Yahoo Finance Payments giant Stripe secures Irish e-money licence
Stripe, the San Francisco-based payments platform owned by two Irish brothers, is set to expand its Dublin base significantly after it secured an e-money licence from the Irish Central Bank.
While Stripe cited Brexit as a factor in its decision to apply for the licence, the company noted that its desire to expand its Dublin operation was the overriding reason for the move.
“Dublin is the heart of Stripe in Europe. It’s our fastest-growing office and our first international engineering hub with over 150 employees,” a company spokesperson told the Irish Times.
“Our licence here is another testament to our commitment to Ireland, and we plan on deepening that over the long term.”
The company, which runs a platform that allows companies and individuals to accept online payments, set up its first engineering hub outside the United States in Dublin last year.
In September, Stripe was valued at $20bn (£15.1bn), when it raised $245m (£185m) in investment from Tiger Global Management, Sequoia, and DST Global.
Stripe already has a similar e-money licence in the UK, but — once the UK leaves the European Union — it will need a licence from an EU country such as Ireland to offer its services across the bloc.
With the money raised, it plans to launch other engineering hubs across the world, such as in Singapore.
Stripe recently launched a pilot of its payment offerings in several EU countries, including Estonia, Poland, and Lithuania.
