US fintech giant Stripe has said that it has decided to move to ‘Invite Only’ in India. This implies that Indian businesses can no longer create new Stripe accounts directly through the website and must instead request an invitation.
The company said in a statement, “The regulatory landscape in India continues to evolve, and our goal is to offer the same experience in India that we aspire to offer to all our users worldwide. For example, enabling all new users to launch quickly with easy onboarding is a fundamental Stripe feature that we cannot promise in India today.”
While highlighting that the company is strongly committed to India, Stripe said that by the second half of 2025, they will build an infrastructure that will help support more.
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Indian applicants using Stripe have also been informed about the move. As per Inc42, in an email sent to customers, the fintech platform said, “As a result of this change, your Stripe account for [name of the user] will not be activated at this time. We know this is disappointing, and we’re working to be ready to support you soon.”.
Recently, businessline reported that Stripe and the State Bank of India are considering forming a joint venture in order to acquire a sizable share of SBI Payments Ltd. Stripe is reportedly eager to acquire the 30–40 per cent share that SBI owns in the payments industry. However, the State Bank of India categorically rejected any engagement with Stripe.
On January 15, 2024, Stripe received the nod of the Reserve Bank of India for a payment aggregator license. Founded in 2010, Stripe is a global firm in digital payments that began as a tool to let developers allow credit card payments on their websites. Since then, it has grown to incorporate other financial technologies as well as tax and billing.
