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Stripe enters Asia with Japan beta launch

techinasia.com

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Re: Stripe enters Asia with Japan beta launch

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The predominant use of credit cards in Japan is ecommerce / online, which is, of course, Stripe's target market. Japanese have on average 2.6 credit cards[1] and spend on average about $3000 a year on those cards. So yes, they're used less often than in the US but they have broad adoption. Japanese people often tell me that Japanese don't like to use credit cards. But ask them, do they have one? (of course! they say)…

> Japanese people have on average 2.6 credit cards[1] and spend on average about $3000 a year on those cards. So yes, they're used less often but they have broad adoption. I've never seen a really detailed report that drills down into where people use them. Most people I know with cards will use them (or are forced to use them) for internet/cell phone payments, then pay for anything they buy on their smartphone throu…

> it's difficult for me to see exactly where it would make my life easier or better

As a shopper it won't. Stripe is not targeted at shoppers but at website developers who want to implement credit card payments in a sane and easy way.

As a user, you should not care whether the website is using Stripe or not (although their UX is usually nicer by default and their development guidelines help the implementation be more secure). The added value to you is that it is easy for the developer to implement credit card payments the right/secure way, therefore giving you more payment options.

Re: Stripe enters Asia with Japan beta launch

#32
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Japanese people have on average 2.6 credit cards[1] and spend on average about $3000 a year on those cards. So yes, they're used less often but they have broad adoption. I've never seen a really detailed report that drills down into where people use them. Most people I know with cards will use them (or are forced to use them) for internet/cell phone payments, then pay for anything they buy on their smartphone throu…

> it's difficult for me to see exactly where it would make my life easier or better As a shopper it won't. Stripe is not targeted at shoppers but at website developers who want to implement credit card payments in a sane and easy way. As a user, you should not care whether the website is using Stripe or not (although their UX is usually nicer by default and their development guidelines help the implementation be more…

[deleted]

Re: Stripe enters Asia with Japan beta launch

#33
Is there any guide about what it takes for Stripe to launch in a country? From this article it seems that it was entirely Stripe's choice to launch in Japan (rising culture of startups apparently) so why not entering the Eastern Europe (Poland. Croatia, Romania etc) too?

Take Romania for example, we would love to have a decent alternative to PayPal, are there any legislation impediments that prevents Stripe from entering here? Also, what exactly are the costs for Stripe when launching in a new country?

Re: Stripe enters Asia with Japan beta launch

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We already accept bank transfers in private beta in the US and would obviously love to expand this to other countries once it's ready. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on what Stripe would offer in Japan in terms of being a bank transfer mediator. Unlike the US, bank transfers here are very simple and routine -- you can perform them at almost any ATM or online, and providing that they're done within busin…

They are also expensive. Usually $6 per transaction IIRC when I used to pay my rent.

Sounds super expensive.

It depends on the bank. Mine gives me 5 free transfers per month and then it's 300¥ per transfer after that.

Re: Stripe enters Asia with Japan beta launch

#35

It's nice to see Stripe coming here, but I wonder how much demand there really is for it. Many (Japanese) people I know would rather stick to bank transfers and payment at convenience stores than use credit cards. All of our company-to-company business is handled with bank transfers. The only reason we have a credit card is for international transactions, I guess. On a semi-related side note, I saw Square out in the…

I wonder how much demand there really is for it. Many (Japanese) people I know would rather stick to bank transfers

Even if that's correct... you're talking about how Japanese people like to pay for things. Stripe entering Japan isn't about allowing people in Japan to pay for things using credit cards; it's about allowing people in Japan to get paid using credit cards.

Sure, Japanese companies will have a higher proportion of Japanese customers, but this will be important if they have any customers from outside of Japan.

Re: Stripe enters Asia with Japan beta launch

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are also expensive. Usually $6 per transaction IIRC when I used to pay my rent.

Here in Thailand, instant bank transfers at any ATMs cost about 25 baht— roughly $0.75 USD per transaction. With such an easy method of sending money between people, it's extremely handy. Compared to what I'm used to in Canada, only thing that comes close is e-interac payments via email which is still a pain.

That still seems expensive to me, since such transfers are free for personal customers in the UK.

Looking at the business charges at Barclay's, the transfer is either 35p ($0.55) or free, depending on the account.

Re: Stripe enters Asia with Japan beta launch

#37
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(I work at Stripe.) I'd think of Stripe as more than just credit card payments. We already accept bank transfers in private beta in the US and would obviously love to expand this to other countries once it's ready. That said, it turns out credit card payments make up 60% of online commerce in Japan [1], so we figured we'd start with that! [1] http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Consumers/Japan-credit-card-...

> We already accept bank transfers in private beta in the US and would obviously love to expand this to other countries once it's ready. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on what Stripe would offer in Japan in terms of being a bank transfer mediator. Unlike the US, bank transfers here are very simple and routine -- you can perform them at almost any ATM or online, and providing that they're done within busin…

In Poland wire transfers are inexpensive (often free), simple, settled three times a day and common for online transactions. There are still thriving intermediaries like PayU. They're popular because they make integration easy and handle various kinds of instant payments under the same API.

Re: Stripe enters Asia with Japan beta launch

#40
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Japanese people often tell me that Japanese don't like to use credit cards. But ask them, do they have one? (of course! they say), do they use it online? (of course! they say). So it's true in real life, not just in this report. Existing online services don't generally give you a lot of choice for payment. "No other choice" != "Like". Credit cards and bank transfers (which in Japan are very simple) have different s…

I would argue that you are usually covered by fraud insurance by default when paying with your credit which is probably not true of bank transfers.

Sure, but it's a different sort of protection, and although it's better in some ways (if you do things right, you can often get your money back for an existing transaction), it doesn't necessarily offer the same peace of mind as the more fundamental protection offered by a "push-only" system (bank transfers) compared to a "pull" system (credit cards).

In particular, a common worry with credit cards is that if you use them often for small transactions, your info will eventually fall into the wrong hands and then all bets are off.

In terms of peace-of-mind, there's a lot to be said for a system where payments are purely user-initiated...

[Presumably some variants on credit-cards can increase the security, e.g. generating a temporary card number when your bank offers such a feature, but these may lose some of the convenience advantages that are credit-cards' main selling point...]

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