CommBank's x15ventures has invested £1 million for a significant minority stake in Identitii bill payment subsidiary Payable.
Under the terms of the transaction, Identitii will hold 51.3% of the issued capital of Payble, x15ventures will hold 26.7% and founding director Elliott Donazzan will retain a 7.3% stake.
Payable plans to launch with accreditation from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to receive banking data under the government’s consumer data right laws.
Payble helps fix failed or late bill payments before they happen, using Open Banking technology to validate funds are available in a consumers’ linked bank account before a bill is due. It also provides consumers with a means to add funds or change payment details. If a customer needs more time to pay, Payble also offers instalment plans, bill smoothing or a payment extension.
Elliott Donazzan, CEO, Payble, says: “Over 500 million bills are sent to Australian consumers every year and over 75 million of those aren’t paid on time. This is a huge problem for Aussie businesses who spend time and money following up on late payments, fielding calls from customers about their billing details or retrying payments when they fail.”
This is the sixth investment for x15ventures, but it is the first minority equity stake in an existing business. Four other start-ups - Home-In, Vonto, Credit Savvy and Backr - were created by CBA, while hospitality app business Doshii was acquired.
Chris Austin, who leads CBA's business development team, will sit on the board of Payable as the bank roll out a pilot of the technology a large un-named customer and contemplates increasing its stake to become a majority owner.