In today’s rapidly evolving payments industry, modernization has become paramount. Companies seek faster, more secure and personalized payment solutions to meet the increasing demands of consumers, small businesses and enterprises alike.

This drive for modernization is transforming payments, enabling businesses to innovate and iterate continuously. The collaboration between Stripe and Amazon Web Services Inc. exemplifies this shift.

“We’ve now been in this space for over a decade. We’ve helped over 13,000 platforms embed payments in some way,” said Aakash Sahney, head of product, Stripe Connect. “Embedded payments opportunities are really everywhere. We see companies like Shopify, Lightspeed, Housecall Pro — software platforms that integrate payments for their users is a big category for us — marketplaces like Lyft or DoorDash, as well as large enterprises like BMW integrating payments to smooth the experience for their users, so we’ve had a ton of experience across a ton of different industries.” 

Sahney and Mark Smith, head of payments business and market development at Amazon Web Services Inc., spoke with theCUBE Research Principal Analyst Shelly Kramer, during an exclusive interview on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed payments modernization and how Stripe leverages AWS’ cloud technology to power payments. (* Disclosure below.)

Payments modernization at the forefront

Modernization plays a critical role in the payments sector, addressing the needs of both long-established payment companies and newer fintech startups. The focus is on building solutions that meet today’s demands while being adaptable for the future. Customers increasingly expect faster, more secure and personalized payment options, and AWS works closely with its customers and partners to deliver these modernized, innovative solutions.

“The overarching theme that we’re hearing these days is all around payments modernization,” Smith said. “Whether we’re talking to a payment company that’s been around for decades or centuries even or a fintech that just started up … we work really closely with those payment customers and partners to make sure that they’re not only building for today, but also building for tomorrow.”

This emphasis on modernization is driven by the need to cater to customer demands for fast, secure and personalized payments. Customers expect their payment experiences to be seamless and efficient, and AWS supports this by enabling businesses to innovate continuously. Whether it’s a consumer, small business or enterprise, everyone wants tailored payment solutions that meet their specific needs, according to Smith. AWS helps its clients to not only meet current demands, but also to anticipate and prepare for future requirements, ensuring a robust and adaptable payment infrastructure.

“The biggest theme we have with customers is how do they envision those fast, secure, customized products or applications for their customers where they want to be, and then continuing to innovate and iterate on those using the data that they’ve picked up along the way to continue to please those customers,” Smith said.

With the help of AWS’ infrastructure, Stripe can offer its clients scalable and flexible payments, according to Smith.

Stripe’s strategic use of scalable technology

Stripe and AWS empower businesses with  flexible and modern payment solutions. Stripe has learned the diverse needs of its clients and offers various configurations to meet these needs.

“One of the things we’ve learned … is that the needs are not one-size-fits-all,” Sahney said. “When it comes to embedding payments, we give platforms the ability to invest in the areas that they really want to invest in and offload the rest to Stripe.”

This flexibility is crucial for platforms looking to provide a seamless and integrated payment experience to their users. With the help of AWS, Stripe meets the diverse needs of its clients, Sahney added.

“If you want to build your own dashboard experience for your merchants and have a really tightly integrated experience but you want Stripe to handle risk management, you can do that,” he said. “Or if you want to take control of pricing but don’t want to deal with risk management, again, you can do that.”

By leading with innovation, Stripe is able to support its clients’ ambitions beyond just payments. Many of the company’s customers aim to offer a broader range of financial services, such as treasury solutions, which allow platforms to provide financial accounts that their users can earn yields with. This capability demonstrates how Stripe, powered by AWS infrastructure, can help businesses expand their financial offerings and enhance their overall service portfolio.

Here’s theCUBE’s complete interview with Aakash Sahney and Mark Smith:

(* Disclosure: Amazon Web Services sponsored this segment of theCUBE.)

Image: SiliconANGLE / DALL-E