I had clients in the early 2000s with 1.9% rates, as well as one with 2.5% and no fixed per-transaction fee, and these were small mom-and-pop businesses - the Targets, Costcos, Apples, etc. of the world likely go way lower on volume.

Stripe's selling point was never low fees. It was "you can be up and accepting cards in just a few minutes of coding", and that was well worth paying an extra percent or so.