Wise First Fintech Participant Approved by NPP Australia
(28 September 2021 – Australia) Wise has been approved by the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) as the first Fintech to join the New Payments Platform (NPP) as a participant and shareholder of NPP Australia.
Wise Australia has been authorised to connect directly to the NPP to clear and settle real-time payments after APRA granted the group a limited ADI licence in H2 2020 given Fintechs must hold an ADI to hook up to the NPP. The Estonian founded “unicorn” previously known as TransferWise is building on similar rapid payments integrations in Britain, the EU, Hungary and Singapore as one of the first Fintechs to do so in those markets also.
NPP is mutually owned by 13 major corporates including the Big Four majors, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Cuscal, Citigroup, Macquarie, Bendigo Bank and several others as Wise become the group’s 15th shareholder. Organisations connecting directly to the NPP to clear and settle payments must join NPP Australia as a shareholder. A significant merger between BPAY, eftpos and the NPP was recently approved to form a new entity AP+.
“NPP is committed to ensuring open access. We look forward to supporting the Wise team as they commence the work required that will enable them to clear and settle real-time payments on behalf of their customers” commented NPP Australia CEO, Adrian Lovney.
“Getting approval to join the NPP is a significant step in our goal to build a new global standard for international money movement. We’re thrilled to be the first fintech to become a shareholder of NPP Australia and directly join the NPP, our first such integration in the Pacific region, following on from similar integrations in the UK, EU, Hungary and Singapore. We have championed this around the world because we believe instant, low-cost payments should be the norm in the 21st century” stated Wise Co-Founder and CEO, Kristo Käärmann.
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