Stripe celebrates 10th anniversary in Australia with new solutions

Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, has marked its 10th anniversary of operations in Australia, celebrating significant growth and introducing new solutions at its annual Stripe Tour Sydney conference. Since its entry into the Australian market in 2014, Stripe has seen its user base expand from a few dozen businesses to over 500,000 businesses today, which have collectively processed more than AUD $200 billion over the last decade. Over the past five years alone, the payment volume processed via Stripe in Australia has grown five-fold.

The newest addition to Stripe's user portfolio is Stan Entertainment. During the Summer Olympic Games, Stan Sport experienced a 50% increase in subscriptions, supported by Stripe, which now powers payments for over 2 million of Stan's customers across Australia.

Stripe co-founder and CEO Patrick Collison highlighted the company's growth and commitment to Australia: "In a decade, we’ve grown from a handful of Australian businesses on Stripe to hundreds joining daily. The tools we’re launching today will reduce their costs, improve cash flow, and improve their ability to serve their customers. We are thrilled to continue to support our Australian users in adapting to the ever-changing payments landscape."

Stripe announced several new products at the conference aimed at enhancing the payment experience for businesses. One of these is PayTo, a low-cost, real-time payment method that allows businesses to initiate recurring and one-off payments directly from their customers' bank accounts. This new method facilitates real-time payment status verification and 24/7 processing, including weekends and public holidays.

Additionally, Stripe introduced Instant Payouts for all Australian businesses to address cash flow requirements. This service allows users to request payouts from their Stripe balances instantly, at any time, including during holidays and weekends. Platforms and marketplaces using Stripe can also enable their own customers to receive instant payouts, potentially monetising the service by charging a fee. Businesses can transfer up to AUD $9,999 to an eligible account within minutes of a card transaction, with funds typically settling in the associated bank account within 30 minutes.

In New Zealand, Stripe launched Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) direct debit payments, primarily targeting subscription services such as streaming platforms, meal kits, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) products. This new feature accelerates the payment process by debiting customers' bank accounts directly, thereby lowering transaction costs and preventing churn caused by failed payment cards.

Bharathi Ramavarjula, SVP of Payments and Ecosystem at Xero, commented on the partnership with Stripe: "Xero's decade-long partnership with Stripe is built on a foundation of helping small businesses get paid faster and maintain a healthy cash flow. Stripe's extensive payment method support allows us to cater to the diverse needs of our customers in Australia and New Zealand and grow our subscription-based services with confidence by offering platform billing methods like NZ BECS direct debit."

Stripe's new research in Australia indicates that the upcoming decade holds substantial potential as the internet economy continues to grow. Digital natives, defined as Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha, currently make up more than half of the Australian population. Gen Z alone is expected to constitute about 23% of the Australian workforce by 2024. The research found that nearly 60% of Gen Z respondents believe they will not be using cash in the next decade, favouring digital payment solutions like smartphones and digital wallets (67%), biometrics (20%), and wearables (20%).

Stripe aims to support Australian businesses in leveraging these evolving consumer preferences and technological advancements to maximise their opportunities in the digital economy.