Payment upstart Stripe sets up shop in Australia

Stripe has opened business in Australia, joining an increasingly competitive market of payment providers in the country.

Australian merchants can use Stripe to accept payments in more than 100 different currencies. Stripe also supports subscriptions and one-tap purchasing as standard features.

Stripe can be integrated into an app or website and requires an existing Australian bank account.

Australian pricing for Stripe will be 1.75 per cent plus 30 cents for domestic transactions. For international and American Express transactions, the rate is 2.90 per cent plus 30 cents.

"Stripe’s mission is to grow Internet commerce by providing everything an online business needs to accept payments," said John Collison, co-founder and president of Stripe. "We hope Stripe's powerful set of tools and APIs helps Australian businesses scale globally."

LIFX, an Australian Internet of Things startup that sells Wi-Fi enabled lightbulbs, will use Stripe to accept payments from around the world.

"We were up and running in just minutes, and are now able to accept payments from anyone in almost any currency,” said Daniel May, CIO of LIFX.

Stripe will face competition from a variety of banks and payment providers in Australia.

PayPal and subsidiary Braintree, which PayPal acquired last year, have also been vying for attention of small businesses. Braintree customers include Uber, Airbnb, 99Designs and the ABC.

Adam Bender covers startup and business tech issues for Techworld and is the author of dystopian sci-fi novels We, The Watched and Divided We Fall. Follow him on Twitter: @WatchAdam

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