Stripe to use Singapore as beachhead in Asian payments expansion

SINGAPORE (Sept 20): Stripe Inc., the US payment startup backed by Sequoia Capital and PayPal founders Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, is bringing its service to Singapore to help local startups build online businesses.

The Tuesday launch kick-starts the San Francisco-based company’s plan to expand in Asia following forays into Europe and Australia, President John Collison said. Stripe plans to eventually enter Japan and Hong Kong, where it’s undergoing beta-testing.

Stripe -- valued at US$5 billion when it raised funds from Visa Inc. last year -- is joining a crowded market with Braintree as well as traditional financial companies barreling into mobile payments. Singapore’s e-commerce market is expected to increase five-fold to US$5.4 billion ($7.4 billion) by 2025, according to a report by Google and Temasek Holdings.

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