Main Highlights:
- Zepto, an Australian real-time account-to-account (A2A) merchant payments network, said Monday that it had raised a Series A round of AUD 25 million (USD 18.8 million) headed by AirTree Ventures and Decade Partners.
- The company, which does not disclose its revenue or worth, claims to process more than $ 4 billion in payment volume each month and wants to process more than AUD 50 billion this year.
- Payments between bank accounts that are data-rich and real-time in nature are the way of the future, and Australian officials have recognized this with the implementation of NPP’s PayTo, which will eventually replace direct debit in approximately three to five years, according to Chris Jewell, CEO of Zepto.
Zepto, an Australian real-time account-to-account (A2A) merchant payments network, said Monday that it had secured an AUD 25 million (USD 18.8 million) Series A round led by AirTree Ventures and Decade Partners. The instant payment platform enables retailers to make, manage, and receive safe payments by linking directly from the payer’s bank to the merchant’s bank.
The Series A financing follows the company’s tenfold year-over-year sales growth since its inception in 2018. The firm, which does not offer a reference point for its growth or value, claims to handle more than $ 4 billion in payment volume each month and plans to process more than AUD 50 billion this year.
According to the NPP website, over 100 Australian institutions, including banks, fintech firms, and credit unions, use NPP, Australia’s open-access infrastructure for quick payment. PayTo is a new digital solution from NPP that enables merchants and enterprises to make real-time payments from their customers’ bank accounts.
Zepto was the first non-bank to be approved as an NPP-connected institution in October. This implies that Zepto’s clients will be able to connect directly to the NPP’s PayTo service, which is scheduled to launch in mid-2022.
Australian Payment Preferences
Data-rich, real-time payments between bank accounts are the way of the future, and Australian officials have recognized this with the implementation of NPP’s PayTo, which will eventually replace direct debit in around three to five years, according to Chris Jewell, CEO of Zepto. Payment preferences of merchants and consumers are evolving away from costly legacy payment options such as credit cards and sluggish, blind conventional direct debit.
While an entire generation of customers will never be authorized for a credit card or a purchase now, pay later offering, bank accounts are widespread. Jewell continued that payments made directly between them are a straightforward, clean, and efficient method to pay for goods.
According to Jewell, real-time payments made via Australia’s NPP accounted for 31% of all account-to-account transfers in October 2021. He noted that the cumulative value of NPP payments made since the program’s inception in November 2017 was around 2.6 billion. Jewell stated that account-to-account (A2A) transactions, which relate to transactions between bank accounts, do not require a card or PIN. While Visa or Mastercard enables most debit cards, A2A eliminates them as a middleman.
According to FIS’s 2020 global payment study, A2A payments would account for 20% of all e-commerce transactions by 2023, overtaking credit and debit cards.
Zepto provides financial services to hundreds of Australian businesses, including lenders, trading/crypto platforms, third-party processors, real estate technology firms, and travel and tourist providers. Among its customers are Binance Australia, Superhero, Novatti Group, Nimble, Powerplay, Till Payments, Bluestone, Rentbetter, Biz Pay, and Get Boys.
Jewell said that the business will utilize the new capital to expand its functionality on top of the NPP’s pay to framework and accelerate its worldwide expansion, beginning in New Zealand, due to increased demand for Zepto’s infrastructure in the area. Zepto wishes to enter the United States after New Zealand.
The global payments environment is undergoing its most significant transformation in decades, as open banking and real-time bank-to-bank transfers are revolutionizing how we pay and get paid, according to AirTree Ventures partner James Cameron. Australia has found itself in the epicenter of this upheaval, thanks to open banking and the NPP – and Zepto is the top pioneer in this field. With firms like Afterpay, Athena, and Airwallex, Australia has demonstrated that it can outperform the rest in fintech innovation.
