Stripe Unlocks Its All-or-Nothing Payment Processing Approach

(Bloomberg) -- Stripe Inc. is making it easier for merchants to use its financial-services offerings with the technology they already have to process payments.

The payment processing firm said Wednesday that companies will no longer be locked in to processing payments with Stripe in order to access its other products. Merchants can use other payment service providers — such as Adyen NV or PayPal Holdings Inc. — while also using Stripe’s billing and tax capabilities, for example.

“We’re extending our modularity to the very core of Stripe: payments processing,” Stripe Chief Product Officer Will Gaybrick said at the company’s annual conference in San Francisco. “All of Stripe’s products will gracefully inter-operate with third-party processors.”

Stripe enables businesses to accept payments both in person and online, and also provides services like sending payouts and automating businesses’ financial processes. There are now more than 100 companies that process at least $1 billion annually by using Stripe products. 

The firm counts PayPal and Adyen as competitors, and this announcement could further stoke the rivalries.

“This is particularly relevant for large enterprises that were unable to take advantage of Stripe’s product suite without breaching other long-term contract commitments,” the firm said in a statement announcing the news.

Among a slew of other product updates, Stripe also said American Express Co. joined its enhanced issuer network, a set of partnerships with US card issuers including Capital One Financial Corp. and Discover Financial Services that it set up in 2023 to help reduce fraud and increase payment authorization rates for businesses.

Read More: Hertz Taps Fintech Stripe for Processing of Rental-Car Payments

Stripe’s valuation increased to $65 billion in February from $50 billion in 2023 after it struck a deal allowing current and former employees to cash out some of their shares. That move may have alleviated some pressure on the startup to speed up its path to an initial public offering.

The firm was founded in 2011 by brothers John and Patrick Collison. Its total payment volume surged by 25% last year to surpass $1 trillion, and it expects an annual revenue run rate of more than $500 million over the next year for its revenue-automation business. 

Stripe products are now available to businesses in 46 countries.

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