In a definitive nod to its market-moving scale, Stripe has been named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Merchant Payment Providers, Q1 2026. The independent report gave Stripe the highest possible scores in more criteria than any other provider evaluated.
This recognition follows a milestone year for the company. In 2025, businesses powered by Stripe generated $1.9 trillion in total payment volume—a 34% increase over the previous year. To put that in perspective, Stripe now processes approximately 1.6% of global GDP.
The backbone of modern commerce
Stripe’s infrastructure has moved beyond the startup niche to become the primary rail for the world’s most valuable companies:
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 90% of member companies now run on Stripe.
- Nasdaq 100: 80% of top tech firms utilize the platform.
- AI Sector: 100% of the top-monetizing AI companies are built on Stripe.
- New Ventures: 25% of all new Delaware corporations are formed via Stripe Atlas.
Moving to “High Revenue Mode”
In their 2025 annual letter, founders Patrick and John Collison argued that most businesses are currently stuck in “low revenue mode” due to unoptimized payment stacks. By switching to Stripe’s AI-driven infrastructure, major enterprises are seeing immediate bottom-line impact.
Case Study: Performance Gains | Company | Performance Impact | | Gatwick Airport | 2.5 percentage point increase in payment acceptance. | | Ro (Telehealth) | 2% increase in auth rates; 3% decrease in disputes. | | FICO | 1 percentage point increase in authorization rates after A/B testing. | | Microsoft | Meaningful lift in auth rates via Adaptive Acceptance and Network Tokens. |
The power of localization
The report highlights that a “one size fits all” checkout is a relic of the past. Stripe’s Optimized Checkout Suite uses AI to surface the most relevant payment methods for each user, resulting in massive conversion lifts:
- BLIK (Poland): Drives an average 46% increase in conversion.
- Pix (Brazil): Delivers a 31% average uplift in completed checkouts.
“Eliminating ‘can’t’ from commerce”
According to Kevin Miller, Head of Payments at Stripe, the mission is to remove every technical barrier a business might face—whether it’s accepting a specific currency, handling complex subscriptions, or preparing for the new era of agentic commerce (AI-to-AI transactions).
“Forrester’s recognition shows we’re making a lot of progress,” Miller noted, “despite knowing we’re never done.”
