Financial technology group Novatti recorded total revenue of A$18.4 million for the year ended 30 June 2021, including sales revenue of approximately $16.5 million from its core business of payments services processing.

This was almost 50 per cent up on the previous financial year, helped by a record fourth quarter sales revenue of $4.9 million, unveiled yesterday by managing director Peter Cook.

He said Novatti's payments business has continued to deliver consistent results describing Afterpay's decision to choose Novatti as its partner in New Zealand as a leap forward.

"After spending the past years developing Novatti’s ecosystem, the shift to monetising this ecosystem continues to accelerate," Cook said.

Novatti has applied to APRA for a restricted banking licence through its subsidiary Novatti IBA Pty Ltd. Cook said yesterday that he expected this to be finalised in the next few months. Novatti has also applied to both Visa and Mastercard for acquiring licences, aiming to be approved by end of September 2021.

"Before the end of calendar year 2021, we are seeking to achieve regulatory approval for Novatti's new banking business as well as obtaining approval for Visa and Mastercard acquiring licences Novatti Group Limited," Cook said.

Even so, it's been an eventful year to date for Novatti Group, with a $40 million capital raising completed in June. More than half of this ($22.5 million) was earmarked for a strategic 19.9 per cent stake in accounting software firm Reckon.

Work is also underway to expand elsewhere: • European Union: an E-money Licence: which would enable Novatti to issue a range of financial products in the; and

• In Singapore: a major payment institution licence, which would enable Novatti to provide payment services without being subject to specified thresholds.