MYOB to sell RentPay system to Rent.com.au for $425,000

Rent, the company behind rental listings platform Rent.com.au, is set to acquire RentPay, a payments system for the rental market, from cloud accounting software provider MYOB for $425,000 in cash.

According to a statement made by MYOB and Rent to the ASX, the acquisition includes the existing RentPay system, website, and customer base of more than 6,000 renters currently using the platform to pay their rent. An initial payment of $225,00 has already been made, with the rest to be paid upon completion of the sale.

Greg Bader, CEO of Rent, said that as the company has long seen payments as a core part of its future, the acquisition will allow it to hit the ground running with an existing customer base and income stream.

“RentPay delivers a good service which we will build upon. It currently provides renters with choice of payment methods for their rent and related bills, reminders and automation as well as full transparency on their payment history. We will of course continue to improve on the system, focussing on delivering the front end changes our customers expect,” Bader said.

According to Bader, the company will look to extend RentPay’s payment solutions to its agent and landlord clients by facilitating rent collection, reconciliations, and accounting.

As part of the acquisition, the payment gateway will continue to be operated by MYOB’s payment solutions division.

The acquisition comes as MYOB deals with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over concerns the organisation raised with MYOB’s proposed acquisition of Reckon’s Accountants Practice Division for $180 million.

With Reckon also supplying accounting software, the ACCC in late March released a Statement of Issues outlining its concerns with the “likely impact of the consolidation”.

ACCC Commissioner Roger Featherston said, “If MYOB acquired Reckon’s Accountants Group, it would likely be the only supplier of practice software suitable for medium to large accounting firms. If MYOB has a monopoly on this software, it would substantially lessen competition. We think there’s a significant risk for customers that prices will increase and service levels will decrease.”

While there are other suppliers in the market providing software for medium to large accounting firms, Featherston said the ACCC received feedback from the industry stating that “suggests those products are less sophisticated, and that they are unlikely to be able to develop the more advanced functionality for several years at least”.

The ACCC took submissions in response to the Statement of Issues until mid-April and is scheduled to release its final decision on May 30.

Image: Greg Bader. Source: BusinessInsider.