Stripe to move payment processing to Ireland as Brexit looms

30 Oct 2020

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The online payments giant said services would move to Ireland ‘to ensure Brexit has no effect’ on European users.

In preparation for the impact of Brexit, Stripe is moving responsibility for payment processing to Dublin for the majority of its users in Europe.

The company has said that European users, outside of the UK and Switzerland, will now be provided with payment services by its regulated Irish entity, rather than its UK one. Stripe users in the UK or Switzerland will continue to receive payment services from its UK entity.

According to the Irish Times, this change will be introduced from 19 November.

The online payments giant said that the Stripe entity responsible for processing payments in Europe will switch to its Irish regulated entity, Stripe Technology Europe Limited (STEL), which is authorised as an electronic money institution regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

“We are making this change to ensure Brexit has no effect on your use of Stripe’s services,” the company said in an update to its support page.

“The only difference you may notice is that when you receive payouts from Stripe, the statement descriptor on your bank account statement may refer to STEL.”

San Francisco-headquartered Stripe was founded by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison in 2010.

As part of continued European expansion driven by the company’s Dublin office, Stripe was rolled out in five new countries earlier this year. The fintech’s services are now available in 42 countries, more than half of which are in Europe.

Another fintech preparing for the impact of Brexit on its European operations is Revolut. The start-up confirmed earlier this month that it will temporarily move Irish accounts to its Lithuanian business later this year.

Revolut holds an e-money licence in the UK, allowing it to operate in Ireland under EU passporting rules, however that will not be valid post-Brexit. The company said it is applying for an e-money licence from the Central Bank of Ireland, and plans to migrate Irish and other western Europe customers to its Irish entity when the application is authorised.

Sarah Harford was sub-editor of Silicon Republic

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