Stripe outstrips $US1.3 trillion as Australian growth powers global success

The global payments giant has shed light on its local operation, which is focused on winning new business with its billing power.

Stripe Australia and New Zealand managing director Karl Durrance.

Global payments giant Stripe is wary of the complexity of scrapping surcharges, but the local arm of the $US91bn ($152bn) giant is focused on winning billing customers and fending off competition.

Speaking as the Irish-American payments giant’s founders Patrick and John Collison published their latest letter to customers, clients and staff, Stripe Australia boss Karl Durrance said local customers were increasingly playing a role in the group’s global success.

The company revealed in the letter published overnight on Thursday that its payments had hit $US1.4 trillion ($2.2 trillion) in 2024, up 38 per cent on the prior year to almost 1.3 per cent of global GDP.

Mr Durrance pointed to Australia’s familiarity with card and electronic payments as key to the group’s local growth.

Mr Durrance, who has run Stripe’s local operations since January 2022, said more varied businesses were now taking up the company’s technology to take payments.

This included the nation’s tradies, some of whom were now using Stripe’s payments terminals or their own phones to settle jobs.

“We’re one of the fastest growing regions in the world for Stripe,” Mr Durrance said.

Mr Durrance pointed to mentions of Australian companies, including News Corp Australia –publisher of The Australian – in the firm’s annual letter as a sign of the growing business here.

“That definitely indicates that what we are doing in this part of the world, and how this part of the world is innovating and using payments, is now becoming globally relevant,” he said.

“There is a really good product market fit here with respect to the fact that Australians do have a strong affinity to using cards for payments.”

AI companies have also driven spades of new business growth for Stripe over the past year, with the firm’s founders letter noting more than 700 are now using its payments rails.

Mr Durrance said AI companies would lend Stripe “hyper growth”, noting how many players had gone from minnows to growing faster than any other operator in the digital economy.

The founders’ letter says Stripe Billing was now “bearing fruit”, with more than 300,000 companies using the system to manage almost 200 million subscriptions.

Mr Durrance said Stripe Billing was the company’s No.1 priority in the Australian market this year. He said some companies were picking up Stripe Billing while retaining other payments systems for other functions.

Stan, Nine Entertainment’s streaming media play, is using Stripe Billing after the two sides signed an agreement in August last year. Stripe has also rolled out PayTo, which allows customers to authorise a payment via their banking app.

The technology is still in limited use across the market, but some retailers such as Amazon use PayTo.

PayTo and the recent additions to the Australian payments market including PayID will soon replace legacy systems.

The ageing Bulk Electronic Clearing System or BECS, is planned to be shut down by June 2030.

Australia’s regulators are also considering changes to the broader payments market, including scrapping or paring back card and electronic payment surcharge fees.

Stripe currently offers one fee for both credit and debit cards, as well as a higher fee for international card users.

Mr Durrance said Stripe was neutral on the approach, noting its use was limited on its systems.

But he said any potential removal had to consider the complexities it would impose on small businesses.

Mr Durrance noted Stripe’s rollout in New Zealand continued apace, after first hiring staff for the market last year with another member of the team imminent, taking total headcount to four.

The Australia-New Zealand business now stands at almost 100 across Sydney, Melbourne, and Auckland.