ASIC grants Change Financial an AFSL
ASX-listed fintech Change Financial has announced that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has approved Change Financial Payment Services Pty Ltd (CFPS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Change Financial Limited, for an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL).
Change CEO and Managing Director, Alastair Wilkie commented, “This is an important milestone for Change as it will enable our direct issuing capability in Australia. The AFSL complements our existing New Zealand Financial Service Provider licence and will significantly expand opportunities to deliver our leading payments as a service (PaaS) solution to banks, fintechs and financial institutions within one of our key target markets.”
“Following Mastercard Principal Issuer accreditation for Australia, Change will be able to issue debit and prepaid cards in New Zealand and prepaid cards in Australia. As an agile non-bank card provider in the Australian market, we will lower the barriers of entry for fintechs and non-bank lenders who wish to provide digital and physical cards.”
Licence Authority
The AFSL will enable Change to issue digital and physical prepaid cards through the partnership with Mastercard. The licence enables Change to provide the following key financial services offerings to retail and wholesale clients:
1. provide general financial product advice for financial products that fall into the class of ‘deposit and payment products limited to non-cash payment products’, which includes cards; and
2. deal in a financial product by issuing, applying for, acquiring, varying or disposing of a financial product in respect to financial products that are in the class of ‘deposit and payment products limited to non-cash payment products.’
Following the granting of the AFSL, Change can finalise the Mastercard Principal Issuer licence process in Australia. The Company expects to achieve Principal Issuer accreditation in Australia in Q3 FY23.
Change is already an accredited Mastercard Principal Issuer in New Zealand. Card issuing in Oceania is a key component of Change’s strategy and will enable the Company to generate revenue growth through transaction and processing-based fees.
