Przelewy24 vs Stripe - silent war between payment gateways

Working for years as a web developer on international applications, I've learned one thing: if you rely on Stripe, you sleep well. Great API, clear documentation, brilliant Customer Portal, support that actually knows what they're doing. For years, Stripe has been synonymous with a polished "install and forget" service for me.

Unfortunately — until now.

For several months, I've been observing a very disturbing trend regarding one specific payment method: Przelewy24. And it's not just me saying this — Mikołaj Jeziorny wrote about it more extensively on his blog.

Everything indicates that there's some silent battle going on between Stripe and Przelewy24, and those who feel it most are... app creators and their users.

The Problem? Stripe Suddenly "Cuts Off" Dozens of Industries from Przelewy24

In June 2025, Stripe quietly updated the list of prohibited industries for P24 payments. The list looks more like a joke, but unfortunately — it's real.

Here's an excerpt you can find in the official documentation: https://docs.stripe.com/payments/p24

From now on, Przelewy24 via Stripe is not available for:

• Dropshipping
• Automotive industry
• Food industry
• Pawn shops
• Higher education and vocational courses
• Healthcare
• Event industry
• IT and telecommunications (!?)
• Advertising and marketing agencies (!!?)
• Real estate

In other words... for most businesses using Stripe.

I have no idea who decided that Przelewy24 cannot be used in IT, but if someone wanted to cut off most legally operating businesses with one move — they just did it.

Stripe Admits: "We Have No Idea What Will Work"

My conversations with Stripe Customer Support were like a rollercoaster.

First, they tried to change my MCC (Merchant Category Code). Then they suggested that "maybe another type of business will work." Finally, I received a message:

"Due to these increased restrictions, there's no guarantee which MCC codes will work with your account."

Which in practice means: "Please roll the dice. Maybe you'll get lucky."

This is not the message a web developer wants to hear when they're running an application with users worldwide.

My Experience? Stripe — Excellent, Przelewy24 — Always Uphill

To be clear: I don't want to point fingers here. I don't know what the Stripe ↔ Przelewy24 relationship looks like from the inside. But one thing I can say from experience:

Stripe — full professionalism. Polished API. Clear dashboard. Fast and competent support.

Przelewy24 — always uphill. Support responses after weeks. Requests for strange documents that no other gateway requires. An admin panel that looks and works like it was designed in 2006 and hasn't been touched since. The feeling that every process operates in an atmosphere of "default denial."

As long as integration through Stripe worked — you could somehow swallow it. Unfortunately, today it looks like someone decided to completely block this path.

And Who Suffers in the End? Regular Users

As always.

Of course — you can try integrating Stripe separately and PayU or other Polish gateways separately. Technically, it's doable. But the whole strength of Stripe was precisely that all methods — both Polish and international — worked in one cohesive system.

One integration. One dashboard. One ecosystem. Zero chaos.

Thanks to this, a Polish user could pay via Przelewy24, and a customer from the USA or Germany — Apple Pay, card, or anything else. All in one place, without maintaining two different integrations and two different transaction panels.

And now it turns out that despite:

• legal business operations,
• transparent history,
• and clear rules,

...you can't use P24 because Stripe and Przelewy24 can't agree on which MCCs are "allowed" and which aren't today.

Fortunately, BLIK Remains

Fortunately, there's one Stripe advantage that still saves the situation: BLIK.

And here, credit where it's due — it works perfectly. Zero problems, zero rejected integrations, zero chaos. And since practically everyone in Poland uses BLIK these days... this is probably the only reason why this situation hasn't yet ended in a mass migration to PayU.

And This Is the Biggest Problem

Not that Stripe changed something. Not that Przelewy24 is blocking something. Not that the industries are poorly chosen.

The worst part is that no one — neither Stripe nor Przelewy24 — has provided clear guidelines. There's no table. There's no list of exceptions. There's no rule.

There's chaos. And in chaos, as always, those who suffer most are the ones who did nothing wrong: users and developers trying to make it all work.

What's Next?

Honestly? I don't know.

But I know one thing — if you're building an application for the Polish market and want to use Stripe, you have to accept that P24 could simply stop working any day. Without reason. Without explanation. Without the possibility of fixing it.

Maybe this will change. Maybe not.

In any case — the more people start talking about this problem, the greater the chance that someone on the other side of the table will start taking it seriously.

For now, it looks like there's a silent war that no one is talking about loudly. But someone should.