Is Stripe Safe? Stripe Security Explained & Alternatives to Card Payments

Please note that the information about Stripe was sourced from its website as of April 2025. This information may be subject to change.

Stripe is a giant name in payments. But if you're a small or scaling merchant, there’s something you should know: a big payment brand doesn’t always mean the best fit for your business. Especially when it comes to security and fraud prevention.

In this article, we’ll explore how safe Stripe is when it comes to online payments – where it shines, and where it falls short. More importantly, we’ll explore other safe alternatives ways to get paid online.

How Secure Is Stripe Payments Online?

Is Stripe safe to use for merchants? The short answer is yes, Stripe is a safe payment provider. It uses several layers of protection to keep online transactions secure. They follow industry rules and also use their own tools to stop fraud and protect your customers’ data.

Quick Overview of Stripe Security Features

Stripe Radar

Stripe uses a smart fraud detection tool called Radar. It checks every payment using thousands of signals – like how the customer behaves and where the payment is coming from. The system learns from millions of businesses to spot and block suspicious activity instantly. This product is exclusive to Stripe.

Tokenisation

When a customer types in their card details, Stripe swaps that information with a random code called a token. This token is useless outside of Stripe and keeps the real card data hidden.

It should be noted that tokenisation is a common way the payments industry protects card information. Stripe uses its own version of this, but the idea itself isn’t something Stripe invented, it’s a standard used by many.

Encryption

Stripe ensures that all connections – website, Dashboard, API – use the HTTPS protocol, which encrypts data in transit using the TLS standards.This encryption protects payment details from being read or tampered with during transmission.

Using HTTPS and TLS to protect data while it’s being sent is a basic requirement in the payments industry, it’s not unique to Stripe.

3D Secure Authentication

Stripe offers a tool called 3D Secure (3DS) to add extra protection to online card payments. For certain high-risk transactions, it asks the customer to verify their identity – usually by entering a one-time code from their bank. 3DS is a standard security step used by all major card networks.

PCI DSS Compliance

Stripe meets the highest security standards in the payments industry. It’s certified as PCI DSS Level 1 in both its card data vault and software development & integration code, which means it follows strict rules to protect card information and keep transactions safe. This is a legal requirement for payment providers processing card payments.

Online Card Fraud: Risk Stripe Can’t Fully Fix

Stripe has solid security features, there is no question. But these measures are mostly designed around card payments. And online card-not-present (including online) are the most dangerous type of transactions. The data tells the story:

• In 2022, over 70% of all credit card fraud worldwide came from online card transactions.
• In the UK, online card fraud has grown by 26% since 2020, citing sophisticated social engineering techniques and triangulation fraud as the key scenarios.
• By 2026, Mastercard predicts global online card fraud losses are expected to hit $28 billion – a 40% jump from 2023.

Even when card details cannot be stolen or leaked with Stripe’s stringent security protocols, cybercriminals are constantly evolving in their techniques.

For example, as mentioned above, the key scenario for online card payment fraud is social engineering. Scammers pretend to be bank staff, couriers, or even your business. They create urgency, pressure customers, and trick them into handing over one-time passwords or login details.

Then there’s triangulation fraud. A fraudster sets up a fake online shop that looks like a real brand. They take money from the customer, then use stolen card details to order the item from your actual store and ship it to the buyer. The customer gets the product, but the original cardholder reports the fraud – and you get hit with a chargeback.

So even with Stripe’s best-in-class card protection, online card payments remain a weak point. And for many merchants, it’s a risk that keeps growing.

Why Open Banking Is Safer than Card Payments

What if you could stop online card fraud at the source? With open banking, you can. Also known as pay-by-bank, open banking cuts out cards entirely. Payments go straight from your customer’s bank account to yours.

Here’s how it works:

1. The customer starts the payment on your website or app
2. They pick their bank from a list
3. They’re redirected to their bank’s app or site to authorise the payment, usually with Face ID or fingerprint
4. The money moves instantly from their account to yours

These payments are regulated under Europe’s PSD2 and run through safe APIs shared by banks with licensed providers. They’re far more secure than card payments because:

• No payment details are entered or stored
• There’s no card network in the process
• Biometric login makes social engineering much harder to manage

Does Stripe Offer Secure Open Banking Payments?

As of 2025, Stripe offers pay-by-bank to UK merchants, with Germany coming soon. It also supports open banking in parts of Europe through partners. But let’s be clear – open banking isn’t Stripe’s main focus. It’s just one of many features. Their real strength lies in card payments, not open banking.

Switch to Open Banking with Noda

If security is your priority, it’s time to rethink how you get paid. Noda’s Open Banking platform offers a safer alternative to traditional card payments. Connect to over 2,000 banks in 28 countries, accept multiple currencies, and process payments instantly, with no expensive card fees or chargebacks.

You can plug in with our Open Banking API or get started fast with no-code plugins for e-commerce platforms and instant payment links and QR codes. Whether it’s pay-ins, payouts, or both, Noda makes it easy to add secure, high-converting payments to your checkout.

If you want to try open banking but still offer card payments, Noda gives you both. Our Card Payments API lets you easily integrate card checkout with smart routing and AI-powered fraud monitoring–while meeting the same security standards as Stripe.

Noda’s Security Stack: Quick Overview

Apart from secure open banking payments, we offer a full stack of security features:

Encryption

Noda protects your data with two layers of encryption. When information is being sent, we use TLS to keep it safe during transfer. When it’s stored, we use AES to lock it down. Even if one layer is somehow breached, your data stays protected, because it’s still encrypted on the other.

Strong Customer Authentication

All of Noda’s open banking payments use strong customer authentication (SCA). This means customers verify who they are using two types of ID—for example, a password and their phone, or a fingerprint and a security code.

PSD2 Compliance

Noda is a PSD2-certified open banking provider. We have PISP and AISP licenses, which means we can initiate payments and collect data. PSD2 regulates open banking in the UK and Europe. It requires banks to share access to customer accounts with licensed third-party providers, but only with the customer’s permission and through secure APIs.

To comply with PSD2, open banking providers like Noda must be authorised, use strong customer authentication, and protect customer data.

PCI DSS Compliance

We stay up to date with the latest PCI DSS and PCI SSLC standards. Like Stripe, we are certified as PCI DSS Level 1. As mentioned above, PCI DSS focuses on keeping payment data secure, while PCI SSLC makes sure any software we build is designed with strong security from the start.

Transaction Monitoring

Noda uses smart AI to keep your card payments safe. We monitor every transaction in real time, checking customer data to spot anything unusual. If a payment looks risky, our system can block it instantly, helping prevent fraud and chargebacks while still keeping approvals high.

Read more about Noda’s security

Other Benefits of Open Banking Payments

 Open banking isn’t just safer. It’s smarter for your bottom line.

• Lower fees: Merchants don’t pay card network or interchange fees, so more of what you earn stays with you.
• Instant settlement: The money goes straight into your account – no waiting days for it to clear.
• Better UX: It’s faster and easier for customers to pay, which means fewer cart abandonment and more completed sales.
• Stronger loyalty: A safe, smooth checkout builds trust – so customers are more likely to come back.

Learn more about secure payment methods