Ford will use Stripe to facilitate transactions for vehicle orders and reservations, handle financing options for Ford’s commercial customers, and route a customer’s payments to the correct local Ford or Lincoln dealer.
The joint venture is one of the biggest client wins yet for Stripe, and is part of Ford’s turnaround plan under CEO Jim Farley.
“As part of the Ford+ plan for growth and value creation, we are making strategic decisions about where to bring in providers with robust expertise and where to build the differentiated, always-on experiences our customers will value,” said Marion Harris, CEO of Ford’s financial services arm, Ford Motor Credit Company.
“Stripe has developed strong expertise in user experiences that will help provide easy, intuitive and secure payment processes for our customers.”
Ford plans to begin rolling out Stripe’s technology in the second half of 2022, first in North America and later in Europe.
Stripe, one of the most promising new tech start-ups, with a valuation of $95 billion, recently raised $600 million that it would use to expand in Europe.
The company provides an online service that makes it simple for businesses of all kinds to accept payments over the internet.
“During the pandemic, people got comfortable paying online for groceries, health care, even home haircut advice from barbers,” said Mike Clayville, Stripe’s chief revenue officer.
“Now, they expect to be able to buy anything and everything online.”
Stripe, like its other competitors in financial tech services, Adyen and Checkout.com, makes money by taking a small cut on each transaction it processes.
The online payment processor currently serves clients such as Shopify, Salesforce, and Deliveroo.
The Ford+ restructuring plan, an electrification and growth strategy into which the company plans to invest $30 billion by 2025, will be assisted by the venture between the two companies.
Ford’s market capitalization hit $100 billion last week for the first time, as investors appeared highly supportive of the car manufacturer’s electric vehicle strategy and its Ford+ restructuring plan.
The automaker was the best-performing auto stock in 2021, beating Tesla, General Motors, and even new hot startup Rivian.
Ford expects Stripe to be a key part of its product and service tech stack and it should help create more efficiency in a range of e-commerce payments, including charging services.
A robust digital payment platform is essential for operating its new onboard services.
Stripe, meanwhile, is still privately held, with much speculation about if or when the company will go public.
