Wise Leverages Bank Licence for Fintech BaaS Offering
(30 June 2023 – Australia) International currency transfer outfit Wise is extending its banking licence to Australian fintechs to enable them to launch payment and business deposit products and services as a defined Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) threat to the incumbent Big Four majors.
Wise has released a local platform operation enabling other non-bank enterprises to offer Australian Dollar (AUD) and multi-currency accounts and payments services. Wise’s BaaS Platform business is also being offered to banks, for example Up Bank is a customer.
Parpera and ProSpend will be the first Australian fintechs to use Wise’s new BaaS offering through its purchased payments facility licence, granted by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) in Q4 2020. to offer deposit accounts and digital debit cards white labelling their own apps.
“What is holding financial innovation back in Australia is the ability to access infrastructure to provide financial services, and with Wise’s licence we can use the Wise platform to facilitate business outside of Australia and help inbound business as well” commented Parpera CEO Daniel Cannizzaro.
“Banks make money through a lending margin but a lot of these sole traders don’t have high borrowing needs, so are not attractive to banks and fall between the gaps of their retail and business banks, while the accounting platforms are built for accountants and finance managers.”
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