Stripe Gears Up For Ecosystem Integration, Announces OpenChannel Purchase

Digital payments giant Stripe is getting its house in order. In the wake of other significant partnerships and acquisitions, Stripe appears to be preparing to develop a fully integrated financial ecosystem. To that end, the company has announced its acquisition of third-party app development marketplace platform OpenChannel for an undisclosed sum.

By all accounts, the acquisition is a shrewd move for a company looking to implement full ecosystem integration. OpenChannel has gained a stellar reputation as a developer of app marketplace software for major businesses like Cisco and SalesLoft. Following the acquisition, OpenChannel’s employees will join Stripe’s remote hubs to begin work on ecosystem integrations, according to a joint statement put out by the companies.

App development is not the only avenue that Stripe is pursuing in this next phase of its expansion. Recently, the company announced a partnership with digital transaction optimization platform Spreedly, hoping to harness the North Carolina firm’s tech to fight fraud in its billions in annual transactions using machine learning. Stripe has also made waves with its reconsideration of enabling payments through Bitcoin, though the company has still been cagey about any definite plans to reinstate this service anytime soon.