The merger of Assembly Payments, whose platform automates complex payment
workflows, and CurrencyFair, a global cross-border payments platform, has
received regulatory approval and is now complete.
With that, the company today launches its new brand - Zai (www.hellozai.com) -
which replaces the Assembly Payments brand as the company moves beyond
domestic and cross-border payments to provide a core suite of broader
integrated financial services to businesses in Australia and beyond.
Paul Byrne, CEO of Zai said: “Our vision with Zai is to boldly transform the future of financial services. The Australian market is very close to our hearts - both Assembly Payments and CurrencyFair were founded by Australian innovators.
“We are ramping up our activity in Australia significantly - Zai was first to
market with NPP and we expect to remain at the forefront of innovation. In
mid-2022, we are launching ‘PayTo’, the new digital way for merchants and
businesses to initiate real-time payments from their customers’ bank
accounts. We’re already seeing the benefits of expansion as we forecast a
second successive year of 60% growth in processing volume to US$6.5 billion
in 2021.”
Assembly Payments and CurrencyFair have been operating in the country since
2013 and 2010 respectively. Zai’s expansion plans are supported through an
investment from SC Ventures, the innovation, ventures and fintech investments
unit of Standard Chartered which was announced in April 2021. SC Ventures is
doubling down on its commitment to the rapidly growing payments industry,
following its initial investment in Assembly Payments in 2020.
Byrne said that Zai would remain focussed on resolutely addressing businesses
pain points:
“Zai will continue our tradition of being customer-centric, solving
problems and adding value around our five core capabilities – payments, global payment accounts, partner ecosystem, lending and settlement, and services – addressing the myriad growth opportunities in the US$2 trillion revenue market for payments.”
The company is focusing its mid-market and enterprise-level offering initially on
the Australian market, where its Assembly Payments customer base gives it a
strong foothold, while in parallel ramping up its capability to launch in the UK,
USA and Asia in 2022 and with the number of employees expected to grow from
170 currently to 450 by 2025.
Click here to read The Story of Zai.
