Event payments with Stripe: no middleman fees

Here's how payments work on most event platforms: an attendee pays for a ticket, the money goes through the platform's payment system, the platform takes a percentage (typically 2-5% on top of payment processing fees), and eventually you get what's left.

ema doesn't work that way. We integrate directly with Stripe. Payments go to your Stripe account, not through ours.

The maths is straightforward

With a platform that takes a cut, you're paying two layers of fees. Stripe (or whatever processor the platform uses) charges their standard processing rate. Then the platform charges their percentage on top. On a $200 registration, that might look like $6 in processing fees plus $4-10 in platform fees. Multiply that across hundreds or thousands of registrations and the numbers get significant.

With ema, you pay Stripe's processing fees. That's it. No platform percentage, no transaction fee, no "payment processing surcharge" buried in your invoice.

For events processing significant payment volume — a conference with 2,000 registrations, a trade show with 150 exhibitors paying for booth space — the difference between direct Stripe processing and a platform taking 2-5% is thousands of dollars. Sometimes tens of thousands.

What it works for

ema's Stripe integration isn't just for ticket sales. It handles the full range of event payments.

Registration payments. Attendees pay when they register. Standard Stripe checkout, your branding, your Stripe account. Early bird pricing, discount codes, and multi-tier pricing all work through the same flow.

Exhibitor invoicing. Booth fees, add-ons, sponsorship packages — invoiced through ema, processed through Stripe. Exhibitors get a clean payment experience. You get the money without a middleman.

Sponsorship billing. Sponsor packages often involve custom pricing, instalments, and negotiated terms. ema handles the billing structure; Stripe handles the payment.

Payment plans. Some events let attendees or exhibitors pay in instalments. ema manages the schedule; Stripe processes each payment when it's due.

You keep your Stripe relationship

This matters more than it might seem. When payments go through a platform's own system, you lose visibility. You don't control the payout schedule. You can't see the data in your own Stripe dashboard. If there's a dispute, you're dealing with the platform's support team, not Stripe's.

With ema's direct integration, your Stripe account is your Stripe account. Your existing reporting, your payout schedule, your dispute resolution process. If you've already configured Stripe with your bank details, your tax information, and your team's access permissions, that all carries over. Nothing changes on the Stripe side.

Why platforms take a cut

It's worth understanding why most event platforms process payments through their own system. Two reasons: revenue and control.

Taking a percentage of every transaction is a significant revenue stream for event platforms. It's why some platforms offer low base prices — they make their money on the transaction fees. It also gives them control over the payment flow, which creates lock-in. Moving to a new platform means moving your payment processing.

ema charges a flat subscription. Your payment processing is between you and Stripe. If you ever leave ema (we'd rather you didn't, but still), your Stripe account and all its history stays with you.

Setting it up

Connect your Stripe account to ema, configure your payment settings, and you're done. If you don't have a Stripe account, you can create one during setup — Stripe's onboarding takes about fifteen minutes.

There's no approval process on ema's side, no enterprise tier required, no "contact sales to enable payments." It's available on every plan because processing your payments isn't a premium feature. It's a basic function that shouldn't come with a surcharge.