Stripe’s annual letter to its community carries a growth theme, with mention of AI, stablecoins, and investments that pay off.

Stripe, the financial infrastructure platform for businesses, shared that it processed US$1.4 trillion in total payment volume in 2024, up 38% from the prior year and equivalent to around 1.3% of global GDP. This suggests a huge growth potential for Asia Pacific, which accounts for 40% of global GDP, underscored by the cross-border commerce in the region.

In their annual letter to the Stripe community, cofounders Patrick and John Collison attributed the rapid growth to long-standing investments in machine learning and artificial intelligence that “continue to pay off, increasing revenue for existing customers, encouraging more businesses to switch to Stripe, and helping new companies reach significant scale unprecedentedly quickly[…]

As a key nexus in global commerce, Asia Pacific will drive the global acceleration in money movement in 2025, thanks to new technology, transformative business models, and cutting-edge digital payments being built here. – Paul Harapin

In each of the last six years, Stripe has reinvested a much higher proportion of our earnings in R&D than any comparable company. We believe this ability will prove particularly important in the coming years, as stablecoins, AI, and other forces reshape the landscape. Stripe’s growth to date is evidence of the intense market demand for programmable financial services. The associated transformation is still early.”

Paul Harapin

Paul Harapin, Stripe’s Asia Pacific Chief Revenue Officer said, “As a key nexus in global commerce, Asia Pacific will drive the global acceleration in money movement in 2025, thanks to new technology, transformative business models, and cutting-edge digital payments being built here. Last year, we shared cross-border payment volume in Asia on Stripe grew more than 30% in the prior year and Asian businesses processing US$1 million or more in payment volume on the platform jumped up 28% year-on-year. With businesses on Stripe growing seven times faster than companies in the S&P 500, we expect the momentum in APAC to continue unabated into this year and beyond.”

AI investments fuel revenue growth for businesses on Stripe

With half of the Fortune 100 now using Stripe, the company continues to attract some of Asia Pacific’s largest businesses–including Nvidia, NewsCorp Australia, and Toyota–as they seek to reinvent their business models and grow revenue from existing activity.

Stripe has invested in machine learning models that are delivering striking revenue and performance uplifts for its users. Singapore’s ridesharing company TADA’s adoption of Stripe Adaptive Acceptance increased its authorization rates by 2.8%, and they now process 98% of all transactions, while Forbes saw a 23% boost in revenue with Stripe managing its subscription payments. Carsharing marketplace Turo captured US$114 million in additional annual revenue with Stripe’s Optimized Checkout Suite.

The AI boom is happening on Stripe

Stripe is already the revenue engine of the AI era, with 78% of the Forbes AI 50 building on its platform (including all of the AI 50 that are currently selling a product online). Stripe’s data reveals that top AI startups are building businesses at record pace, hitting $5 million in annualized revenue 13 months faster than comparable earlier software companies. Cursor raced to over US$100 million in recurring revenue in just 3 years, Lovable hit US$17 million ARR in 3 months, and Bolt reached $20 million ARR in just 2 months.

AI startups in the Asia Pacific are at the forefront of delivering innovative solutions globally. More than 40 million users worldwide generate videos on InVideo’s AI-powered platform through a range of plans, from a free version to subscription-based paid tiers. By working with Stripe, InVideo generated an increase of more than US$1 million in revenue across its Singapore and US entities. Simultaneously, thanks to the Radar for Fraud Teams, it saved over US$1 million in one year by accurately identifying and blocking fraudulent transactions.

InVideo, a Stripe user

AI-powered cross-border commerce remains a key driver for companies in the Asia Pacific. In 2024, Stripe introduced a new Adaptive Pricing feature, which localizes prices across 150 markets including several in Asia such as Singapore and Malaysia, allowing customers to pay in their local currency. Businesses that use this feature experience a 17.8% increase in cross-border revenue and an 8% uplift in conversion, on average.

With AI set to change how online commerce works, Stripe is also optimizing its products for AI agents. Over 700 agent startups launched on Stripe last year, and the company revealed that its toolkit for developers building AI agents is already being downloaded thousands of times a week, including by ElevenLabs, Perplexity, and Payman.

The best way to build with stablecoins

As tangible uses for stablecoins emerge, and transaction volumes surge, Stripe is already helping some of the world’s largest organizations to assemble stablecoin strategies.

Last year, the company acquired stablecoin orchestration platform Bridge, which is already used by organizations like SpaceX to repatriate funds from Starlink sales in Argentina, Nigeria, and beyond; DolarApp to help individuals receive USD payments from payroll providers; and the US Government.

“Improvements to the basic usability of money make economies more prosperous. Consider the transitions from coins to banknotes, from the gold standard to fiat currency, and from paper instruments to electronic payments. Stablecoins are a new branch of the money tree. Such transitions occur with some regularity over the centuries, and the effects tend to be large,” wrote the Stripe cofounders.

Stripe has also announced that it signed agreements with investors to provide liquidity to current and former Stripe employees through a tender offer at a $91.5B (€87.3B) valuation. Alongside investors, Stripe will also repurchase shares.

For more information, Stripe’s full annual letter is available online: https://stripe.com/en-sg/annual-updates/2024

(This article was adapted from a public document)