Customers of payment services company Stripe are to be given access to a new directory of some 300 compatible apps, that can be integrated and used with their existing Stripe services to make more meaningful and value-adding use of the data.
Who/What Is Stripe?
Stripe is a San Francisco based company (valued at around $5 billion) who, like Paypal, provide a means for businesses to accept payments online (a payment gateway).
Stripe is reported to be processing billions of dollars a year for thousands of businesses and has received funding to the tune of $300 million from an impressive list of investors which includes Sequoia Capital, Visa, American Express, Peter Thiel, and Elon Musk.
Stripe recently launched the Stripe Connect product in the UK, Ireland and Nordic countries to enable start-ups to receive payments from any country where Stripe is live.
How Stripe’s Service Works
Adding a few lines of Stripe’s code to their already existing websites enables business-to-payment services into their mobile apps and websites.
Two Main Reasons For The Introduction of The Directory
Tech business commentators have suggested that the two main reasons for the introduction of the directory are to increase the ‘barriers to exit’ for existing Stripe customers who start to use and rely upon the new services/apps, and it paves the way for Stripe to develop more business relationships with third party app suppliers.
The listing in Stripe’s directory for the app suppliers is free but the services will depend on each one’s pricing models.
Most Popular Indicated
Stripe has said that as well as showing customers which apps are compatible with which platform or service, it will also show in the directory which are the most popular integrations, thus making it easier for customers to choose. As an extra (and important) benefit of housing the directory and monitoring which apps are most popular, Stripe will be able to use that information to help shape its own in-house products.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
If you are a Stripe customer, the app database could be a handy source for you to find tools that will enable you to query, analyse and get some more useful insights into your payment data. As such, it could be a way to discover more sources of competitive advantage and add more value to your services.
If you are a customer of another payment processing service, the new app directory from Stripe may be one factor that could help tempt you into considering switching.
