Transferring money between friends and splitting bills in social situations is set to become easier than ever with the Lifepay app set to launch having been incubated by fintech company Novatti Group (ASX: NOV) whose project has now drawn international attention in the form of new investors.
Established in 2020 as collaboration between major shareholders Novatti, Australian Fintech Investment Group (AFIG) and management where the project has been in development drawing upon its founders’ technology and regulatory licences. The purpose of the project was to offer a comprehensive digital payment wallet that integrates life consumption, personal financial management and social functions.
One year later and with the app now in the final stages of development, Lifepay has undertaken a Series A fundraising which gives Lifepay a $20.5 million pre-money valuation, of which Novatti’s stake would be valued at $5.1m.
Through the Lifepay app, digital wallets can transfer funds via QR codes, tap and go, mobile payment or physical cards. The interface has been specifically designed for instant transfers that provides consumers with the latest technology in banking and digital payments.
“Novatti’s strategy has been to develop a digital banking and payments ecosystem that enables innovative products to leverage Novatti’s existing platforms to get to market quickly,” said Novatti Managing Director, Peter Cook.
“The launch of Lifepay is an example of Novatti’s ecosystem at play and highlights Novatti’s broader shift from a development to monetisation phase for its digital banking and payments platform.
“This launch saw Novatti leverage its strong in-house experience, creative culture, existing technology and licenses to bring Lifepay’s new and innovative product to market, and ultimately create future growth and revenue opportunities for Novatti.”
Novatti’s initial investment provided for provision of infrastructure and payments network access as well as services such as licensing and compliance.
The launch of Lifepay continues strong form by Novatti which has incubated several successful fintech projects in recent years using a similar exchange model that draws upon their existing tech and payments infrastructure.
In July 2020, Novatti exited their seed investment in cross-border payments platform SendFX for $900k but their biggest incubation project is likely still to come in the form of their digital neobank.
Prior to the onset of COVID-19, Novatti was set to be issued a banking licence until the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) put a hold on new licences during the pandemic. Despite that setback, Novatti has continued to develop their banking services whilst creating digital payment partnerships with Visa, Apple, Google, Samsung and UnionPay.
Once launched, Lifepay has flagged plans to extend the app’s capabilities to include international transfers and connectivity to investment and lending platforms by September 2021 where Novatti will receive ongoing revenue for services provided, as well as capital gains from their equity stake.
For the Quarter ending 31 December 2020, Novatti reported $3.79m revenue which represented a 52% increase on their previous corresponding period with their banking licence application still under review by APRA.
*Owners of this website are shareholders in a company mentioned in this article and have been engaged by them to assist in investor communications
Alfred Chan is a Business Reporter at The Sentiment specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies, a bloodstock enthusiast and former equities analyst.
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