Card Issuing: Stripe Aims for Businesses

The e-payment specialist Stripe expands their set of services with a new platform for issuing cards. This Californian Unicorn aims for businesses who might want to offer (plastic or virtual) credit or debit cards for their employees, customers and partners.

This solution called “Stripe Issuing” relies on Stripe’s platform. They provide APIs for card issuing, encompassing design, distribution, and management.

Partner companies only have to embed a few lines of code to enjoy this new feature. They may use it to create customised virtual and plastic cards. These APIs also connect the network to Apple Pay and Android Pay. The included dashboard helps them manage the cards they issue (track transactions, set authorisations, craft reports, etc.) and automate operational tasks (card replacements, for instance).

Stripe has partnerships in place with large-scale card schemes so their customers can opt for universal payment solutions. For instance, with Mastercard, they plan to add instant payment services for their customers, based on Mastercard Send.

Comments – APIs for the sake of innovative developments at Stripe

Physical payment card issuing processes usually are time-consuming and expensive. Stripe addresses these challenges with APIs to provide easier to use and instant services to their customer companies. This Californian FinTech also stresses their growth ambitions and sets foot on a profitable market, poised for significant expansion. Their business model relies on charging a fee on each card transaction.

Increasing competition

This announcement follows a recent funding round by Marqeta, an American FinTech which crafts a platform allowing businesses to create payment solutions within their own structure. This $45 million roundtable should help them aim for international reach. These FinTechs also have to face competition from Adyen –which proposes similar payment services and just went public– as well as Square –whose price per share has increased twofold since the beginning of the year.