After expanding to two dozen countries across the globe, the startup founded by Limerick brothers Patrick and John Collison in 2009 chose Singapore as its launchpad for an assault on Southeast Asia.

The city-state is already the firm's financial hub, and it plays host to numerous startups that are attempting to tackle e-commerce in neighbouring countries. Stripe has launched in beta mode in both Japan and Hong Kong, making Singapore the first official launch market in Asia after Australia.

Stripe, which is backed by Sequoia Capital and PayPal founders Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, was valued at $5 billion when it raised funds from Visa last year.

Crowded market

It is joining a crowded market with Braintree as well as traditional financial companies barrelling into mobile payments. Singapore's e-commerce market is expected to increase five-fold to $5.4 billion by 2025, according to a report by Google and Temasek Holdings.

Stripe is trying to stand out by going beyond offering processing services for online and mobile transactions, John Collison said. It also helps local startups manage security in storing customers’ data and fraud prevention, as well as accepting money on behalf of other people. It also provides other services such as accounting and billing.

In Singapore, Stripe will take a 3.4 per cent fee, plus 50 Singaporean cents, from each successful transaction.

– (Bloomberg)