Stripe vs Fiserv for Merchants: Features, Fees & More

Please note that the information about the companies in this article was sourced from their respective websites as of May 2025. This information may be subject to change.

Choosing the right payment provider can be a time-consuming task. High fees, slow payouts, and confusing setups make it harder than it should be.

Both Fiserv and Stripe let you take payments online—but they’re built for very different businesses. Fiserv is made for big banks and enterprise clients. Stripe is built for fast-moving, online businesses but can get pricey and complex.

We compare Stripe and Fiserv to review their online payment features, pricing, and which types of businesses they suit best. We also suggest smarter alternatives.

Stripe vs Fiserv for Online Payments

Stripe for Online Payments

Stripe is a well-established player in the payments space, offering a broad range of tools—from online and in-person payments to financial services, billing automation, and even card issuing.

Its online gateway features the Optimised Checkout Suite, which includes a hosted checkout page, flexible UI options, support for 100+ payment methods, and Link—Stripe’s one-click payment experience. Businesses can also use Stripe to create and share simple payment links.

On the payout side, Stripe enables global money transfers, allowing merchants to send one-time or recurring payments and monitor success rates. It’s suitable for platforms like marketplaces, fintech apps, and online retailers.

Stripe Fees

Stripe offers a wide range of online payment features, which makes its pricing structure quite complicated. There’s no charge to use its checkout, but you’ll still pay different fees depending on the type of transaction or service.

Stripe’s Transaction Fees

Stripe offers more local payment options, and the fees for these can vary a lot. For a full list of fees, check Stripe’s website.

Read: How to Reduce Card Processing Fees

Stripe’s Other Fees

Stripe also charges fees for things like payouts, chargebacks, disputes, and other payment-related services.

Fiserv for Online Payments

Fiserv is a US-based giant that helps banks and businesses process payments and manage money online. In this Stripe and Fiserv comparison , we’ll focus only on Fiserv services for enterprises and small & medium-sized e-commerce businesses, as this is most relevant to our subject.

Fiserv’s Checkout lets merchants take payments online through a hosted payment page. It supports major cards and digital wallets. Merchants can link to it from their website or even an email. They can also add branding to the checkout page.

For payment processing, Fiserv offers Payment API, allowing merchants to manage, track, and customise how payments are processed on their site. For larger companies, Fiserv offers Carat—an enterprise-level solution.

Fiserv’s payouts are available for enterprise customers, and usually settle daily, depending on the payment method, timing and local rules. Instant or near real-time payouts are also available.

In terms of its open banking solutions, Fiserv offers a transaction data aggregator, but its website doesn’t mention a pay-by-bank checkout except for Polish BLIK, an account-to-account instant payment system in Poland.

It’s also worth noting that Fiserv is both a merchant acquirer and a payment processor. That means it helps you accept card payments, settles the money into your account, and takes care of the tech behind the scenes to move payment data securely.

Fiserv Fees

For UK merchants, Fiserv doesn’t list standard flat rates for online payments. Instead, pricing is usually tailored to your business—things like your industry, sales volume, risk level, and the payment methods you use all factor into your final price.

Smarter Payments with Noda’s Pay-by-Bank

Stripe and Fiserv are powerful in their own ways—but both rely heavily on card payments, third-party integrations, and complex pricing structures. That means merchants end up juggling hidden fees, delayed or costly payouts, and unnecessary middlemen.

At Noda, we’ve built a next-generation payment solution around pay-by-bank: an open-banking checkout that lets your customers pay straight from their bank account to your bank account, without cards involved. No interchange fees, no card networks, no chargebacks. Here’s how pay-by-bank works:

1. At checkout, your customer chooses their bank. For example, at Noda we offer 2,000 banks in 28 countries, including UK and Europe.
2. They approve the payment securely in their banking app (Face ID, fingerprint, or passcode).
3. You get the instant funds into your account.

Why Switch to Noda?

• No card networks = lower costs – Say goodbye to interchange, scheme, and FX fees.
• Instant payouts, no extra fees – Unlike Stripe or Fiserv, you don’t pay more to get paid faster.
• Simple, transparent pricing – No hidden charges.
• No chargebacks – Protect your revenue from fraud and dispute costs.
• No third-party dependencies – We provide open banking payments directly, not through external partners like Fiserv and Stripe.

Stripe is built for developers. Fiserv is built for banks. Noda is built for modern merchants who want a smart, fast, and cost-efficient way to get paid.

Differences Between Stripe and Fiserv

Fiserv of Stripe? At first glance, both help merchants take payments online—but, as mentioned above, they’re built for very different businesses.

Stripe is a developer-first platform designed for online businesses. It offers flexible APIs, over 100 payment methods, sleek UI components, and powerful tools for billing, marketplace payouts, and global expansion. It’s especially strong for fast-growing e-commerce, SaaS, and fintech businesses with in-house dev teams.

Fiserv, on the other hand, is a much broader financial services provider. It’s geared toward banks and large enterprises, with custom-built infrastructure and end-to-end money movement solutions. While it does offer online checkout, e-commerce isn’t its main priority—it’s one part of a much larger suite of banking and back-office tools.

Stripe vs Fiserv: Fees

Here’s where things get tricky.

Stripe publishes transparent, though complex, pricing. UK card transactions start at 1.5% + 20p, and fees increase for premium, international, or currency-converted transactions. Extras like instant payouts (1%), chargebacks (£20), and FX (2%+) all stack up fast—especially for high-volume or cross-border merchants.

Fiserv, by contrast, doesn’t publish flat rates. Pricing is custom—based on your industry, volume, risk profile, and setup. While this could result in favourable terms for high-volume enterprises, it creates a lack of clarity for small or mid-sized merchants who may end up paying more than expected.

Bottom line: Stripe is clear but potentially expensive. Fiserv is opaque and highly negotiable—but not ideal if you want simple, upfront pricing.

Stripe or Fiserv for Business Payments?

Choose Stripe if you’re a tech-forward business selling primarily online and want fast, flexible tools with a wide range of payment methods.

Choose Fiserv if you’re a large enterprise, a fintech, or a financial institution that needs deep customisation, bank-level infrastructure, and a direct relationship with a payment processor. It’s not built for casual e-commerce setups or smaller teams.

Choose Noda if you’re a small to mid-sized online business, want low fees, fast payouts, and fewer moving parts. It’s built for merchants who want simplicity, speed, and better margins without the complexity of Stripe or the weight of Fiserv.