You can now use Stripe to programmatically send bank transfers to anyone with a US bank account. This makes it easier to build businesses like Lyft or Exec that involve sending many payments to others. You can use the API to transfer money to vendors, service providers, sellers, or anyone else you need to pay as part of your business.
To use it, charge your customers as you normally would. Once you’ve enabled transfers, you’ll be able to pay out to any number of accounts instead of having the funds automatically deposited in your main bank account.
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Lyft and Sidecar use the spare capacity of existing cars and drivers to provide transportation. Shoptiquesis creating a central hub for one-of-a-kind inventory from small boutiques. Exec creates a market for on-demand labor. These, and many others, are bringing networked efficiency to previously analog systems and are creating new kinds of marketplaces.
These marketplaces require payments on two sides. As ever, you have to charge the customer, but as the provider shifts from being a single entity to a multiplicity of suppliers, you also need to coordinate complex payouts.
