CBA Partners Fintechs to Promote Further Digitisation
(28 July 2020 – Australia) Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has announced the appointment of two strategic partners to help deliver new digital banking services to the bank’s 15 million retail and business customers.
The new partnerships coincide with the announcement of X15 Ventures’ fourth new venture, Backr, which offers a digital, task-based approach to starting a small business, guiding business owners through the process step-by-step, from registering their business name and ABN, to creating a business plan and using simple tools to get them trading quickly and with ease. Since its launch in January 2020, the Klarna App has been downloaded by more than 270,000 Australians and more than 80 merchants are now live on the platform.
CBA also announced the winner of X15’s inaugural external venture program, Xccelerate2020, in addition to being accepted into Microsoft’s Social Entrepreneurship Program was ‘givvable’, a platform that helps companies find and source sustainable suppliers. The event was supported by Innovation Bay, and X15’s strategic partners Microsoft and KPMG High Growth Ventures who provided mentorship, technology, business and subject matter expertise and ongoing venture coaching, over the four week program. CBA has committed US$10 million to the most recent funds for both Square Peg and Zetta Venture Partners to support the sourcing, scaling and financing of local Fintechs, as well as the development of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) businesses in Australia.
CBA digital banking numbers continue to grow across the retail and business bank. More than 6.1 million customers are now using the CommBank App with over A$1.2 billion now transacted through the App every day. Daily logins have surpassed 6.3 million. Combined with the group’s online banking platform, NetBank, digital daily logins rose to a record 10.2 million at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Through Backr, we hope to help thousands of new digitally enabled small businesses get off the ground. This is now more important than ever given the need to drive the economic recovery. To support this initiative, CBA will deposit $500 into the account of any eligible business launched through Backr, until the end of 2020. We’re also delighted to welcome Square Peg and Zetta as strategic partners and look forward to working with them to bring new solutions to our customers, harnessing the latest technologies, artificial intelligence, and machine learning models” stated CBA CEO, Matt Comyn.
“We know our customers are constantly looking for seamless and innovative ways to do their banking and even more so in the current environment. As Australia’s leading technology bank, our role is to combine exceptional service with the very best digital experiences and technologies. Our digital services have helped us to provide fast and effective financial support to our customers affected by the Coronavirus. Since the start of the pandemic, we have connected with more than seven million customers through the CommBank App and there has been more than 2 million unique views of our coronavirus support page” Mr Comyn added.
“Many sustainable suppliers are small and micro businesses who often struggle to establish relationships with corporate buyers due to lack of access, resources and understanding of corporate due diligence processes, and givvable is designed remove these barriers. With changing investor and consumer expectations, companies are looking to procure in an environmentally sustainable and socially impactful way” said CEO and co-founder of givvable, Frances Atkins.
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