Financial software service Stripe is expanding its presence in several new regions with its aim to help mitigate friction from the payment journey.
Stripe will make its bank transfer offering available for merchants in EU countries, the UK and Mexico after recently launching its service in Japan earlier this year.
By offering a virtual bank account number (VBAN) to each customer, customers can check incoming and outgoing bank transfers if they are correct. This reconciliation layer enables businesses to see in real-time whether the customer has paid too much or too little, being also able to resolve payments through Stripe’s API.
Through this process, Stripe is aiming to create a frictionless payment experience for customers and merchants. The software service believes that its offering will save firms ‘hundreds of hours on confirming transfers, reconciliation and accounting’.
“We provide a virtual bank account number (VBAN) for each customer so that incoming transfers automatically map to the correct customer. VBANs are localised and regionally recognisable,” stated a Stripe spokesperson in a blog post.
“A reconciliation layer allows businesses to immediately see if a customer has paid too much or too little—and can resolve overpayments through the dashboard and API.”
Users of Stripe can also return payments to other users without having to use another bank transfer from their account. The Stripe feature will integrate its software directly into other banking processes such as invoices, subscriptions and revenue recognition.
The spokesperson added: “Stripe users can return a payment to a customer without initiating a new bank transfer from their account.
“With one simple API call or a dashboard click, users can refund a customer—no need to set them up as a payee.”
The US market will have to wait for a later date, stated Stripe, aiming to bring new account-to-account payment experiences alongside its latest service.
