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Stripe Inc. announced Monday a five-year deal with Ford Credit, Ford Motor Company’s financial-services arm, to develop new e-commerce applications for Ford customers and dealers in North America and Europe. The agreement also includes processing payments for the automaker’s dealer network and providing Ford dealers with an improved payment-acceptance platform.
Roll out of Stripe’s technology is expected to begin in the second half of 2022, starting in North America.
As part of the deal, Ford will use Stripe Connect to connect consumers with Ford dealers across North America and Europe when they order and reserve vehicles, as well as to facilitate e-commerce transactions, including Ford Pro FinSimple solutions for commercial customers and electric-vehicle charging.
FinSimple solutions include bundled financing for vehicles, services, and electric-vehicle charging. FinSimple is part of the Ford Pro program, which was developed to provide commercial fleets with service options, financing flexibility, and telematics data.
Services Stripe could enable for commercial customers include payments for over-the-air vehicle updates, payments for services such as vehicle charging, and the ability for Ford to bill a greater variety of services on top of vehicle-fleet payments.
In an example, an electrician, driving a company-owned electric vehicle, brings the vehicle home to charge at the end of the day. Once plugged in, the vehicle communicates with the charger, the electricity company, and electrician’s employer, and facilitates repayment to the employee for the charge.
“We have been working with Ford to reimagine our e-commerce payment infrastructure,” Ford Motor Credit Co. chief executive Marion Harris says in a prepared statement. “Stripe’s platform will help us deliver simpler, outstanding payment experiences in any channel customers choose and scale improvements faster.”
The deal is also expected to help Ford drive new efficiency into processing e-commerce payments, such as vehicle ordering, reservations, and digital and charging services. Through Stripe Connect, Ford can direct payments from an online purchase to the correct local Ford or Lincoln dealer, giving dealers and their customers enhanced payment functionality, according to Stripe.
Stripe declined to comment about the potential transaction volume the deal can generate.
“We’re thrilled to be the payments engine under the hood powering the next stage of Ford’s digital transformation,” said Mike Clayville, chief revenue officer at Stripe. “During the pandemic, people got comfortable paying online for groceries, health care, even home haircut advice from barbers. Now, they expect to be able to buy anything and everything online. Ford is making e-commerce possible, too, and scaling that strategy with Stripe’s help.”
