Stripe enters the digital banking fray with US credit card launch

Payments processing giant Stripe last night unveiled the Stripe Corporate Card, available for business customers in the US.

The move pits Stripe against rival fintech credit card Brex and potentially European digital banks as they expand to the US.

Stripe’s first credit card includes real time expense reporting, 2% cashback on certain purchases, spending controls, integration with accounting software like Quickbooks, and no fees.

Stripe, which has traditionally focused on payments and billing for online businesses, also announced a lending arm Stripe Capital this week to offer working capital to its customers.

“Businesses, especially small businesses and startups, are the engines for job creation in our economy. It should be trivially simple and lightning fast for them to access the capital they need to smooth their cash flow and invest in their own growth,” said Will Gaybrick, Stripe’s Chief Product Officer.

On its Corporate Card, users are expected to repay the balance of the card in full each month, meaning there is no interest rate to use the card.

With Stripe Capital and now a Stripe credit card, it’s clear Stripe has grand ambitions to become the lender of choice for its business customers.

The move isn’t surprising, Stripe’s chief rival in online payment processing, PayPay, launched Working Capital for its customers in 2013 and so far lent out over $10bn—more than Funding Circle or OnDeck.

Earlier this year Stripe raised a $100m funding round at a $22.5bn valuation, pitting it as one of the most highly valued fintechs in the world.