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How does money actually move when you buy online? We'll map the online payment ecosystem — its key players and where Stripe fits in.

Meet the core players: the customer, the merchant, the issuing bank (customer's), the acquiring bank (merchant's), and card networks like Visa and Mastercard.

A payment gateway is the digital point-of-sale: the secure link between your site and the banks. It encrypts card data, sends it for authorization, and relays the reply.

The payment processor takes the encrypted data and talks to card networks and banks — checking funds, requesting authorization, and moving the money after approval.

A merchant account is a special bank account that lets a business accept cards. Approved funds land here first, then settle to your regular account in a few days.

The payment flow in short: customer enters card, gateway encrypts and sends, processor requests auth, bank approves, response returns, then funds settle.

Juggling all those players is complex — that's where Stripe comes in, acting as an all-in-one solution instead of separate gateway, processor, and account.

Stripe is gateway and processor at once, and covers merchant-account duties by talking to card networks and banks for you — fewer parties, faster setup.

Why businesses pick Stripe: simple APIs, global multi-currency reach, great docs, built-in PCI compliance, and extras like subscriptions and invoicing.

Recap: you mapped the payment ecosystem — customers, merchants, banks, networks — plus gateways, processors, and accounts, and saw how Stripe unifies it all.