Microsoft and Stripe launch Teams Payments for businesses

Stripe today announced a new partnership with Microsoft to enable businesses in North America to receive payments directly in Microsoft Teams. Stripe supports payments in Teams, allowing meeting hosts to accept card payments in real time before, during or after a Teams virtual meeting.

FACTS 

• The Microsoft Teams collaboration platform provides video conferencing, voice, messaging and other integrated tools to over 300 million businesses worldwide.

• Stripe supports Teams Payments, so meeting organizers can accept card payments in real time for virtual meetings, courses, events and more.

• Companies can now set up prepayment via Stripe as a requirement for attending Teams sessions.

• Microsoft uses Stripe Connect to streamline payment acceptance and identity verification for transactions in Teams.

• When merchants sign up for Teams Payments, Stripe manages integration requirements and receives payments.

• Microsoft uses Connect to programmatically route customer funds to merchants once payment has been made. 

CHALLENGES 

• Collaborating with Stripe to increase the added value of Teams: this new functionality is designed to help Teams users be better served, strengthen team impact and increase company revenues by enabling payments to be integrated into Microsoft Teams. Stripe, making payment as simple as starting a virtual video conference, chat or presentation in Microsoft Teams.

• Accelerate online payments in Microsoft Teams: 93% of businesses suffer from late payments from customers, hampering cash flow and damaging balance sheets. Companies using Teams Payments and Stripe can receive payments from customers before, during or after a virtual session, and access the funds in seconds, to address this late payment issue. 

• Additional transaction volume: although the feature has only been launched in the USA for the time being. Microsoft Teams is used by over 300 million businesses. A partnership that will enable Stripe to reap a considerable increase in transaction volumes.

MARKET PERSEPCTIVE

• Stripe wants to help companies increase their sales. The startup is gradually working its way up the value chain and revenue generation stages, providing services in the areas of debt collection and financial management: 

  • It has enhanced its billing and collection solution, Stripe Billing, to reduce payment failures and customer churn. For example, with an API that automates VAT calculations on all sales.

  • It has also introduced "Stripe Revenue Reporting", a sales recording solution, to help companies better manage their back office. A beta version of this new functionality has just been launched.

• Meanwhile, in the payments ecosystem, Crédit Agricole and Worldline recently launched talks to create a joint venture that will combine Crédit Agricole's distribution network with Worldline's technology to create a major player in payment services for merchants.