Australian banking major Westpac has invested AUD40m ($31.63m) into Sydney-based interest-free payment platform zipMoney.
The strategic investment includes an additional AUD8m in the form of performance options.
The equity investment makes Westpac a new shareholder of zipMoney, with a holding of around 17.11%.
zipMoney intends to use the investment from Westpac to accelerate its growth plans and develop new products and technologies. The company currently offers two products, zipMoney and zipPay.
At the same time, the two companies have formed a strategic relationship that will allow Westpac to explore the integration of zipMoney’s products and services across its payments network in Australia.
Westpac group executive for strategy & enterprise services Gary Thursby said: “Zip’s real-time data analytics and proprietary platform offer customers seamless payment solutions. We look forward to working with Zip to develop these capabilities and offer Westpac customers more choice in the changing payments landscape.”
Commenting on the deal, Zip CEO and managing director Larry Diamond said: “It is a serious validation of the success of the Zip platform and offering, and the strategic relationship arrangements will deliver a significant opportunity to further accelerate the growth of our merchant network and origination volumes.”
