E-commerce & IT Export · Business & Trade
Stripe in Pakistan: why you can't open an account here, how Stripe Atlas and Global Payouts work, and alternatives like Payoneer, Safepay and Paddle, with fees.
AI Summary
Stripe isn't available in Pakistan as of October 2026: Pakistan is not on Stripe's list of supported countries, so a Pakistan-based business can't open an account. Stripe Atlas forms a US company for USD 500 plus USD 100 a year, and that company can use Stripe, with US duties attached. US and UK businesses can pay Pakistani recipients in rupees through Stripe Global Payouts. Alternatives include Payoneer card payments (up to 3.99% + USD 0.49), Safepay (2.9% + Rs 30) and Paddle or Lemon Squeezy (5% + 50 cents).
Stripe isn’t available in Pakistan. As of October 2026, Pakistan is not on Stripe’s list of supported countries, so a business based here can’t open a Stripe account in its own name. The workarounds are a company in a supported country (for example through Stripe Atlas, USD 500), or a different service: Payoneer for clients abroad, a local gateway such as Safepay for Pakistani cards, or Paddle or Lemon Squeezy for software.
Stripe for a Pakistan-based business, as of October 2026
Not available
Stripe's global availability page lists the countries it supports. Pakistan isn't one of them; India and Indonesia are in preview.
No: Stripe’s availability page says it is “currently supported in the following countries/regions, with more to come”. Pakistan isn’t on that list as of October 2026. The UAE, UK, US, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are.
For businesses outside the list, the same page offers Stripe Treasury with stablecoins to hold money, and says plainly: “Payments not supported yet”. So you can’t take card payments through Stripe from a Pakistan account.
Stripe hasn’t published a reason. In October 2023 the caretaker IT minister, Umar Saif, said Pakistan would hear good news about PayPal and Stripe in “four to six weeks”. We found no launch, and no official update, since then.
A Profit opinion piece in April 2026 points to local limits. It says Pakistan has no locally recognised payment company that can act as a merchant of record, and that Visa and Mastercard don’t let Pakistani payment companies acquire international card payments that way. That is the writer’s view, not a statement from Stripe or SBP.
Stripe accounts belong to a business in a supported country. If you own a company in the US, UK or another listed country, that company can apply, and Stripe runs its own checks.
One route is Stripe Atlas, which forms a US company. Incorporation-service blogs also sell UK company routes and say “Stripe is available to citizens of Pakistan”. Stripe’s own page doesn’t say that, so we follow Stripe: it’s the company’s country that counts, not your passport.
Stripe says Atlas lets you “incorporate a US company from anywhere in the world”. As of October 2026:
| What | Stripe Atlas |
|---|---|
| Company type | Delaware LLC or Delaware C corporation |
| Price | USD 500, including state filing fees and the company tax ID (EIN) |
| Registered agent | USD 100 a year after the first year, renews automatically |
| EIN without a US Social Security Number | 10 to 35 business days after incorporation |
| Taking payments before the EIN | US card payments only, payouts up to USD 100,000 |
| To activate Stripe payments | A US phone number |
| Delaware LLC tax | USD 300 a year, USD 200 penalty if late |
Atlas refunds its fee if it can’t support your business. It also lists restricted business types, so check these before you apply.
Only one way, and the sender controls it. Stripe Global Payouts lets a US or UK business pay people who don’t have a Stripe account. Stripe lists Pakistan as a recipient country, paid in rupees by wire, for both individuals and companies.
As an individual you give your email, name, address (not a PO box) and ID. Ask your client whether they use Global Payouts; you can’t sign up for it from Pakistan yourself.
Marketplaces use Stripe Connect, and Express accounts, to pay sellers. We found no Stripe page saying Pakistan residents can hold one. If a platform pays you through Stripe, ask it which payout route it uses for Pakistan.
Stripe’s merchant-of-record service, Managed Payments, also doesn’t accept businesses based in Pakistan. Its list covers Canada, the US, most of Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.
It depends on who is paying you. The fees below are each provider’s own published rates as of October 2026.
| You want to | Option | Published fee |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice a client abroad who pays by card | Payoneer | Up to 3.99% + USD 0.49 |
| Invoice a US client who pays by bank debit | Payoneer (ACH) | 1% |
| Take card payments from Pakistani customers | Local gateway, e.g. Safepay | 2.9% + Rs 30 (+0.3% for international cards) |
| Sell software or digital products worldwide | Paddle | 5% + 50 cents |
| Sell software or digital products worldwide | Lemon Squeezy | 5% + 50 cents, plus small fees outside the US |
Payoneer then charges 1.2% to 4% to withdraw to a bank, by its pricing page updated 1 January 2026. Our Payoneer guide covers withdrawals through HBL and Meezan.
Paddle and Lemon Squeezy are a “merchant of record”: they sell to your customer, handle the card payment and pay you. Paddle says it works with software businesses anywhere except a list of unsupported countries, and Pakistan isn’t on that list. Lemon Squeezy lists Pakistan for bank payouts; Stripe bought it in July 2024.
When foreign earnings reach your Pakistani bank as export proceeds, FBR’s rate card (updated to 30 June 2026) sets withholding tax under section 154A. It is 0.25% for software, IT or IT-enabled services by people registered with the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), for tax years 2024 to 2029, and 1% in other cases.
We couldn’t confirm how a bank treats each route, such as a Paddle payout or a transfer from your own US company. Our freelancer tax guide and PSEB registration guide cover filing and the lower rate.
SBP changed its rules in July 2024, as Profit reported. Export-oriented IT companies may take shares in foreign companies or open offices abroad, capped at 80% of equity for unlisted companies. A company with no exports, or too little in its dollar account, may send up to the higher of its three-year average net profit or USD 100,000.
This applies to companies, not to individual freelancers. Your bank reports these transactions to SBP within three working days.
More guides: freelancer payment methods, Shopify payment gateways in Pakistan, software export from Pakistan, E-commerce & IT Export.
No. As of October 2026 Pakistan is not on Stripe's list of supported countries, so a business based in Pakistan can't open a Stripe account in its own name.
Stripe says Atlas forms US companies for founders anywhere in the world, for USD 500 plus USD 100 a year after the first year. The Stripe account then belongs to the US company, which brings US duties such as Delaware's USD 300 annual LLC tax.
Only through Stripe Global Payouts, where a US or UK business pays you in rupees by wire. You can't link a Pakistani bank account to a Stripe account of your own.
For clients abroad, Payoneer lets them pay your invoice by card for up to 3.99% + USD 0.49. For Pakistani customers, local gateways such as Safepay charge 2.9% + Rs 30. For software sold worldwide, Paddle and Lemon Squeezy act as the seller for 5% + 50 cents a sale.
There is no date. In October 2023 the caretaker IT minister said news on PayPal and Stripe would come in four to six weeks, but we found no launch or official update since.
Photo by Ze Vieira on Unsplash
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