Stripe quietly tests Airwallex rival with startups ahead of full Australian launch

Stripe quietly tests Airwallex rival with startups ahead of full Australian launch

A small group of Australian startup founders and executives have been granted access to Stripe Treasury ahead of a wider launch.

US payments behemoth Stripe is quietly trialing its business banking challenger brand Treasury among Australian startup executives and fintech founders as it prepares to take on the major banks and fintechs like Airwallex and Wise later this year.

Capital Brief can reveal the USD159 billion ($230 billion) fintech has begun enrolling a small group of local startup executives in a trial program as it expands well beyond payments processing and makes a play to become the key financial operating system for digital business.

Clients will be able to receive, send and hold multiple currencies and stablecoins side by side on a single platform instead of relying on separate bank accounts, allowing instant settlement and free transfers with other Stripe businesses, like Shopify.

Already live in the US and UK, Stripe is building out Treasury with an eye on Australia and Canada in the coming months, targeting 15 currencies by the end of the year.