BAGGING THE BIG 4: Fintech Slyp adds CBA to its backers

Digital receipts startup Slyp has added the last of the big four banks to its investor list with the Commonwealth Bank signing up as a minority stakeholder.

That makes it the first fintech to bag investments from the big 4 banks with Westpac (via Reinventure), NAB and ANZ already on the books with minority stakes in a $4 million round last year that also Westfield’s owner, Scentre Group, invest with plans to convince its retailers to switch to digital receipts.

CBA will get a seat on the board, but the Sydney-based fintech will continue to operate independently.

Slyp’s digital receipts make life easier at tax time, especially if you’re a victim of faded thermal paper receipts and there are other benefits when it comes to record keeping. The fintech’s receipt application can be embedded into existing banking apps, for example the CommBank app, making it easier for customers to manage issues such as returns and warranties as well as tracking their expenditure.

CBA’s Group Executive Retail Banking Services, Angus Sullivan, said Slyp’s technology provided an intuitive solution to an everyday problem for the bank’s seven million digitally active customers.

“The partnership is also an example of the bank’s goal of leading in technology. Integrating Slyp into our core digital channels, we’re continuing our journey to build smarter banking experiences our customers will love,” he said.

Slyp CEO and co-founder Paul Weingarth called the CBA a “major breakthrough” for the company.

“To deliver a truly ubiquitous industry standard of digital receipts, we knew early on that we would need to partner with the banks,” he said.

“Now, with their backing we are in a strong position to push towards eliminating paper receipts and provide retailers and banks with a new way to delight and engage their customers post-payment.”

The Sydney-based fintech’s timing is also bolstered by the move to cashless payments by retailers in response to covid-19.

Angus Sullivan said: “Digital receipts are a natural extension to this, which will benefit both shoppers and retailers.”

With CBA on board, Weingarth’s dream of Slyp becoming a unified digital receipt standard just moved closer to reality.