Harry Zheng
CRO, Royalpay
RoyalPay is a leading cross-border payment solution provider in Australia with strong connections with Alipay, WeChat Pay, BestPay, JD Pay, and credit card issuers. Since 2015, we have been servicing more than 5 million consumers globally by connecting them to around 16,000 Australian merchants. In 2018, RoyalPay increased its merchant coverage to a new level. Through the partnership with major fashion brand such as Cue Clothing Co., RoyalPay had successfully raised its brand awareness among Australian retailers and has been on its journey to onboard more Australian and international brands since then.
Over the past few years, mobile payment has become a mainstream payment method in China, and it has had a huge impact on every aspect of Chinese people’s life. The way mobile payment is used has also been making impact outside China as more and more stores in overseas tourist destinations started to adopt the technology. According to analytical data cited in a Hillhouse Capital report, total transaction volume skyrocketed from around USD $5 trillion in 2016 to nearly USD $16 trillion in the first quarter of 2018. RoyalPay obviously has benefited from the booming of mobile payment in China and overseas and we are aspired to further develop an e-wallet business in Australia.
While the big four banks in Australia, with combined assets totalling more than $3.6 trillion – more than twice the value of Australia’s annual economic output, have had a long dominating position in the local financial landscape, the recent Royal Commission inquiry into the misconduct in the Banking industry has significantly tarnished their reputation. The findings from the Royal Commission have clearly pointed to one fact – the major banks have been complacent as a result of their dominant position and Australia needs more competition in the banking industry. This has provided opportunities for more start-ups to enter into the market and there is no doubt the Australian banking industry is going to facing a major shake-up as a result of the advent of challenger banks.
As part of RoyalPay group strategy, we are also in the process of becoming a neobank with the aim to redefine the way banking is done in Australia. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to bring new technology and new ways of doing banking to Australia and have already started discussing with APRA our plan to be authorized as a Restricted ADI in 2019.We plan to submit our formal licence application in late March 2019.
RoyalPay will also show up at the 2019 Money 20/20 Asia Expo as a sponsor and exhibitor late this month. The Money20/20 Expo is one of the world’s leading platforms at which the broader Fintech community connect and collaborate to shape the future of the financial services industry. During the conference, we plan to further outline our company strategy, showcase our technology, and exchange views about the future trends of mobile payment and digital banking.
RoyalPay aims to offer simple, easy and transparent banking products that truly meet customers’ financial needs at real-time. Leveraging our state-of-art mobile payment technology and the ecosystem around our Pay e-Wallet application, we ensure that customers will have a fun, seamless and eye-opening experience that they have never had in the past.
Our long-term vision is to build a cashless society in Australia that broadens our customers’ financial horizon to the next level. 2019 is going to be a very exciting and challenging year for us, but we are ready to embark on this journey to become truly a neobank that redefines the way banking should be done in the 21st century.
