Exclusive: Stripe takes on rivals with UK direct debit launch

One more reason for online merchants to pick Stripe for all their payment needs.

Global payments giant Stripe is taking on GoCardless in its home market, with the launch today of UK direct debit acceptance, AltFi can exclusively reveal.

With the addition of direct debits, Stripe is one step closer to becoming an all-in-one payments solution for online merchants, and has another differentiator vs rivals like Checkout.com.

Matt Henderson, Stripe’s EMEA Business Lead, will announce the UK launch later this afternoon during his keynote at SaaStock Remote.

“Recurring revenue businesses are going to play an important role in the global economic recovery,” said Henderson.

“We want to make sure Stripe can help these businesses protect and grow their revenues. The ability to collect Bacs payments will help increase conversion, reduce cost, and minimise churn.”

Direct Debit payments are either available via Stripe’s own Stripe Checkout, or can be integrated into custom checkouts by developers.

Stripe has a handful of startups already using its Bacs Direct Debits, including San Francisco-based industrial IoT provider Samsara and London-based proptech Yorlet, and non-profit charities like Chuffed which often rely on recurring donations.

Later this year cloud accounting platform Freshbooks will launch in the UK with the help of Stripe to offer Direct Debit capabilities.

“Bacs is something of a heritage brand, we all recognise the paper forms you fill out to set up the mandate,” added Henderson. 

“It’s rightly trusted, but can feel a bit old fashioned. We’re pleased to be able to bring Bacs Direct Debits completely online alongside newer payment methods like Apple Pay or Alipay.”

Stripe has been on a tear these last few months with a follow-on $600m funding round in April, and the launching in five new European countries last month.