How I design secure payment systems with Stripe.
Most applications can accept a payment. The real challenge is safely holding money, splitting payouts, and making sure every transaction can always be tracked as your business grows.
Payment Lifecycle
What happens after a customer clicks 'Pay'. Click any stage to see it explained.
Customer Pays
The customer completes checkout using Stripe. This is when the platform first sees money in motion.
- Payment Receivedjust now
- Escrow Created
- Ledger Updated
- Vendor Notified
- Release Scheduled
Virtual Ledger
A complete history of every movement of money — designed to be readable by founders, not accountants.
- 10:42Customer PaymentAcme Studio · #10284+$480$42,600
- 10:41Escrow HoldAcme Studio · #10284+$480$42,120
- 10:38Platform FeeBright Rentals · #10283-$48$41,640
- 10:31Vendor BalanceNorthwind Co. · #10282+$210$41,688
- 10:20Vendor PayoutVendor A · batch_44-$1,250$41,478
- 10:04RefundAcme Studio · #10279-$120$42,728
- 09:52Customer PaymentNorthwind Co. · #10278+$640$42,848
Escrow
Holding funds securely until the right moment. Pick a scenario to watch the money move.
The full amount is released to the vendor once the order is fulfilled.
Stripe Connect
Managing vendors and automatically splitting every payout — down to the cent.
Webhooks & Automation
Keeping every part of your system in sync — automatically — the moment something happens in Stripe.
payment.succeededThe customer's payment went through.
transfer.createdMoney is on its way to a vendor.
payout.paidThe vendor's bank account received funds.
refund.createdA refund was issued back to the customer.
Refunds & Disputes
Handling payment issues while keeping every transaction traceable.
Founder Dashboard
A simple overview of how money moves across your platform.
Marketplace Payment Models
Different businesses move money in different ways. Pick a model to see how money flows through it.
A payment system, end to end.
Six building blocks that make a marketplace safe, scalable and easy to reason about.
Payment Lifecycle
Track every payment from checkout to bank deposit.
Virtual Ledger
Every dollar recorded, always reconcilable.
Escrow
Hold funds safely until conditions are met.
Stripe Connect
Automatic split payouts between vendors, platform and affiliates.
Webhooks
Keep every system updated the moment something changes.
Financial Reporting
A clear picture of your platform's cash flow at any moment.
A payment system isn't just about accepting payments.
It's about knowing exactly where every dollar goes, from start to finish.