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Stripe·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen·Intermediate

Intermediate
May 2026

Summary

Stripe coding screen for a software engineer role. The problem looked like a parsing exercise at first glance but the fee computation logic with volume-based discounts is where things got interesting fast.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

Given a CSV string of transactions, parse each row and compute the fee for that transaction based on the payment provider, the buyer's country, and any volume-based discount that kicks in once a buyer crosses a transaction count threshold. Return results in the original input order with id, transaction type, payment provider, and computed fee.

Algorithms & Data StructuresAPI & IntegrationsPricing & Monetization
Author's notes

The CSV parsing part I handled fine.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying the CSV format, fee rules, and discount thresholds. Then outline a solution that parses each row, tracks per-buyer transaction counts to apply volume discounts, and computes fees using a provider-country rate table. Emphasize preserving input order and handling edge cases like malformed rows or missing data.

Pro tip: Mention that you would separate parsing, fee calculation, and discount logic into distinct functions or classes to make the code testable and maintainable, and discuss how you'd handle large inputs efficiently.

1. Clarify requirements and assumptions

Ask about the CSV schema, fee rules per provider and country, discount thresholds, and how to handle invalid or missing data. Confirm that results must be in the original order.

2. Design data structures and parsing

Choose a CSV parser (or write a simple one) and define structures to hold transaction data and per-buyer counts. Consider using a dictionary keyed by buyer ID to track transaction counts.

3. Implement fee calculation with discounts

For each transaction, look up the base fee by provider and country, then apply any volume discount based on the buyer's cumulative transaction count. Update the buyer's count after processing.

4. Preserve order and handle edge cases

Process rows sequentially to maintain input order, and include error handling for malformed rows, unknown providers/countries, or missing fields.

5. Test and optimize

Write unit tests for typical and edge cases, and discuss time/space complexity. Mention potential optimizations like streaming for large files.

Key Points to Mention

  • CSV parsing considerations: delimiters, quoting, escaping, and header handling.
  • Fee lookup table: mapping (provider, country) to base fee, and how to handle unknown combinations.
  • Volume discount logic: threshold definition, whether it's per buyer or per buyer-provider, and how to apply it incrementally.
  • State management: tracking transaction counts per buyer across rows, possibly using a hash map.
  • Order preservation: ensuring output matches input order, especially if parallelizing.
  • Error handling and validation: dealing with malformed rows, missing data, and invalid values.

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.