Fat Zebra acquires fellow Australian fintech Adatree
Fat Zebra have announced that it has acquired fellow Australian fintech Adatree, an accredited data recipient transforming data solutions within the Consumer Data Right (CDR) framework.
The acquisition will enable Fat Zebra to provide open data and payment services, further enhancing their offerings to benefit their customers.
Pred Dragila, Founder and CEO of Fat Zebra, expressed enthusiasm about the synergies between the two companies, stating, “Open data and open payments are the future of the financial landscape. This acquisition positions Fat Zebra to drive smarter, data-driven payments in Australia, offering enhanced services to our clients and partners.”
Fat Zebra, known for processing payments for over 30,000 SME and enterprise Australian merchants, has a customer base including PayPal, Macquarie Bank, Aussie Broadband, MYOB and Zip. The company handles over 250 million e-commerce transactions annually in Australia, establishing its role as a major player in the payments industry.
Entering into the world of Open Banking signifies an important step for the future of Fat Zebra, aiming to seamlessly integrate Consumer Data Right powered services alongside its payment solutions. This move will give businesses a more robust future-thinking solution, providing greater insights into their payments and customers.
Powering regulated data sharing since 2019
Adatree is an Australian fintech founded in 2019 by Jill Berry and Shane Doolan. Accredited as a Data Recipient by the ACCC, Adatree enables companies to access regulated and consented data sharing, empowering diverse use cases that include loan assessment reporting, energy and banking comparison, real-time broker portfolio tracking, personal financial management, recommendation engines. It has won multiple awards, including Best Open Banking Provider and Emerging Leader of the Year at the Finnies and the Australian Fintech Awards, as well as being a national finalist in the Telstra Best of Business Awards 2022.
Jill Berry (pictured), Co-Founder and CEO of Adatree, expressed her excitement about the acquisition, stating, “We are thrilled about this opportunity and what it means for our team, company, and product roadmap. Joining forces with Fat Zebra allows us to accelerate our mission of advancing Open Banking and data-driven solutions. This will enable the development of features to make payments smarter, showing immediate synergies and benefits with the companies joining.”
Fat Zebra & Adatree in position to own the smart payment, action initiation space
The acquisition aligns with the rapid progress of Open Banking, bridging synergies between data and payment companies. This collaboration sets the stage for a dynamic product roadmap, harnessing the strengths of both organizations to create innovative solutions in the evolving financial landscape. Currently Adatree is connected to 114 data sources, which covers 99.73% of the household banking market share. Open Energy has recently gone live with Australian energy companies in November 2023.
Action Initiation is an upcoming Consumer Data Right capability that is currently in design. With Open Banking, data can be accessed and leveraged for use cases, known as ‘read access’. Action Initiation will allow accredited companies to initiate actions, known as ‘write access’ – enabling actions including initiating payments, opening and closing accounts, and updating customer information – all through the Consumer Data Right regulatory framework.
All Adatree team members have joined Fat Zebra. The transaction completed in December 2023. The financial details remain undisclosed.
