Fintech platform, Nium, announced in a press release that it has secured a Visa issuance license in Australia that allows the company to distribute Visa cards in the country. The license was obtained via its Fintech Fast Track Programme membership with Visa, which aids startups in the alternative-lending sector grow and carry out novel commerce experiences on the payments giant network.
Having joined Visa's programme in early 2019, this announcement comes just after Nium received co-funding from Visa and BRI Ventures back in early May.
Although headquartered in Singapore, Nium has global presence with clients and partners in the EU, Asian, and US market.
With the ability to facilitate end-to-end issuing, processing, and registration services, the license would allow Nium to reduce card issuance time from six months to a maximum of just six weeks. Nium would also be able to execute a host of financial transactions such as:
- instantaneous fund transfers to physical and virtual Visa credit and debit cards
- tokenization of security-enabled digital payments for in-stores, online payments and at ATM channels
- simplify payments for users via its multi-currency cards equipped with spend management features
These services would be extended to Nium's B2B and B2C customers in Australia and across the globe where it has presence in.
In a bid to streamline and make plain the solutions for end-to-end card issuance – which Nium claims is currently outdated and presents inefficiencies – Nium looks to help businesses manage smart digital wallets whose ease of use can be applied across Visa's global nexus of transaction channels.
Nium's Head of Product (Cards) Gitesh Athavale expands on the company's goals sharing that “One of Nium's primary goals is to improve business efficiency through the introduction and facilitation of financial technology, and this partnership with Visa allows us to do that at scale. The flexibility of our APIs tools and turnkey infrastructure, coupled with Visa products and services, allow us to support different use cases for Spend Management seen across various business models and platforms, from companies looking to reconcile T&E for employees, businesses looking to pay suppliers and vendors overseas, or innovative technology companies looking to send payments to their community, we are able to customise the solution for each and every single one of them.”
One example referenced in Nium's press release was its partnership with Budgetly (SME banking solutions provider) where corporate cards were issued to the Australian company's clients – the cards were integrated with Budgetly's analytical tools that allow clients to monitor their cash flow and track their expenses.
Commenting on the partnership, Founder and CEO of Budgetly shares that “Businesses in Australia are starting to recognise the need for a digital solution that will revamp existing corporate card management system. The antiquated system that involves physical paperwork to edit card management settings, lack of rewards interface and delayed expense tracking will no longer survive in today's age where digitisation is king, and we are glad to be partnering with Nium to provide a robust digital solution for the next generation of business owners who are demanding a better banking experience.”
Since it was founded in 2014 where it was then called InstaReM, Nium has raised more than US$59 million in funds. With the total capital raised, global presence, and new investors to add to its long list of achievements within just six years of inception, Prajit Naju, CEO and Co-Founder of Nium proudly shares that these successes demonstrated “a vote of confidence for our business model and its resilience” amidst a global health crisis.
