GoCardless to acquire Nuapay, the open banking and payments business of EML Payments
GoCardless, the bank payment company, has signed an agreement to acquire Sentenial Ltd, operating globally under the Nuapay brand, from ASX-listed EML Payments, subject to regulatory approvals.
The acquisition will significantly scale GoCardless’ indirect channel proposition, consolidating its position as a key payment provider to existing and new customer segments including Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs).
In addition, by incorporating Nuapay’s offering into its bank payment platform, GoCardless will fast-track the rollout of new disbursement capabilities to its customers and prospects. This will enable GoCardless to unlock new vertical sectors and use cases in areas including payroll, financial services, utilities, insurance, gaming and gambling.
Businesses and partners will benefit from a full-service provider with a relentless focus on bank payments, enabling disbursements and payment collection through direct debit, real-time payments and open banking, alongside enhanced features for improving payment success and reducing fraud.
Hiroki Takeuchi, Co-Founder and CEO of GoCardless, said, “Nuapay is an established account-to-account payment provider and open banking specialist with a blue chip customer base. Its business is perfectly aligned to our growth strategy, and will accelerate our vision to become the world’s bank payment network.”
Luke Fossett, General Manager of GoCardless ANZ, added, “The Australian market represents a significant opportunity for GoCardless and we’re committed to continue investing in our local presence since launching our Melbourne-based operations more than five years ago.
“Acquiring Nuapay will not only accelerate the execution of our product strategy, but will also enable us to meet the demand for more comprehensive payment solutions from Australian and international businesses. The combination of both organisations will create a full-service bank payment provider that will help businesses collect and pay out via direct debit and PayTo, something our customers have been asking for across a range of industries. We know that approximately 95 million direct debit payments are made in Australia every month, and we estimate the volume of the payout and disbursements market to be almost double that, presenting a significant opportunity for GoCardless.
“The acquisition will allow customers to unlock these capabilities via a single payment provider. In addition, they’ll get access to advanced features to help them combat fraud and improve payment success rates — not to mention integrations into more than 400 platforms they use to run their business, from CRM to billing to invoicing.
“Through this acquisition, we will be well-positioned to serve a broader spectrum of the Australian market – offering modern and value-adding alternatives to what is typically delivered by a full-service bank. It represents a doubling down on our strategy to deliver simple and secure bank payments and demonstrates our commitment to listening to and fulfilling the needs of our customers,” Fossett ended.
Brian Hanrahan, Co-Founder and CEO of Nuapay, said, “How the world pays and gets paid is being transformed, with account-to-account payments and open banking playing the central role in that shift. Building on that shared vision, this acquisition will result in a combined organisation with deep domestic and international payments and open banking expertise plus the scale to harness these opportunities for our clients and partners.”
The announcement is the latest milestone for GoCardless as it accelerates its path to profitability. Over the past 12 months it announced the launch of GoCardless Embed, its white-label product to PSPs to acquire customers at scale; in addition to new and renewed customer and partner signings, including JustGiving and Xero.
