Founded in 2010 by Irish entrepreneurs, Stripe is one of the most valuable Fintech startups. It was worth over $9 billion in 2016. It allows merchants to receive payments over the internet through credit cards and other channels. Stripe provides websites with an easy-to-use API, with which websites can integrate payment processing. In addition, Stripe offers anti-fraud tools and banking infrastructure. Its major competition is PayPal, which has long been established on the market.
Ant Financial is an affiliate of Alibaba Group, a Chinese conglomerate with e-commerce, retail, and other businesses. It has a market capitalization of $60 billion, which makes it the most valuable Fintech company in the world. Its main products include Alipay, a mobile and online payment platform and Yu’e Bao, a money market fund. The company also operates a credit rating system Sesame Credit.