Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, announced yesterday a new charge card program for Stripe Issuing, Stripe’s commercial card issuing product. With the addition of charge cards, fintechs and platforms can create and distribute virtual or physical charge cards that allow their customers to spend on credit rather than the funds in their accounts—providing new revenue streams for platforms and allowing them to offer new financing capabilities to their customers.
“Whether a small business is just starting out or looking to expand, access to capital can make all the difference. Our new charge card allows fintechs and SaaS platforms to provide access to a reliable source of credit for the many small businesses they work with,” said Denise Ho, head of product for BaaS at Stripe.
How it works
The charge card program runs on Stripe Issuing, which has created more than 100 million cards and supports half a million transactions a day. To use the program, platforms create a charge card program in Stripe Issuing and then create and distribute cards to their customers. Customers can then use the cards to make purchases just like they would with a traditional credit card.
Benefits for platforms
The charge card program offers a number of benefits for platforms, including:
- New revenue stream - Platforms can charge their customers a fee for using the charge card program. This can be a significant source of additional revenue for platforms.
- Improved customer experience - The charge card program can help platforms improve the customer experience by providing customers with a convenient and flexible way to pay for expenses.
- Increased customer loyalty - The charge card program can help platforms increase customer loyalty by giving customers access to a reliable source of credit.
Benefits for customers
The charge card program offers a number of benefits for customers, including:
- Flexible credit - Customers can use the charge card to spend up to their credit limit and then pay back the balance at the end of each month. This gives customers more flexibility in their spending.
- No interest charges - Customers do not have to pay interest on the balance they carry on the charge card. This can save customers money in the long run.
- Rewards - Customers may be able to earn rewards, such as cash back or points, when they use the charge card. This can help customers save money or earn benefits.
How to get started
To get started with the charge card program, platforms can visit Stripe. Once they have signed up, they can create a charge card program and start distributing cards to their customers.
Ramp, an expense management platform for businesses, alongside other fintechs are already using the charge card program, which is available in beta in the US, and will later expand to the EU and the UK.
