Stripe Just Made Its First Move Into Formula 1
Hey Payments Fanatic!
Formula 1 has become one of the busiest meeting points for FinTech.
Over the past year, we've seen payment companies, digital banks, and financial platforms line up alongside some of the biggest teams on the grid. They may all be entering the same sport, but they're doing it for very different reasons.
The latest name to join that list is Stripe, which has announced its first-ever sports sponsorship through Mercedes-AMG Petronas. That's what makes this partnership so interesting. Stripe isn't a consumer brand looking for mass-market visibility—it's one of the world's leading payments infrastructure companies. Its priorities are very different from those of a digital bank or consumer FinTech.
Some of the biggest FinTech partnerships in Formula 1 today include:
- Stripe × Mercedes-AMG Petronas
- Mastercard × McLaren Formula 1
- Revolut × Audi F1
- Airwallex × McLaren Formula 1
- Nubank × Mercedes-AMG Petronas
Each partnership has a different objective, but together they point to the same trend: Formula 1 is becoming an increasingly important platform for the FinTech industry.
I've been following this space closely over the past year, and if you're interested in where FinTech and sports are heading, you'll find much more on my website, FinTech in the Arena.
As always, there's much more below.
You'll also find How Payments Companies Performed Last Week, covering the biggest partnerships, product launches, funding rounds, acquisitions, and other developments from across the payments industry.
See what else is shaping Payments. 👇 See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
HOW PAYMENTS COMPANIES PERFORMED LAST WEEK
📈 A snapshot of last week’s stock moves across public Payments companies:
NEWS
🌎 Mastercard has launched Wallet Services, enabling banks, FinTechs, merchants, and digital platforms to build digital wallets for iOS and Android. The launch follows Apple's expanded NFC access, allowing partners to add contactless payments through a single solution across both platforms.
🇬🇧 Wise Group reported 26% year-over-year growth in cross-border volume to $69.3 billion in Q1 FY27, with active customers rising 21% to 11.9 million. Customer holdings increased 31% to $41.2 billion, while transaction revenue grew 27%, net revenue rose 25%, and the average cross-border fee fell to 50bps. Read on
🇨🇱 Wise has launched its international money transfer service in Chile, allowing customers to send Chilean pesos to more than 40 currencies across 160 countries. The launch also includes access to Wise's global account, supporting international payments, multi-currency balances, and local account details.
🇦🇷 Alipay+ has expanded QR payment acceptance across Argentina through the country's Transferencias 3.0 scheme in partnership with PVS. The rollout enables international visitors to pay with Alipay+ partner wallets while allowing merchants to accept cross-border QR payments using existing infrastructure.
🇸🇬 Singapore-founded Paymonade has secured a MiCA licence from Liechtenstein's Financial Market Authority, allowing it to provide regulated crypto-asset services across the 30-member European Economic Area. The company plans to double its European headcount over the next year.
🇳🇱 Dutch FinTech Mollie will invest €100 million in Italy over the next five years to expand its local operations. The investment will fund product, engineering, sales, and customer support teams, strengthening its payment offering and reinforcing its long-term commitment to the Italian market.
🇵🇱 BLIK now available for ChatGPT users. OpenAI users can now pay for ChatGPT subscriptions using BLIK Recurring Payments through Stripe. The integration allows automatic subscription payments while letting users manage active subscriptions through their banking apps, expanding the BLIK recurring payments ecosystem.
🌎 Sav has signed a five-year partnership with Visa, making it the exclusive card network for its card portfolio across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The agreement supports Sav's digital payments expansion and future products, including multi-currency and credit cards, subject to regulatory approval.
🇨🇦 VukaPay has secured Payment Service Provider registration with the Bank of Canada through its Canadian entity, Wirpaid Limited. The milestone strengthens its infrastructure strategy, supporting cross-border payment corridors between Africa, Canada, and other global markets.
🇧🇷 Brazilian FinTech Jeitto is expanding access to digital credit through its app, which combines credit and everyday financial services. Its e-Grana product offers revolving monthly credit from R$50 to R$500. The company has more than 15 million registered customers, 35% of whom accessed formal credit for the first time.
🌎 Circle’s Gateway and Circle Payments Network (CPN) are now available through Fireblocks, enabling institutions to manage USDC across supported blockchains and access near real-time cross-border settlement into local fiat. The integration adds operational and compliance controls for institutional stablecoin use.
🌎 Bitunix has launched the Bitunix Card, a Visa debit card that lets users spend crypto at more than 130 million merchants worldwide. Available through its web and mobile platforms, the card also supports yield on eligible balances and is compatible with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.
🇺🇸 USBC has appointed former Apple Pay and Cash App executive Dave Baldwin as Head of Partnerships. He will lead the commercial growth of the company’s tokenized deposit and digital payments platform, supporting adoption among payment networks and enterprise partners. Read more
🌎 Stripe to make first entry into sport sponsorship via a deal with the Mercedes Formula 1 team, according to SportBusiness. The multi-year agreement is set to begin with the 2027 Formula 1 season, marking Stripe's first sports sponsorship.
🌎 Turnkey and Breez partner to launch non-custodial Bitcoin payment infrastructure, enabling developers to integrate Lightning, Spark, and Bitcoin payments into applications. The solution combines Breez’s payment SDK with Turnkey’s secure enclave signing technology. Read more
🇪🇸 BBVA becomes the first Spanish bank to join Swift’s new global retail scheme, enabling faster, more transparent, and 24/7 cross-border transfers for individuals and SMEs. The bank will initially process inbound transactions from markets including China, Australia, and Türkiye, and will progressively expand the number of international payment corridors.
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