Middle East prepares to get Stripe-d as payments giant moves into UAE

Irish-American payments giant Stripe has moved into the United Arab Emirates, its first touchpoint in the Middle East.

The move comes after the company raised $600 million at a $95 billion valuation in March. Stripe processes hundreds of billions of dollars each year for millions of businesses worldwide.

The global tech firm said in a statement on Monday (Apr 5) that UAE-based businesses will be able to accept online payments and make payouts to customers around the world.

Stripe customers in other countries will in turn be able to make their products and services available in the UAE.

The firm ran a pre-launch beta testing in the UAE that involved companies including Aceplace, ChatFood and WeKeep.

Stripe said over 10,000 companies in the UAE have registered interest to use its services. It will initially queue invites to manage demand levels during the first weeks in the UAE.

It forecasts UAE e-commerce to add another $10 billion over the next two years, from an estimated $18.5 billion of transactions in 2020.

Most of Stripe's business is in Europe: 31 of the 42 countries that use its platform are on the continent. It is also present in Africa via Nigerian tech start-up Paystack.

The company said last month it is building out its global payments and treasury network this year, and will expand into other countries including the UAE, Brazil, India, Indonesia and Thailand.

Stripe is based in Dubai Internet City in the UAE.

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