A global tech company will launch into the New Zealand market today offering faster access to payments technology and a global reach that allows consumers a wider choice of payment method.
Stripe was started by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison in 2010 and has grown to a global business estimated to be worth US$9.2 billion which now counts Amazon among its customers.
The brothers are credited with coming up with a code which allows businesses to plug into websites and apps and instantly connect with credit cards and banking systems allowing businesses to receive payments in more than 135 currencies.
Stripe has been beta testing its products in New Zealand since the start of the year and officially launches today.
It has already signed up Kiwi start-up company Xero.
Mac Wang, head of growth for Stripe Australia and New Zealand, said it was attracted to the New Zealand market by its strong economy and the number of new tech companies that were looking to go global quickly.
"What we found was there is a few dynamics that make New Zealand really interesting."
Wang is in New Zealand this week to visit start-up business incubators Icehouse, BizDojo and Creative HQ.
Wang said the company, which has been operating in Australia for three years, also liked the high smartphone penetration in New Zealand and its largely cashless society.
The internet had been around for more than 20 years, however, e-commerce was still in its infancy, he said.
"E-commerce is lower than it should be."
Wang put that down to the infrastructure and tools available to online businesses.
Traditionally companies have had to talk to a gateway provider and a bank to set up online payments - a process which could take weeks.
But Wang said Stripe could hook businesses up on the same day.
It also allowed businesses to customise payments for a particular market.
That means companies who target the Chinese market could accept payments via Alipay - a popular way to make online payments in China.
"We want to give business the tools to customise the market for them."
Wang said its model didn't cost any more than the traditional model as it charged a percentage of the transaction value - part of which was paid to the bank.
"We are a success based model."
The company offers services including fraud detection based on its global analytics, and enabling firms to manage subscriptions.
It also meant companies could scale up as they grew, without having a high up-front cost.