.

We’ll dive into the details about how Stripe security works in a moment, but it’s good to know upfront that it’s classed as a level 1 PCI DSS provider¹, based on the volume of transactions processed and the measures in place to keep customers and their money safe.

Stripe globally handles 250 million or more API requests a day, and has a historical uptime of over 99.999% at the time of writing - demonstrating a track record in keeping all its processes working smoothly even through periods of intense demand.

Customer reviews and ratings are another important indicator of how trustworthy and easy to use a provider is. One great resource to look at is Trustpilot, which aggregates customer reviews, scores and feedback dynamically, to show an up to date picture.

Stripe has a 2.9 Average rating on Trustpilot² at the time of writing. While this isn’t a great score, it’s helpful to take a look through the comments and reviews uploaded there.

In some cases, for example, a customer has left a negative review because their account has been subject to a Stripe security review. While this is frustrating, it’s something other payment services and banks also have to do - and a step in keeping customers and their accounts safe overall. Check out the latest Trustpilot Stripe reviews online before you sign up, so you can see what customers are saying.

Stripe security - methods and practices

Stripe is classed as a Level 1 PCI DSS provider, which means it’s subject to the most rigorous controls, checks and supervision by the industry regulator, to make sure it works within legal guidelines and following best practices. This means that Stripe - like other major payment services - must follow strict rules on how they receive and store sensitive financial data securely.

To maintain Level 1 status, Stripe must have annual onsite audits by independent or internal auditors, quarterly checks and more. Some of the steps taken to ensure security standards are maintained include¹:

• Maintaining a secure network and systems
• Encrypting and securely storing any sensitive data held
• Using industry level security to prevent malware and viruses
• Having strong access control measures
• Regularly testing systems and processes to spot and correct any vulnerabilities
• Having policies in place that clearly set out security measures expected and applied

These security measures all go on without customers even being aware of them. They run 24/7 in the background so your account is kept safe. There are also some other obvious Stripe features which customers can interact with to ensure their accounts are secure, such as multi-factor authentication options and ways to add and manage user permissions so you can give team members the level of access to Stripe they need to do their jobs.

Stripe PCI compliance

As a payment processing platform, Stripe must comply with PCI rules and requirements, as we’ve discussed. However, as a company helping other businesses and merchants to process payments, Stripe also has a role to play in supporting its customers to maintain their own PCI compliant processes.

The good news is that Stripe can help your business understand and maintain PCI compliance based on the specific needs and transaction volumes you’re handling. Here are some of the key ways Stripe helps businesses and merchants with PCI compliance^³:

• Stripe will advise businesses based on integration type, on the best ways to remain compliant with PCI requirements while reducing admin
• Stripe will notify businesses if changes in transaction volumes mean there will be a need to use different PCI compliance approaches
• For other PCI Level 1 merchants, Stripe can also offer additional support and services to reduce validation time and help connect your business with an appropriate external auditor to comply with industry requirements

Tips to keep your Stripe account safe

Keeping your Stripe account safe comes down to more than just what Stripe does in the background and how they ensure compliance and safety through their systems. It’s also about following and making the most of the available security protocols.

Here are a few important things to consider^⁴:

• Use 2 factor authentication (2FA) - and if you allow other team members to use your Stripe account for business purposes, make sure they use 2FA as well
• Don’t share your Stripe credentials - you can add team members without giving them your own log on information if you need to
• If you have backup codes to gain access to your account in an emergency, keep them in a secure place
• Regularly monitor account activity and report any suspicious transactions as soon as possible
• Use Touch ID or similar if you’re able to - based on the device types you prefer
• Access Stripe through a bookmark to avoid phishing scams and fake websites
• Always sign out of your account if you have a shared computer
• Don’t click on links embedded in emails and social media messages

Receive Stripe payments with Wise Business account

Getting paid via Stripe in foreign currencies? You could get a better exchange rate if you link Stripe to your Wise Business account.

Open a Wise Business account online or with your phone, and link it to your Stripe UK account. You’ll then be able to receive customer payments in 8+ currencies like a local, and then convert your balance to GBP afterwards with the mid-market exchange rate and low, transparent fees^⁵.

Need to pay contractors and suppliers overseas? You can do that with Wise too. Hold 40+ currencies, send a payment to bank accounts in 160+ countries, and order linked debit and expense cards if you need them for you and your team. Accounts have no ongoing costs, and you can manage your money securely and conveniently - in multiple currencies - from your phone.

💡Learn more about Wise Business

UK businesses can use Stripe securely, to get paid by customers on and offline - and if you use Stripe with Wise Business you could also open the door to easy ways to get paid from overseas. Grow your business beyond borders with Stripe and Wise.

Sources used in this article:

Sources last checked October 31, 2023