# Stripe-only checkout vs three payment options: three options won

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Checkout (SaaS)
- Elements: Checkout steps
- Date shared: 2012-08
- Test run by: [Patrick McKenzie](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/patrick-mckenzie/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/08/06/stripe-and-ab-testing-made-me-a-small-fortune/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/patio11-bcc-stripe-only-checkout/

Cutting checkout down to Stripe card payments only did slightly worse than offering PayPal, Google Checkout and Stripe together. Patrick McKenzie ran this test on Bingo Card Creator and published it on the Kalzumeus blog in 2012. The win for three options was weak, at about 90% significance, and no numbers were shared.

## Result

**three options won**

- Offering all three payment options beat the Stripe-only checkout. This counts as a loss for the variant.
- The win was weak, at about 90% significance.
- No conversion rates or sample sizes were shared.

## Control

Checkout offered three payment methods: PayPal, Google Checkout and an on-site Stripe card form.

## Variant

Checkout offered only the Stripe card form, with PayPal and Google Checkout removed.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- Most buyers chose cards, but a small group may only buy if they can use a wallet like PayPal.
- Removing a familiar option can make some buyers leave rather than switch methods.
- A simpler checkout does not help if it removes the method a buyer trusts.

## Caveats

The author first reported this as a null result and later corrected it. The win was only about 90% significant, no numbers were shared, and the data is from 2012.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we remove PayPal and other wallets and offer only card payment, then purchases will hold or rise because the checkout is simpler.
- Primary metric: Completed purchases per checkout visitor
- Guardrail: Checkout abandonment rate
- Guardrail: Payment failure rate
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Who should test it: SaaS sellers thinking about cutting payment methods to reduce fees or complexity. If a meaningful share of buyers uses a wallet, expect to lose some of them.

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Credit: Patrick McKenzie ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/patio11-bcc-stripe-only-checkout/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.