Ex-Bank of England governor Mark Carney joins payments firm Stripe's board

Payments company is in the process of a funding round that could value it at over $100bn

“The very nature of commerce has changed over the past decade,” Mark Carney said following his appointment to payments company Stripe's board. Reuters

A former governor of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, has been appointed to the board of Stripe amid reports that the financial technology business is preparing a new funding round.

“The very nature of commerce has changed over the past decade,” Mr Carney said in a statement posted on Stripe’s website, adding that he sees the internet as the engine for strong and inclusive economic growth.

Mr Carney, who is the United Nations special envoy for climate action, will help guide Stripe in its efforts to enable more businesses to bring funding to emerging carbon removal technologies, according to the statement.

The appointment, reported earlier by the Sunday Times, comes as Stripe prepares for a new primary funding round that could value the company in excess of $100 billion, Forbes said last week.

Stripe, which sells software allowing businesses to accept online payments, has been a beneficiary of the e-commerce boom accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. The company was valued at $36bn as recently as last April after its last funding round.

It was founded by Irish brothers John and Patrick Collison in 2010 and now counts companies including Amazon and Zoom Video Communications among its customers. The brothers each have a net worth of $4.3bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The company has recently branched out to offer bank accounts to businesses through e-commerce providers, working with banks including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Barclays.