Small Business News
Stripe Introduces Stripe Corporate Card Visa
Looking for a corporate card to manage your small business’s expenses? Stripe hopes they have the solution. This week the company announced that it was launching its new Stripe Corporate Card, allowing business owners to earn cash back and other rewards.
If this news is bringing upon déjà vu it’s probably because it’s been a busy couple of weeks for Stripe. Just days ago the company announced the launch of Stripe Capital, enabling business customers to apply for loans that are then repaid through a percentage of their daily sales. Funny enough, in their write-up of that news, TechCrunch happened to mention that the firm was expected to launch a credit card as well — bringing us to this week’s announcement.
Among the perks that the Stripe Corporate Card offers is cash back on purchases, although their structure is somewhat unique. Instead of dictating what categories earn higher rewards, Stripe will automatically apply 2% cash back to a business’s top two spending categories each month. Meanwhile all other purchases will earn 1% cash back. Also notable is that, once businesses spend their first of $5,000 on their Corporate Card, they can earn $50,000 in free payment processing according to the card’s site.
Another interesting feature is the card’s fee structure. First, it is free to use, carrying no annual fees, late fees, foreign transaction fees, or card replacement fees. What’s more, as TechCrunch reports, there is currently no interest rate either. That’s because cardholders are expected to pay off their balances in full each month. Thus, instead of making money on interest like most credit cards, it seems Stripe is looking to cash in on interchange fees.
Although the Corporate Card was the largest announcement from Stripe’s Sessions conference, it was far from the only one. Other reveals include the ability for U.S. businesses to receive funds within minutes via Instant Payouts, Connect Express rolling out to 28 markets, and Stripe’s expansion to Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The keynote from the San Francisco event can be viewed on Stripe’s site.
Currently the Stripe Corporate Card’s beta is only open to U.S. businesses. Once owners are invited to obtain their card, they can upload their logo to be featured on the design and can then generate a digital card instantly (with a physical card arriving in a few days). This along with the rewards and lack of fees make the Corporate Card an interesting product for entrepreneurs and one that will likely prove popular among Stripe’s many small business-owning customers.
