Or was Stripe actually able to get better
rates than Amazon was ...
I can say with high confidence that this is not the case. Amazon processes through Paymentech on their Salem platform. Effectively, this is the Stratus side of the house which is optimized for high-volume batch oriented customers.
Since Stripe is an ISO with FDMS, they will always have higher fees than a relationship with an "on-the-rails" bank for merchants with volume anywhere near Amazon.
IMHO, a more likely scenario is that Amazon is looking to acquire Stripe, take over the ISO relationships with their merchants, and leverage from there.
Since Stripe is an ISO with FDMS, they will always have higher fees than a relationship with an "on-the-rails" bank for merchants with volume anywhere near Amazon.
IMHO, a more likely scenario is that Amazon is looking to acquire Stripe, take over the ISO relationships with their merchants, and leverage from there.