Erica Woods, head of U.S. State & Local Public Policy, Stripe, is an experienced attorney and policy professional with a demonstrated history of working in Government Affairs at both the Federal and State levels.
Skilled in Government/ Stakeholder Engagement, Communications, and Public Policy. Public and private sector experience. Graduate of Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.
Connect with Erica on LinkedIn.
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Broadcasting live from Fintech South 2025 at the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Now. Here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live from Fintech South 2025. So excited to be talking to my next guest, Erica Woods with stripe. Welcome. Good morning. Well, for the two people out there who aren’t familiar with Stripe, why don’t you give you that kind of elevator pitch?
Erica Woods: Sure. Um. Stripe was founded in 2011 by two Irish brothers, and we are a global technology company that essentially builds economic infrastructure for the internet. Um, so we work with companies of all sizes to help accept payments online, to grow their platform and to expand globally.
Lee Kantor: So how’s your presence here in Atlanta?
Erica Woods: It’s amazing. I think this year is probably our most exciting year yet. We have over 50 employees throughout the state of Georgia, and just next month were opening up a brand new office in the old fourth Ward ward, which is only about ten minutes from where we’re sitting right now. So super excited about that. We’re members of Tag. We have been for two years now. This is our second year sponsoring this awesome event. So super, super happy to be in this financial services ecosystem here in Atlanta.
Lee Kantor: So talk about kind of the decision making to kind of go into Atlanta market and to embrace it in the manner that you have and really, you know, kind of put your money where your mouth is investing in Tag and fintech.
Erica Woods: So, yeah, I think the talent here is pretty unmatched. Um, economically, Atlanta is growing both in economic activity and in population, which is just so attractive for talent that wants to come here, live here and work here. Financial services is certainly a hotbed here in Atlanta, too. They call it Transaction Alley for a reason. I think Mayor Dickens, in his opening statement yesterday, said two thirds of all credit card transactions flow through Atlanta daily. So for stripe to just be a seat at that table amongst so many powerful financial services players were happy to be here.
Lee Kantor: So are you looking to hire?
Erica Woods: That’s where we are. And we actually have open roles right now on our website that we’re only going to fill with Atlanta based employees and colleagues. So definitely check out those opportunities.
Lee Kantor: So is that something that’s part of the stripe culture that when you enter a market, you want to kind of immerse yourself and invest in the market by not only, you know, joining organizations like Index Out, but also hiring locals in order to grow stripe in that market.
Erica Woods: Absolutely. What better way to foster a relationship and a great office with a local, homegrown talent and also incredible organizations that want to move businesses forward? We’re so, so grateful for Tag for being one of those organizations.
Lee Kantor: So when you partner with Fintech South and tagging you, you’re sponsoring, obviously, one of the main sponsors of this event. What does it look like from an employee standpoint on how you expect them to interact with the community? Like what are your expectations?
Erica Woods: So we actually have about ten employees that are attending today. We have one in particular that’s speaking on a panel in about an hour on the modernization of payments. We were at events yesterday, also with the Metro Atlanta Chamber. We’ve been at dinners, so we really want to be an active member of the community. So often, I think companies come into a city and just set up shop and work. That’s not really our culture. We want to actually show that we’re a part of Atlanta. We want to, you know, do our part to move the industry forward. And I think being active is the best way to do that.
Lee Kantor: So what kind of trends are you seeing? As you know, we’re in the what the third quarter of this year? What are you seeing right, uh, ahead for stripe and where the opportunity lies.
Erica Woods: Yeah. So I think you’re going to hear a ton about artificial intelligence during this conversation. I’m actually going to highlight another one that we’re really bullish on stablecoins. We are really, really seeing our merchants come to stripe with even more innovative ways to make payments. Simple, cost effective, stable, consistent stablecoins is such an interesting way to move money across markets globally. And I think regulators, legislators are warming up to what stablecoins can bring to the table, especially from the markets that just don’t have access to payment systems like some areas do.
Lee Kantor: And then who is kind of the target consumer of stablecoins in your mind?
Erica Woods: Yeah, I definitely think it’s the underbanked, the underrepresented people that do a lot of international business that want to know that the value of their dollar I’ll use, for example, is the same across markets. So really everyone can benefit from a good solid stablecoin option as a payment option.
Lee Kantor: And then how do you kind of, uh, kind of articulate the opportunity for those that constituency?
Erica Woods: Yeah. We let them know that stablecoins cryptocurrency is not something to kind of be afraid of. Companies like stripe are continuing to work with regulators to do things in the right way. Your money will be safe. It won’t kind of disappear in the ether. And I’m so grateful that they’re trusting this. Even looking in DC, you know, it’s really hard to pass legislation in DC. And they just passed the Genius Act, which regulates stablecoins. That’s pretty impressive. It shows the future of where financial services is going, and we’re right behind it as well.
Lee Kantor: So now where do you see kind of crypto in terms of being a commodity versus being a currency?
Erica Woods: Oh what a good question. I think the way that you can move crypto now, it’s looking more currency. Like to me, people want to be able to make purchases with their various digital wallets. So, you know, if you can move money and make a purchase, it’s a currency.
Lee Kantor: And then you’re just making it easier for them to execute that without the kind of the clunky way it had been previously.
Erica Woods: Exactly.
Lee Kantor: And then when you’re here at this event, what are some of the things that you’re looking forward to most throughout the day?
Erica Woods: Yeah, well, of course I’m biased. I’m excited about my colleagues channel on modernizing payments. I’ll actually go back a little bit to yesterday. Yesterday the opening note was with Mayor Dickens, the mayor of Atlanta, and talk about a charismatic person. He was so excited to be here to show up for fintech. He quoted so many great statistics about the companies that are here, the growth that he expects to see. He just really doubled down on supporting this industry. And it’s hard to get a mayor to go to events. He does have a day job, so for him to make the time in the middle of a Tuesday to welcome visitors to his city and folks that are homegrown here really set a mark for the week. It was incredible.
Lee Kantor: So what does stripe need more of and how can we house?
Erica Woods: Oh my gosh, what do we need more of? I think the the support from Atlanta from the community has been great. Send us some talent. We want to keep growing. We want to fill our offices with homegrown folks. So definitely look on our website. Continue to follow us as we open up that office next month. And we’re excited to hire and have local talent in that office.
Lee Kantor: Well, Erica, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate it.
Erica Woods: Thanks for having me. Have a great time.
