Zeller boxes payments challenge

Ian Rogers

Addition VC founder and early-stage Zeller investor Lee Fixel

Zeller, a flashy business payments and banking fintech, will soon punch into Australian financial services.

The fintech’s secret squirrel payments device is in production, ready for shipping.

Zeller said yesterday it “expected to bring its first products to market imminently”.

Zeller says it “will deliver an integrated payments and financial services solution that enables businesses to accelerate their cash flow through tools to accept payments, manage their finances, and pay recipients fast.”

“It’s effectively a banking business [solution] in a box, with a next gen [payments] terminal,” Zeller CEO Ben Pfisterer told Banking Day yesterday.

EML Payments, rather than any bank, will supply the licences Zeller needs.

There will be revenue “as soon as we launch,” Pfisterer said.

“We’ve got some good product to grow the brand.

“Our experience tells us that Australian merchants still hit roadblocks when it comes to things as simple as accepting card payments, managing cash flow, and accessing their funds.

“These are longstanding problems that Zeller will solve by bringing together the tools businesses need to accept payments, manage their finances, and pay recipients.

“It’s basically got everything you need,” Pfisterer said.

“Zeller will deliver a true alternative to business banking for merchants who are starting new ventures, or those already running who are looking for a smarter alternative.”

The fintech yesterday also disclosed that its Series A funding round for A$25 million closed at some point last year; Zeller focussed on the lead generation benefits from free media.

Lee Fixel’s investment firm, Addition, was the cornerstone investor in the A round.

Fixel is a venture capitalist who in earlier roles was an early investor in Stripe and Spotify and later Facebook.

Pfisterer said Fixel pretty much found Zeller, simplifying the funding hunt, Fixel having scoured the internet for intel on the current projects of key personnel of Square, another payments disruptor ramping up in this country.

Pfisterer launched Square in Australia, later going on to oversee their APAC operations.