All-in-one and “Your complete payments solution” are the bravado claims of Zeller Ltd, the latest fintech start-up to believe it’s figured out business banking from the client side.
Square’s former Head of APAC, Ben Pfisterer, has raised a significant amount of capital for his newest venture.
His co-founder is Dominic Yap, a buddy from Square. The pair overnight unveiled their new company “focused on offering a true alternative to business banking”.
Based in Melbourne, Zeller will provide an integrated payments and financial services solution for growing businesses, and is backed with A$6.3 million in seed funding led by Square Peg.
“With Zeller you get everything you need to get paid and manage your business cash flow: an innovative and intuitive EFTPOS terminal, an instant deposit account and a fee-free debit card” is one of many confident claims at the Zeller website.
“Expected to bring its first product to market in the first quarter of 2021, Zeller will significantly improve the time it takes businesses to set up and get going, reducing it from weeks to just minutes” was in turn one of many confident claims in the Zeller launch PR yesterday.
“You never see more entrepreneurialism than after major crises,” said Pfisterer.
“After the GFC, we saw a huge number of businesses being formed in Australia. Due to COVID-19 and the associated downturn, there are a lot of businesses struggling, yet as the economy picks up again, it’s likely we’ll soon have a wave of new ventures starting out, resulting in unprecedented growth.
“We need to ensure they aren’t put off by financial services models that aren’t fit to serve them.
“These businesses need technology that helps them set up quickly, scale and thrive. They also need innovative solutions which help them efficiently manage the move towards cashless payments and digital banking.
“Beyond that, now more than ever, cash flow is imperative for businesses, and they need to be more cost-conscious than ever. They’re looking for better, more efficient, digital ways to run their operations that, frankly, don’t exist in the market yet.”
Zeller is not looking for an ADI licence, Pfisterer told Banking Day yesterday. They are in talks with partners.
Square Peg co-founder and partner, Paul Bassat, will join the Zeller board.