Feedback: Stripe's business soars in the wake of the pandemic

The American payment specialist Stripe has published an open letter to its customers and investors. In it, it presents its very good results and its latest achievements, underlining new ambitions that are increasingly international and diversified. Like many payment players, Stripe experienced exceptional growth during the pandemic, but is now looking forward to a more tempered 2022 in terms of results.

FACTS

• Collectively, Stripe companies processed more than $640 billion in payments in 2021, up 60 percent from the previous year.

• Stripe now estimates that millions of businesses use its services for their online payment transactions worldwide. More than 100 of these companies even pass the $1 million mark in sales with Stripe every day.

• However, Stripe continues to expand its business development efforts and is reportedly still attracting some 1,400 new business customers every day (and 100 non-profit organisations). For example, 60% of the technology companies that went public in 2021 were Stripe customers.

• Stripe now has over 7,000 employees across 23 countries.

CHALLENGES

• Taking advantage of the pandemic with lucidity: Stripe tempers some of its results by stressing that the particularly marked growth in its uses is linked in particular to the pandemic, the increase in online payments and e-commerce in general. This clarification also allows the group to explain the definite drop in its treatments over 2022. It is also with this in mind that the company wishes to invest heavily in alternative offerings, such as Stripe Treasury and Stripe Issuing.

• Participating in the growth of e-commerce: Stripe is taking advantage of the rise of e-commerce but also intends to participate in its long-term development. To this end, the payment giant has a 4-step plan:

  • Increase the number of start-ups by helping them get started in payments,

  • help established companies adapt their business model to digital markets,

  • increase cross-border trade by simplifying and standardising international payments,

  • provide simple, reliable, secure and developer-friendly solutions (e.g. via APIs).

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• In March 2021, online payment processing giant Stripe announced that it had raised over $600 million in funding, giving it a record valuation of $95 billion.

• Since then, Stripe has stepped up its efforts to consolidate its positions in Europe but also in emerging markets such as crypto-assets. Since the beginning of the year, the company has also won two major clients on the international scene, Ford and Spotify, and at the same time announced its deployment in Japan.

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