Qippay’s mission to reform finance through open banking

As Qippay prepares to expand into Australia with $5 million in backing from All Roads Wholesale Fund, Qippay’s founder, Ashley Lake-Johns, sees an opportunity to help businesses and consumers use financial data to manage money better.

Qippay aims to reform how Australian businesses and consumers transact, use their financial data, and manage their finances.

Former FX trader Ashley Lake-Johns and Wayne Deas co-founded fintech start-up Qippay in Auckland five years ago.

They wanted to tackle high transaction fees and outdated banking practices through open banking. After securing bilateral agreements with New Zealand’s major banks, Qippay went on to build its own payments and data networks. It’s now looking to expand into broader data and digital banking solutions for businesses.

“Our services give businesses new ways to support their customers – from helping people understand and manage their spending and credit, to offering more relevant support and services when they need it most,” Lake-Johns says.

“Financial inclusion is the reason behind everything we do.”

Next year, the New Zealand-based company is planning to expand to Australia with $5 million in backing from All Roads Wholesale Fund, as it targets opportunities on this side of the Tasman.

The open banking ambition

For many businesses, traditional payment methods still come with cost, administration and limited data, making it hard to personalise customer journeys. Qippay sees open banking as a way to change that.

Businesses using Qippay payment methods can avoid credit card fees and give customers an easy way to pay directly from their bank account on their mobile.

Qippay also offers a safer, easier alternative to traditional direct debits that customers can set up on their mobile phone.

This reduces paperwork for both businesses and customers. It can also lower the risk of direct debit dishonours if a customer doesn’t have enough money in their account to make the payment.

“With open banking, all you need to do is put in your mobile number, select your bank, and the transaction is set up,” Lake-Johns says.

Many businesses are already using Qippay’s technology. Webjet in New Zealand offers customers the payment option, while a wealth management company uses Qippay to allow customers to set up regular contributions and make top-up payments when they have extra cash to invest.

Cafes and restaurants can use Qippay tools to let customers pay directly from their bank account, providing an alternative to card payments. Businesses can also integrate the payment experience with loyalty programs.

But Qippay sees open banking payments as only one part of the opportunity. Australia’s open banking framework sits within the broader Consumer Data Right (CDR), which is designed to give consumers greater control over data held about them. Introduced in 2020, the framework lets Australian consumers choose to share banking data, including transaction history and account balances, with accredited third parties that can use it to provide financial services.

Qippay plans to bring more of that information together in one place. Traditionally, credit decisions have relied on static, historical and sometimes incomplete information about a customer’s financial position.

Lake-Johns believes open banking and AI capabilities could help businesses better understand their customers’ financial health and tailor payment terms accordingly.

With consent, a more complete and current picture of a customer’s financial circumstances could help businesses automate payment arrangements and offer more appropriate options based on that customer’s needs.

Lake-Johns says this could ultimately support greater financial inclusion by enabling businesses to make decisions based on a richer and more up-to-date picture of the customer, rather than relying only on traditional financial indicators.

“With open banking and open data, it’s almost like the reformation of how we provide financial solutions is inevitable,” he says.

“With the ability for consumers to give consent and share their data with third parties, it can then be enriched and turned into something meaningful for them, for example, a loan report with a more reasonable financing company or better spending and payment terms with a telco.”

Putting the data to work

David Palmer, founder and managing director of All Roads Wholesale Fund, says the investment in Qippay reflects both the fund’s interest in fintech and the technology’s potential applications across businesses associated with All Roads.

“Our background across the financial spectrum includes mortgages, financial planning, tax, accounting, business advisory and so forth,” notes Palmer.

“In respect of what Qippay does, we just see multiple synergies, and we want to help put Qippay on the map.”

All Roads Wholesale Fund has an interest in a tax practice, for example, whose staff spend considerable time chasing information from clients for the ATO. Palmer says Qippay could make that information easier to access.

The fund is also associated with a mortgage broker, where Palmer sees potential for the broker to use Qippay’s technology to access homebuyers’ financial information and streamline the loan application process.

Palmer also sees potential for consented financial data accessed through Qippay to help All Roads assess customers for alternative home ownership models, such as shared equity.

In fact, Palmer says that if Qippay reaches a critical mass of users, it could significantly change how consumers and businesses manage their finances.

“The more people that are actually using this capability, the more we can use it to do things like process loans, help give them advice, deal with tax matters and communicate with the ATO about their ability to pay debts as compared to other ways like forgiving it or putting the business through restructure,” he says.

The All Roads partnership could also support Qippay’s plans to grow through acquisitions in Australia and New Zealand. Lake-Johns says the company is already exploring opportunities to acquire or invest in businesses that could accelerate its expansion and become part of the financial and data infrastructure it is building.

Lake-Johns has ambitions to take Qippay public. “It’s a big ambition for us – to be listed on the ASX,” he says.

Learn more at www.qippay.com

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