Secure payments data platform platform EFTsure has raised a $2 million Series A round from Our Innovation Fund (OIF), to help further scale the company and build for and capitalise on industry moves, including the upcoming rollout of the New Payments Platform (NPP).
Founded in 2014 by Ian Mirels, Mike Kontorovich, and Mark Chazan, EFTsure has created a platform that looks to combat payment fraud.
The ‘Know Your Payee’ platform, built on a crowdsourced, independently verified database of payee information, allows businesses to check the validity of payment data, ensuring the name of the payee matches the BSB and account number provided before making a payment.
Mirels said the risk of payment fraud in Australia is high, with many finance officers unaware that Australian banks don’t match payee names with account numbers when payments are processed.
“Payments fraud is a growing area of cyber crime in Australia, with fast payment methods significantly increasing the risk of fraudulent activity. It’s critical to ensure a focus on both fast and secure payments as the new NPP platform is introduced,” he said.
“Industry studies show that the average anomaly rate in vendor master files where payee details reside is around 20 percent, which can lead to payment errors of around one percent. This is an issue that will have even greater exposure as NPP rolls out and funds are transferred in near real-time.”
The NPP, an open access infrastructure for payments, was established in 2014, when 12 authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) committed funding for its build and operation. According to the Australian Payments Clearing Association, ADIs will connect to the NPP, either directly or through another member, to process a variety of fast, data-rich payments for account holders.
Geoff Levy, cofounder of OIF, said that with payments protection a need world wide, EFTsure is in a “pivotal position” to capitalise on the growing demand given its experienced team, and established client base.
“As a current and former director of several ASX companies, having EFTsure’s payment protection in place – especially in the challenging environment of increasing internal and external payment fraud risk – gives me more comfort. EFTsure is a necessary tool in a company’s toolbox in the fight against cybercrime,” he said.
“Our Innovation Fund is excited to partner with EFTsure to accelerate their growth. EFTsure are already seeing a large value proposition in what they’re doing to reduce the incidence and opportunity for fraud and error.”
Setting up shop last year, OIF is a $50 million fund founded by Levy, David Shein, and Jerry Stesel. Looking to build a portfolio of up to 20 investments at the seed through to Series A stage, OIF has invested in Instaclustr, Enboarder, Recomazing, Assignar, Stream Lending, and Advanced Navigation.
Image: Mark Chazan, Ian Mirels, Mike Kontorovich. Source: Supplied.
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