KPay wins Australian licence as merchant push expands

KPay has received an Australian Financial Services Licence for its local subsidiary, one year after launching in Australia.

Granted by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to KPay Merchant Service Australia, the licence authorises the business to issue non-cash payment products and provide general advice on those products to retail and wholesale clients.

KPay is also expanding its merchant offering in Australia with a new generation of point-of-sale hardware and software, alongside KFund, its financing product for small and medium-sized businesses.

Since entering the market, the fintech says it has signed more than 4,000 SMEs across food and beverage, retail, hospitality and professional services. The group operates in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, and says it serves more than 100,000 merchants across the region.

Merchant push

The Australian business has focused on merchants that typically rely on separate providers for payments, point-of-sale tools, reconciliation and customer support. Its platform combines those functions in a single service.

According to KPay, merchants using the platform settle funds about 15% faster than with older systems. The company says users also save time on reconciliation through real-time automated processing and can reach live support in under five minutes.

KPay says merchants active on the platform for more than three months recorded an average 73% increase in processed payment volume between their first and thirteenth weeks of trading. It said this reflected a shift in transaction volume from incumbent providers to its own system.

POS rollout

The latest point-of-sale products are aimed at Australia's food and beverage sector. KPay says the systems are designed to connect in-store and online sales, support different payment methods and currencies, and let merchants manage sales, stock and customer information through one platform.

The licence marks an important step for a fintech seeking a long-term position in Australia's payments market. An AFSL is a key regulatory approval that allows financial services firms to offer specified products and advice under ASIC oversight.

Davis Chan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KPay Group, said the Australian market had been central to the company's regional plans.

"Australia has been a strategically important market for KPay from the outset, and our first year here has exceeded our expectations. We entered with a clear purpose: to give Australian merchants access to the same high-quality, integrated business solutions that have helped our customers thrive across Asia-Pacific. The grant of our AFSL is an important regulatory milestone that supports the next stage of our Australian business. As we step into Year Two, we are better equipped than ever to support Australian businesses with the tools, financing, and regulated infrastructure they need to grow."

The wider group raised USD $55 million in a Series A funding round in 2024, which it described as the largest in the global payments sector that year. It has also received recognition including a Good Design Award in Japan and a top ranking in LinkedIn's startup list for Singapore.

In Australia, KPay says it has continued to invest in local hiring, account management and compliance as it builds its presence. The licence adds a regulatory base to that expansion as competition for small-business payments and software services intensifies.