Stripe Terminal’s expanding ecosystem: New partnerships bring flexibility and innovation to unified commerce

Stripe Terminal widens its network of hardware, POS, and processor partners

Stripe Terminal is expanding beyond its own ecosystem to support a more flexible range of third-party hardware, point-of-sale (POS) systems, and payment processors. The company announced a series of new partnerships aimed at enterprise use cases where businesses already have established tech stacks or want to mix and match components. The updates include work with independent gateway FreedomPay, new direct POS connectors, deeper support for Android-based hardware, and pilots exploring new NFC-based "Tap" experiences.

FreedomPay partnership for enterprise-grade flexibility

FreedomPay is an independent payment gateway known for its commerce orchestration capabilities, which go beyond payments to include loyalty programs, private label and gift cards, and customer analytics. Through the partnership, Stripe's payments suite—including Payments, fraud protection, and authorization optimizations—can work alongside over 1,000 FreedomPay-supported POS systems.

That means businesses can keep their existing POS and hardware setups while optionally using Stripe for in-person payment processing alongside other processors. This setup offers some protection against vendor lock-in, making it easier to swap POS or hardware providers later without ripping out a payments stack. For large operators that run multiple lines of business—say, a hotel group adding restaurant brands or a parent company with several retail banners—the integration also provides consolidated reporting across channels, business lines, and payment processors.

"We are excited for this partnership to combine FreedomPay's advanced payment tech functionality with Stripe's industry-leading payments reliability and innovation," said Chris Kronenthal, president of FreedomPay.

New direct POS connectors

A separate avenue for businesses that prefer a full-stack approach is Stripe's list of connectors, which are direct integrations between the Terminal SDK and third-party POS or property management systems. The newest additions are connectors for Cegid and Oracle Xstore, joining earlier releases for Adobe, Oracle OPERA, Retail Realm, Tulip, Mercaux, and Erply.

Colombian retailer Tennis used the Cegid connector to launch its unified online and in-person payments solution with Stripe in under two weeks after expanding into the United States. Before that, the company's store associates had to manually enter amounts to charge because the terminal hardware wasn't integrated with its Cegid POS. "Switching to Stripe has greatly reduced friction for both our customers and sales representatives," said José Fernando Arango Jiménez, IT director at Tennis.

Android hardware and composable checkout

Stripe is also broadening hardware support beyond traditional EMV-certified readers and peripherals like registers and printers. Tap to Pay on Android enables payments directly through contactless technology on compatible Android phones and tablets—useful for untethered mobile checkout in enterprises and for startups that want to accept payments on devices they already own.

Working with manufacturers including Samsung, Elo, and SUNMI, Stripe aims to enable more innovative form factors, such as touch-screen kiosks for semiattended checkout and devices with customer-facing displays. The flexibility is already in use: Stripe customers Oddle, HitPay, Snackpass, and Lopay run Tap to Pay on Android across more than 50 Android devices. Qromo, a management software provider for hospitality and retail, recently adopted the technology for use cases like food trucks and hotels.

"We are beginning to see our users leverage the newest and most innovative Android products on the market to accept in-person payments with Stripe, including the newly released SUNMI V3 MIX that allows businesses to manage orders and take payments seamlessly on one device," said Francesco Basile, CEO and founder of Qromo.

NFC beyond payments

Stripe is also exploring NFC applications that go beyond standard contactless payments, working with card networks on pilot "Tap" experiences:

• Tap to Add. Customers tap their card to a mobile phone to save it for future purchases.
• Tap to Own. Customers complete a purchase by tapping their card to a phone, without manually entering card details—useful when no mobile wallet is involved.
• Tap to Verify. A tap-to-card verification step for flagged online or in-app transactions, confirming the customer has physical possession of the card. DoorDash has partnered with Stripe on a pilot for this.

These features are still in a limited pilot with select users and availability is expected to differ by region. Stripe says it will share more at future events.