- Commonwealth Bank’s (CBA) venture investment arm, X15ventures, is set to snap up a $1 million stake in Identitii’s (ID8) late bill payment subsidiary, Payble
- Through the investment, X15 will take up a 26.7 per cent stake in the fintech startup, while Identitii will hold a majority 51.3 per cent stake
- At the same time, X15 will appoint the leader of CBA’s Business Development Partnerships team, Chris Austin, as a director to the Payble board
- Payble’s tech is designed to link customers’ bank accounts to a business’ billing system to make sure late or failed payments are fixed before they occur
- If insufficient funds are available in the customer’s account, they are prompted to top up or apply for a payment solution like payment instalments or bill smoothing, all through the Payble system
- This helps businesses ensure they are banking necessary customer receipts on time and helps customers keep a strong rapport with businesses
- Shares in Identitii are up 3.57 per cent this afternoon at 14 cents per share
Commonwealth Bank’s (CBA) venture investment arm X15ventures is set to snap up a $1 million stake in Identitii’s (ID8) late bill payment subsidiary, Payble.
The investment will see the Commonwealth Bank firm take up a 26.7 per cent interest in the fintech startup, with Identitii still holding a majority 51.3 per cent stake.
The move marks the sixth investment made by X15 and the first minority stake taken in an external start-up.
Alongside the investment, X15 will appoint Chris Austin as a director to the Payble board. Chris leads CBA’s Business Development Partnerships team and brings over 15 years of mergers and acquisitions experience to the Payble management team.
X15 Managing Director Toby Norton-Smith said the company is “thrilled” to add Payble to its investment portfolio.
“Working closely with the startup community is key to our strategy to build, invest and acquire digital businesses that are reshaping banking and benefiting Australian businesses and consumers,” Toby said.
Fixing late payments before they happen
The Payble tech is designed to help customers fix late or failed payments before they actually occur.
According to Payble CEO Elliot Donazzan, late or failed payments are a major issue that cost Australian businesses millions of dollars per year.
“Over 500 million bills are sent to Australian consumers every year and over 75 million of those aren’t paid on time,” Elliot explained.
“This is a huge problem for Aussie businesses who spend time and money following up on late payments, fielding calls from customers about their billing details or retrying payments when they fail,” he said.
“Payble set out to fix failed or late payments before they happen, and we are thrilled to have X15ventures join us on this journey.”
Essentially, the Payble tech works by connecting a business to a customer’s bank account as soon as the customer receives a bill. A customer simply needs to scan a Payble QR code on the bill and link the account through the secure Payble platform.
Payble then uses ‘open banking’ technology to check if the necessary funds are available in the account. If available, Payble alerts the business’ payment system and the payment is made like normal. If not available, Payble alerts the customer and reminds them to top up on funds.
Moreover, if a customer needs hand paying the bill, they can automatically set up a solution through the Payble app that has been pre-approved by the business. This includes solutions like payment instalments, bill smoothing or payment extensions.
The tech helps businesses ensure they are banking necessary customer receipts on time, saving valuable resources that could be spent chasing late payment. At the same time, Payble helps customers keep a good rapport with the business.
Payble leverages Identitii’s participation in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Consumer Data Right testing.
Shares in Identitii are up 3.57 per cent at 1:57 pm AEST, trading at 14 cents per share.