Going global: a look at FinTech down under

In the twelfth episode of PayFAQ: The Embedded Payments Podcast brought to you by Payrix, host Bob Butler interviews John De Stefani (JD), the Managing Director of Payrix Australia about the booming Australian payfac and integrated payments marketplace.    

JD is from Brisbane, Australia and has been in payments in the Australian market for the last 15 years. Previously he headed up EzDebit, one of the pioneers in the Australian FinTech space before it was acquired.

Historically the payment’s market in Australia has been driven by the legacy banks and their offerings, but there was an obvious gap in the market. While these banks could not or would not fill these gaps, payment companies like IntegraPay began to offer services and create innovative products that were needed in the marketplace, heating up the FinTech space and growing it exponentially by diversifying offerings available in Australia. 

IntegraPay was one of the first payfacs that came to market with their own payment’s platform and had quick growth with servicing software partners. Now with Payrix, they are moving away from this traditional model to offering a more value-driven model that includes different structures driving the next stage of the market.

When it comes to SaaS companies leveraging the payfac model, the Australian market might be a bit less mature than the U.S. but there is a growing appetite for SaaS providers to have a fully integrated solution. Payrix is offering a payfac-as-a-service model in Australia, which JD believes is ahead of the curve in the next stage in evolution of payments down under.

Some of the keys to success in the Australian market are having a local presence and offering all country specific payment types. Vertical software companies must provide these integrated full-suite payment offerings to their customers and support both the software companies and their customers with local presence and knowledge. 

JD explains that like the U.S., integrated payments for software companies in Australia is a journey and the landscape and technology is ever-evolving, so finding a global provider with local expertise that meets you where you are and sees your vision is imperative to help provide a solution that works for both software providers and their customers.