Challenge

In 2023, Vyro faced a pivotal decision. The company had built a successful business creating mobile apps monetized with ads. However, the founders saw greater potential in the emerging field of generative AI. To seize the opportunity, they transformed their business model and transitioned from building mobile apps to web-based AI services with the launch of ImagineArt. As the platform gained traction, Vyro expanded ImagineArt into a full stack gen AI creative suite, combining tools for image, video, sketch, music, and audio into a single platform.

“Our business model shifted from advertising to subscription-based revenue,” said Talha Arshad, strategic business partner at Vyro. “Our target markets expanded globally, with a particular focus on Tier 1 markets like the US and Europe.”

Vyro had previously relied on billing systems from Google and Apple to process payments and manage financial operations for its mobile applications. These platforms acted as merchants of record, managing everything from payment processing to tax compliance. But as Vyro ventured into web-based AI services, the company faced a new reality: without app store platforms acting as intermediaries, Vyro needed to build payments infrastructure from scratch. Doing so would support ImagineArt’s subscription tiers, international transactions, diverse payment methods, and complex tax compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

At the rate it was rapidly scaling, Vyro also sought to optimize authorization rates and recover failed payments, which could significantly cost the company if not properly managed. Vyro’s larger user base also correlated to an inevitable uptick in fraud attempts, meaning it required effective fraud prevention measures to protect the growing business.

Solution

In May 2023, as Vyro prepared to launch its web-based AI platform, the company created a Stripe account to process a modest payment volume as it tested its new services. The growth trajectory soon became clear and Vyro went all in, building its entire payments infrastructure on Stripe’s platform, starting with Stripe Payments.

To refine its checkout flow and offer a wide range of payment methods, Vyro implemented Stripe’s Optimized Checkout Suite, which includes Stripe Checkout, a prebuilt payment form that has reduced Vyro’s need for extensive technical resources. Checkout’s flexible UI has also enabled the Vyro team to customize the checkout experience and enhance their ability to stay abreast of evolving regulations. Vyro also added a variety of payment methods through the Dashboard including credit cards, digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Amazon Pay, region-specific payment methods, and Link—a wallet built by Stripe.

To further enhance payment acceptance, Vyro took advantage of Payments’ optimization features: Smart Retries identifies the optimal day and time to retry a failed payment, while Adaptive Acceptance uses AI to optimize authorization requests.

Vyro implemented Stripe Billing to handle its sophisticated subscription management system. Customers can now subscribe to different token packages across both weekly and annual billing cycles, with varying price points for each combination. Customers can also purchase additional tokens as needed. Stripe Billing automatically manages the complex logistics of recurring billing, including prorated prices for plan upgrades and downgrades.

The global nature of Vyro’s business means navigating tax regulations across several jurisdictions—a potentially overwhelming challenge for the small team. Stripe Tax provided the solution, automatically calculating, collecting, and reporting taxes based on each customer’s location.

As Vyro’s customer base grew, so did instances of payment disputes and fraud attempts. The company implemented Stripe Radar for Fraud Teams to proactively identify and block high-risk payments. With Radar for Fraud Teams, when the Vyro team noticed a pattern of fraudulent transactions coming from specific regions, they created custom rules to address the issue.

Results

Vyro implemented its complete payments infrastructure in days

Vyro’s integration process took just five days to implement. “Stripe has the best documentation for payments, with great API references,” said Muhammad Shariq, backend lead at Vyro. “Whenever you need something, you can easily find it. Stripe is really mature in terms of references and documentation.”

Vyro accessed global payment processing in months with Stripe

Vyro went from relying entirely on third-party app stores to managing its own global payments infrastructure in a matter of months with its Stripe integration. “International payments were important for our business, and with Stripe, we’re able to offer different payment methods to different users. That flexibility has definitely helped our expansion,” said Arshad.

45% of purchases now flow through Link

Implementing Link has significantly streamlined Vyro’s checkout process: 45% of all purchases are now completed through it, resulting in lower cart abandonment rates and improved conversion rates. It also gives US customers the option to pay by bank using Stripe’s new ACH method, Instant Bank Payments. With Instant Bank Payments, customers can easily check out with Link and pay directly from their bank accounts. Payments are confirmed instantly and settle within two business days, just like card transactions. Plus, Instant Bank Payments are priced at 2.6% + 30¢ per successful transaction, a discount to card fees.

40% increase in revenue recovery with Smart Retries and email automation

In a two-month period, Vyro saw a 40% increase in revenue recovery compared to the average of the previous six months. Vyro attributes this to intelligent optimization features such as Smart Retries and email automation of failed payments.

Vyro achieved 4x growth with Stripe Billing’s flexible subscription management

As Vyro continues to expand its AI-powered offerings, Stripe Billing has been instrumental in the company’s rapid growth. Vyro’s revenue grew 300% from 2023 to 2024.

“This growth is supported by Stripe’s scalable billing infrastructure, which has proven essential in managing the increasing demand and complexity of our business,” said Arshad.

Stripe Billing’s support for multiple pricing options—from one-time payments to pay-as-you-go models—has been key in meeting Vyro’s diverse customer needs. The intuitive Dashboard delivers actionable insights that help Vyro track performance and make smarter business decisions.

Automated tax compliance reduced the burden on Vyro’s financial team

By consolidating tax compliance on Tax, Vyro has simplified its operations significantly. Its small team can now focus on developing innovative AI features rather than staying current with global tax regulations or manually calculating tax rates for different jurisdictions.

“If Stripe didn’t have this tax feature, we would have had to do all these calculations ourselves or hire an additional team member who would be very busy,” said Arshad.

Vyro blocked nearly 100% of risky payments with Radar’s fraud insights

As Vyro faced increasing challenges with payment disputes, Radar for Fraud Teams has helped the company address payment disputes proactively, including cases where legitimate transactions were incorrectly marked as fraudulent by customers seeking easy refunds after using Vyro’s AI services. With Radar’s AI-generated fraud insights, Vyro identified and blocked a pattern of high-risk transactions from specific regions, ultimately reducing fraudulent activity and protecting the product.

To address rising dispute rates, Vyro used Radar’s insights and risk scores to detect patterns of high-risk transactions coming from specific regions and banks. When a particular bank in Singapore consistently triggered fraud scores, the team implemented custom rules to block those payments—ultimately preventing nearly all fraudulent charges.

“When our dispute rate increased, we acted on early warnings from Stripe, implementing custom rules to block payments with high-risk scores. This proactive approach allowed us to block nearly 100% of the risky payments,” said Shaiq Habib, Vyro’s data and marketing lead.