Payment Processing

The All-in-One Payment Trap: Why Your Merchant of Record Will Eventually Betray You

📅 August 13, 2026 📂 Culture & Society

Most indie founders seek an all-in-one Merchant of Record to handle payments and affiliate payouts. But post-acquisition degradation makes these providers a hidden risk. The real leverage isn’t finding the perfect MoR—it’s decoupling your affiliate program so it survives a provider switch. Treat your MoR as a commodity, not a partner.

Affiliate Marketing Indie Hackers Merchant of Record Payment Processing Startup Advice

Stripe Quietly Tripled Its Fraud Prevention Price. Why Your Margins Are Next.

📅 July 30, 2026 📂 Tech Industry

Stripe quietly tripled the price of its Radar fraud prevention service from $0.02 to $0.07 per screening. This isn’t a cost adjustment — it’s a strategic move to extract more margin from merchants locked into its ecosystem. Fraud prevention is becoming a variable tax on digital commerce, and Stripe is exploiting its position to hike rates without adding value. If you’re a Stripe user, your margins are next.

Ecosystem Fraud Prevention Payment Processing Pricing SaaS Stripe Switching Costs Vendor Lock-in