zepto an Australian real-time account-to-account (A2A) merchant payment platform, has already raised a Serie A $18,8 million joint venture co-led by AirTree Ventures and Decade Partners.
The instant payment platform allows merchants to make, manage and receive secure payments by connecting directly from the payer's bank to the merchant's bank.
The Series A funding comes after its 10x year-over-year revenue growth over the four years since its launch in 2018. The company, which did not provide information on the reasons for that growth and its valuation, says it facilitates more than 4 billion in payment volume each month and expects to process more than 50 billion in payments this year.
More than 100 Australian organizations, including banks, fintech companies and credit unions, use nppa (New Australian Payments Platform), Australia's open access infrastructure for fast payments, according to the website of nppa where it explains PayTo, the new digital tool for merchants and businesses to initiate real-time payments from customers' bank accounts.
Zepto became the first non-bank entity approved as an institution connected to nppa in October. That means zepto you can connect your customers directly to the service PayTo, which will be implemented in mid-2022.
“Data-rich, real-time payments directly between bank accounts are the future of how we transact, and Australian lawmakers have recognized this with the launch of PayTo de nppawhich will replace direct debit in about 3-5 years,” Chris Jewell, CEO of zepto. “Merchant and consumer payment preferences are shifting away from costly legacy payment methods like credit cards and slow and blind traditional direct debit.”
A whole generation of consumers is coming who will never have a credit card or get approved for a buy-now-pay-later product (BNPL extension), but bank accounts are ubiquitous and direct payments between them are a simple, clean and efficient way to pay. things, Jewell continued.
Real-time payments through nppa from Australia accounted for 31% of all account-to-account payments in October 2021, Jewell said. He added that the total accumulated value of the payment of nppa since its launch in November 2017 it was about 2.600 billion.
Jewell said that for account-to-account (A2A) payment, which refers to bank account-to-bank account transactions, a card or pin is not needed. While debit cards generally work with Visa and Mastercard, A2A cuts them out as a middleman.
According to FIS Global Payment Report By 2020, A2A payments will account for 20% of all eCommerce payments, overtaking credit and debit cards by 2023.
zepto It serves hundreds of Australian corporations, including lenders, trading/crypto platforms, third-party processors, fintech companies, travel and tourism operators. Binance Australia, Superhero, Novatti Group, Nimble, Powerpay, Till Payments, Bluestone, Rentbetter, Biz Pay, and Get Blys are among their clients.
The startup uses the funds and benefits to advance its functionalities in addition to the framework PayTo and accelerate its international expansion, starting with New Zealand, driven by growing demand for infrastructure zepto in the region, Jewell said. After New Zealand zepto wants to enter the United States.
“The global payments landscape is in the midst of its greatest turmoil in decades, as open banking and real-time bank-to-bank payments are transforming the way we pay and get paid,” said James Cameron, Partner from AirTree Ventures. “With open banking and the NPP, Australia has found itself at the center of this disruption, and zepto is the leading innovator in this space. With companies like Afterpay, Athena and Airwallex, Australia has shown that we are far above our weight in fintech innovation globally.”
