Stripe rolls out new payment products for UK businesses

Stripe has unveiled new payment tools, including Pay by Bank, and business financing options in the UK, as part of plans to expand its product range in its second-largest market.

The financial infrastructure platform for businesses has launched its first Open Banking-powered payment method in the UK, making it the first market where Pay by Bank has been made available by Stripe.

Online car marketplace Cinch and insurance brokerage AJ Gallagher are among the large companies already using Stripe’s Pay by Bank, which allows consumers to pay directly from their bank account, helping businesses to bring down payment costs.

Stripe also revealed that it is using the UK’s Faster Payments Scheme to reduce the time it takes for a business to receive earnings from two days to “a couple of hours”, enabling companies to manage their cash flow more easily.

The new payment capabilities will be rolled out in the EU and US later this year.

To address the issue of UK businesses’ access to capital, Stripe has also launched ‘Stripe Capital’, which allows small businesses to access flexible financing to invest in their own expansion.

Stripe Capital uses a company’s transaction and business history on Stripe to qualify businesses for financing, with funds available to approved accounts the next business day. Businesses then repay the amount as they earn.

Already available in the US, Stripe Capital is now being offered to UK businesses that run directly on Stripe.

Later this year, UK marketplaces and platforms that use Stripe Connect will also be able to use Stripe Capital to offer financing to their own users.

“UK businesses are inventing and building, but getting access to capital at the right time is a rate limiter on their growth,” said John Collison, co-founder of Stripe.

“The payments tools and financing options we’re launching today will help money move around the economy faster and make it easier for businesses to invest when they see an opportunity to grow.”

As well as additions to its product suite, Stripe unveiled a new flagship London office, which will house growing teams in engineering, sales, partnerships and operations.