Stripe Announces New AI and Stablecoin Products at Sessions Event

Stripe announced a suite of new products at its annual user event, Sessions. The new offerings are designed to assist businesses in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and stablecoins to accelerate their growth.

During the event, Stripe launched what it described as the world's first AI foundation model for payments. The company also unveiled a major expansion of its money management capabilities, including the introduction of accounts powered by stablecoins.

Patrick Collison, Stripe cofounder and CEO, commented on the significance of these technologies, stating, "There are not one, but two, gale-force tailwinds, well off the Beaufort scale, dramatically reshaping the economic landscape around us: AI and stablecoins." He added that their job is "to pull these technologies forward so businesses on Stripe can benefit from them right away."

The company detailed its Payments Foundation Model, which it stated was built to help users grow faster. The model is trained on tens of billions of transactions and is designed to capture hundreds of subtle signals about each payment that specialized models may not. It is planned to be deployed across Stripe's payments suite with the aim of unlocking additional performance improvements.

Stripe launched Stablecoin Financial Accounts as part of its new money management capabilities powered by stablecoins. These accounts are expected to be accessible to businesses in 101 countries and come approximately three months after Stripe completed its acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge. With these new accounts, businesses will have the ability to hold balances in stablecoins, receive funds through both crypto and traditional fiat rails (such as ACH and SEPA), and send stablecoins almost anywhere globally. The company stated these accounts will allow entrepreneurs in countries with volatile currencies to hedge against inflation and more easily access the global economy. Stripe plans to initially support two dollar-denominated stablecoins, USDC and Bridge's USDB, with plans to add others over time.

Alongside the Stablecoin Financial Accounts, Stripe also announced the capability for businesses to hold and manage balances in multiple currencies – initially starting with USD, EUR, and GBP – within their existing Stripe account. This feature will allow businesses to store money in the currency in which it is received, convert between currencies, and create virtual and physical cards for each currency. Stripe indicated that this multicurrency feature will help multinational companies avoid unnecessary FX fees often incurred when moving money between countries, providing an example of a US-based retailer managing GBP transactions and balances in the UK without FX fees. These multicurrency balances will first be available for businesses in the US and the UK, with a rollout to the Eurozone planned for later this year.

In addition to its focus on AI and stablecoins, Stripe continued to expand and enhance its suite of payments, revenue, and embedded finance tools, announcing over 60 new launches. These included support for 25 new payment methods, bringing the total to over 125; the availability of Klarna on Stripe's consumer payments product Link this summer; Stripe Terminal compatibility with third-party hardware like Verifone; Managed Payments, a new merchant of record offering for market entry; Smart Disputes, an AI tool for disputes handling; expanded Radar support for ACH and SEPA; upgrades to usage-based billing; Stripe Tax availability in 102 countries with tax lifecycle automation; new tools specifically for platforms; the ability for businesses to create managed credit card issuing programs for consumers; and Global Payouts for paying third parties with an email address.