Stripe To Enter Singapore Market?

TECHINASIA: Stripe may be making its way to the Singapore market, if certain reports from local entrepreneurs are accurate. The US-based company that provides web and mobile payment methods to online businesses has seemingly been testing the waters in the area, where competing service Braintree has already established a presence.

Stripe has been making waves in the online payments field since going public in 2011 and has received funding from such heavyweights as Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. The company has drawn attention to its service over established presences like PayPal with its much-praised API, which makes it easier to integrate the service to an online business, its simple and flexible pricing scheme, and prompt customer support.

Beatrix founder Jon Yongfook mentioned in a post on Facebook that he had actually met with Stripe and that the company should be coming over “very soon”. Yongfook confirmed the contents of his post to Tech in Asia. “I think it’s going to be great for the ecosystem, especially for SaaS startups doing recurring billing, and ecommerce startups,” he told us in an email. “I hope it’s going to encourage more SaaS in the region!”

Additionally, according to email messages Tech in Asia saw, Stripe seems to be reaching out to local entrepreneurs to possibly run a local beta. It all points to Stripe at least getting a feel for the territory and speaking with people here, if not preparing for an actual expansion.

We reached out to Stripe for comment, but the company claims to be “just checking out the local startup scene” and has “no specific plans to comment on right now.” We will be keeping our ears close to the ground for any further developments.