Building a technology company in the financial services industry isn't easy.
Nor should it be.
This past 12-months at Zepto has brought with it a long list of stringent certifications, approvals and milestones. None more significant [and satisfying] than confirmation Zepto was approved to onboard to the NPP on 01 December 2022 as a PayTo payment initiator directly connecting to the real-time rails. With that approval, Zepto officially became the first non-bank Connected Institution [CI] to go-live on the real-time payment rails of the New Payments Platform [NPP].
"We are delighted to welcome Zepto onboard as our first Connected Institution on the NPP," said New Payments Platform Australia Managing Director, Katrina Stuart.
"This is a significant achievement and testimony to the hard work and dedication of the Zepto team in getting to this major milestone. Meeting the technical connectivity and security requirements to connect to the NPP is not an easy undertaking, and is not intended to be, given the need to ensure the necessary safeguards required to operate a real-time payments system. The delivery of PayTo will revolutionise the way bank accounts are used for payments, and we look forward to working closely with the Zepto team as they bring their PayTo offering to market."
"This is history in motion, and yet another milestone helping us redefine what is possible with payments," said Zepto CEO, Chris Jewell.
"It means we now have access to Production and can begin Live Proving. It means we have certainty around getting to a commercial Go-Live position for PayTo in February 2023. It means a lot is what it means," enthused Chris.
Even though this is a significant moment for Zepto, its customers and prospects, it is just a waypoint on a much longer journey.
"Getting here has taken enormous effort from so many people. It's the culmination of incredible software dev work, hardware work, and all the contributions from teams right across Zepto," said Tom Campbell, Product Manager leading Zepto's PayTo project.
"Being notified by Australian Payments Plus that we'd successfully met the admission eligibility requirements pursuant to the NPP regulations, and that SWIFT had given us the green light was a moment we won't forget in a hurry. It's incredible to think that Zepto now sits alongside major Australian banks for PayTo, directly connected to the NPP, and we are the first non-bank to do that. This is our ticket to play."
"For PayTo, direct connectivity means we can provide our customers with a best-in-class service. It means we have huge control over our journey with PayTo from here. We are not simply a pass-through conduit relying on 3rd-parties for updates, access and notifications. We have a seat at the PayTo table, and are plugged directly into the source. We can detect issues directly on the network, and can respond in real time. Importantly, too, we can take our customers on the journey with us and build uniquely customised solutions for their specific business use-cases and verticals," said Tom.
Tom also pointed out additional benefits to Zepto customers who choose to use Zepto's CI flow for PayTo.
"As a Zepto customer you have choice. If you’re using our PayTo aggregated settlement flow you have access to all our APIs. That opens up a world of flexibility enabled by whichever payment ‘lego bricks’ you choose to assemble for your Zepto payment solution. When you’re leveraging Zepto’s full solutions set, you can take things to another level. You can collect money into float accounts at specific times of days, and later sweep that money to your preferred destination account at different times of the same day. As a Merchant, you suddenly have an exciting array of applications available to improve customer experience and business operations through customised Zepto payment flows."
With Zepto you can choose your own payments adventure, and create your perfect payment environment with granular and accurate reporting all driven programmatically by a flexible and robust API.
Zepto's simple-to-use API is engineered for great developer experience and ease of integration.
PayTo is a registered trademark of NPP Australia Limited.
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