Australia Post is scouting for a buyer for its POLi Payments service, five years after acquiring the business.
Operated under the umbrella of SecurePay - Post's payments gateway - POLi (founded around 15 years ago) was an early disruptor in the payments landscape in Australia but may have run out of steam, while also bringing more scrutiny.
Post's "eCommerce" services are a strategic priority for the postal utility, but this is increasingly leaning to a focus on identity services along with fulfillment - via parcel delivery - of the ever expanding online shopping scene.
POLi "helps consumers make payments securely through an existing bank account and without using a credit card", a service dependent on users sharing their logins details, including password, with Post (similar to the methods of online accounting software operators such as Saasu).
Post has published scant data on the significance of either POLi or SecurePay to its business over the years.
In a recent media release summarising its FY2019 financials, Post said that "Parcels & Services" represented 68 per cent of total revenue of A$4.8 billion, but it's years since Australia Post shared any real insight into its overall financial services business in an annual report.