Pay.com.au Debuts in the US as PayRewards, Backed by Fresh $28M Series E
Pay.com.au Debuts in the US as PayRewards, Backed by Fresh $28M Series E #
Melbourne-based business payments platform pay.com.au is entering the US market under a new brand, PayRewards, after closing a US$28 million Series E round that brings its total capital raised to $70 million.
The launch, announced Monday, targets a gap CEO Blake Hutchison says American small businesses have long faced: the inability to earn meaningful rewards on routine expenditures such as rent, utilities and tax payments. Most corporate credit cards restrict or exclude such payments, and ACH bank transfers are generally left out of rewards programs. PayRewards awards points on every payment a business routes through the platform, whether by ACH, wire or credit card.
Points can be transferred to more than 16 airline and hotel loyalty partners, redeemed for gift cards, or applied as credits against future invoices, according to the company. The service carries no monthly platform fee; businesses pay only when they choose to earn points on a transaction, a model the company says distinguishes it from subscription-based competitors.
Pay.com.au, founded roughly seven years ago, says it processes payments for more than 30,000 businesses in Australia, where PayRewards is already operating. The US rollout builds on an earlier partnership with American Express. The company had postponed a planned ASX listing earlier this year amid market volatility.
The company is positioning PayRewards as a stacking opportunity for businesses that already hold rewards credit cards: payments routed through the platform can earn both credit card points and PayRewards points at the same time, generating rewards on transactions that would otherwise earn nothing.
The US represents a larger addressable market than Australia, and pay.com.au is betting that American small-business owners will respond to a rewards model similar to the one that has driven growth domestically.
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