Stripe payments signature now allows businesses to establish direct links to their customers’ bank accounts, providing quick access to their financial data.
Stripe says its new Financial Connections feature will eliminate the need for businesses to build custom integrations with a multitude of different financial institutions, or for consumers to go through the “tedious process” of taking extra steps, like making microdeposits.
The payment gateway provider, which achieved a $95 billion valuation in its last funding round in March, said the service will allow companies to use their customers’ financial data to speed up payments, reduce fraud, underwrite the risk and create new products.
Stripe Financial Connections
Stripe says Financial Connections will allow businesses to streamline direct debit payments through linked bank accounts, which it says will drive conversion and allow platforms to use linked bank account information to underwrite risks and offer loans to their customers. business users.
Financial Connections will also open the door to a suite of other financial services under Stripe, including providing customers with tools for budget tracking, bill payment and identifying spending patterns.
Stripe says that Financial Connections allows customers to simply enter their banking credentials online and select the account they’d like to link, and it works with the full spectrum of platforms and businesses, from NFT creators to churches.
The company claims that Financial Connections will work with 90% of US bank accounts and will allow businesses to retrieve data from some 5,000 financial institutions.
The service will first launch in the US, where Stripe is one of the most popular credit card processing services for businesses, but the company did not comment on whether the service can be rolled out in other regions.
The news comes as Stripe, currently the world’s most valuable private company, has been expanding the range of services it offers customers.
Stripe now offers a range of crypto-focused services, including fiat payment APIs, Know Your Customer (KYC) tools, fraud prevention, on-ramps, and identity verification.
The firm has also been making more and more moves to enter the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ space by joining forces with Clearpay and Klarna, making it easier for users to spread the cost of their e-commerce purchases.
