Crikey! The world's most valuable fintech is headed down under...
Background: Stripe is a payment processor that lets businesses accept all kinds of payment methods. It's the world's most valuable private fintech, reaching a US$95 billion valuation late last year.
What happened: Now, it's looking for banking partners in Australia to help it distribute loans and bank accounts.
What else: Finding the right partner will cement Stripe as a leader in the brand new 'banking-as-a-service' (BaaS) space.
💡 Banking-as-a-service is where banking products and services are provided through third parties under a partnership agreement. In other words, banks write the story... other providers chuck their byline on it.
💡 The bank does all the bank-end stuff (i.e. hold the license, deal with compliance)... without the glitz and glam. Westpac already does this, white-labelling deposit accounts for Afterpay customers.
💡 It's popular nowadays because it's tough to get a banking licence down under. And it means that pretty much any big brand could become a bank by using banks' capabilities to grow their offerings, like Stripe wants to do.
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