Using Stripe Connect to facilitate transactions between users?

Question

Specific requirements for my app:

• buyers must be able to use credit card
• i want to collect a portion of each transaction (fee)

I was initially using Dwolla but realized that users would not be able to pay with credit cards. Now I'm looking at Stripe and see that they have Stripe Connect.

Would Stripe Connect fit the bill? A post here says that SC "would require the [recipients] to have business licenses". Is this true?

Also, looking at the API, I don't see how to direct the received funds to a recipient account. It seems like all you can do is "charge" the card. This seems like it would just put all of the funds in my account. All I want is a portion (fee) and then have the rest somehow deposited in the recipient's account. Is this possible, and if so, how do I specifiy the recipient in the API call?

Answer 1

It's best to view Stripe Connect as OAuth. Merchants can connect their Stripe accounts with you, and you can authenticate to Stripe with their details, and make charges on their behalf. You can take a fee off the top using the 'application_fee' param.

As to your first question, all users would have to sign up to and abide by Stripe's terms. They don't necessarily need to be businesses though - they could be sole proprietors.

You can find more docs on Connect here. https://stripe.com/docs/connect