Fintech foresees rough year for Aussie payment startups, foreseeing failures.

Brad Kelly, Managing Director at Payment Services, has predicted that payment fintechs in Australia will face a tough year in 2024. He believes that startup corporate and business card issuers are likely to fail with little value left. Kelly also suggests that there will be consolidation among unprofitable fintechs as funding dries up or investors require down rounds. Big banks are expected to take advantage of this situation and may find opportunities to acquire struggling fintech companies. ANZ, in particular, is expected to make waves in the industry with its PayTo enterprise product. Kelly also predicts that Zip Co and Afterpay, two major players in the buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector, will transition into high-interest credit card companies and consumer finance businesses due to increased regulation and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s plan to surcharge BNPL transactions. Kelly’s forecast also includes the expectation that the Reserve Bank of Australia will mandate least-cost routing on debit transactions, benefiting eftpos Payments Australia.