Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Payments behemoth Visa Inc. has poured some cash into Stripe, an independent online-payments startup, which will be used to aid Stripe’s international expansion.
The specific Visa investment was not disclosed. But adding in investments from Sequoia Capital and American Express Co. that were made alongside the one from Visa, Stripe says the cash influx totals less than $100 million and pegs the company at a multibillion-dollar valuation. “The acceleration of Stripe’s global expansion, and access to new merchant types and payment activities, brings our new valuation to $5 billion,” Stripe says in a statement.
The deal also entails a Visa partnership with Stripe. Visa says Stripe’s developers will be part of the initial group to get access to Visa’s network via application programming interfaces and software development kits, Visa says.
Stripe says the partnership with Visa will enable the two companies to jointly develop technologies that improve the security and reliability of, and the merchant experience related to, accepting Visa. The deal will also further Stripe’s international ambitions, with special attention on emerging markets, Stripe says. For its part, Visa will benefit from an expanded network and Stripe’s expertise in optimizing the payment experience for consumers. Stripe’s customer list includes grocery delivery service Instacart, private-car ride service Lyft, and Twitter.
This is not Stripe’s first involvement with a major card network. Stripe also has a role in American Express Co.’s Amex Express Checkout, an online payment service that eschews a typical mobile wallet in favor of the cardholder’s AmEx credentials. AmEx says Stripe is working on a process for merchants to add Amex Express Checkout to their Web sites.
