British banking multinational Standard Chartered is launching a joint venture company with fintech Assembly Payments to develop next generation payment solutions for the US$29 trillion e-commerce sector.
The deal is a major coup for Assembly Payments, which launched in Melbourne in 2014, began providing online payment solutions with escrow services for marketplaces and platforms, before expanding into e-commerce and EFTPOS merchant services for financial institutions. The business now operates in the Phillipines and US.
The new joint venture will be based in Singapore with ambitions to expand globally, developing a digital payment platform to manage transactions across multiple payment types and countries, including online, mobile and point-of-sale, digital wallets, debit and credit cards and real-time payments.
The deal combines Standard Chartered’s global might with the agility Assembly Payments brings to payment services as the bank looks to position itself at the forefront of the rapidly expanding global e-commerce industry. The fintech has led the way new payment solutions as the fast payment network rolled out locally and globally.
Assembly Payments co-CEO Simon Lee
Assembly Payments co-CEO Simon Lee said the deal was “a once in a lifetime opportunity” for his startup.
“We have created a significant business in Australia and now, together with Standard Chartered, we are well placed to crack the international payments market and exponentially grow the business,” he said.
“We are also proud that this is one of the first major global fintech deals between a global bank and a major Australian fintech company.”
The as-yet unnamed business will look to address key challenges merchants face, including managing risk, fraud, integration, reporting and reconciliation.
Standard Chartered Group Chief Information Officer Michael Gorriz said enabling real-time fasterpayments and high volume transactions has been a core area of investment for Standard Chartered alongside the growth of e-commerce platforms and wallet apps.
“Our venture with Assembly Payments complements these capabilities, giving our corporate clients a complete offering for high throughput inward and outward payments,” he said.
Alex Manson, head of the bank’s fintech investment and innvovation arm, SC Ventures, said the business identified payments as an area they wanted to make a strategic investment in as platform-based e-commerce grew.
“Assembly Payments shares our vision and we are pleased to partner them based on the strength of their core technology and talented team,” he said.
Standard Chartered has been investing heavily in strategic joint ventures as digital banking evolves, including a standalone digital bank in Hong Kong, virtual banking partnerships in Taiwan and Korea and a digital open platform, Solv, for SMEs in India offering a range of financial and business services.
Trending
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.