As Split Payments evolved, it became clear that the business name was more a reflection of where the business had come from, not where it was headed. The word Zepto had been bubbling away in the mind of company founder Trevor Wistaff for a while and, as we considered other names, we kept returning to it.
A zeptosecond is a trillionth of a billionth of a second. Zepto speaks not only to speed of innovation and real-time payments, but also of precision. It’s a fitting moniker for us.
So, on the early evening of 31 August last year, after a few months of incredible work by the Zepto team and our creative agency, the company’s 40 or so people gathered online for the internal Zepto brand launch. It was a great occasion, and we had high-hopes for where the new brand would take us. Here’s how we reported it at the time.
Little did we know quite what that year ahead had in store.
Just weeks later in September 2021, Zepto became Australia’s 16th Accredited Data Recipient [ADR] under the ACCC’s Consumer Data Right [CDR], and the first non-bank payments provider with this accreditation.
In October, we placed 2nd at the Australian Financial Review BOSS Most Innovative Companies Awards, and became the first non-bank FinTech approved to connect directly to the New Payments Platform [NPP] as a ‘Connected Institution’––an ambitious, strategic play that will open a world of opportunity to Zepto and its customers for years to come.
Company founder Trevor Wistaff, was named Fintech CTO of the Year at the 6th Annual Fintech Awards, and CCO, Carolyn Breeze took out Fintech Leader of the Year at the Women in Finance Awards.
In March we welcomed a Series A investment of $25 million from AirTree Ventures and Decade Partners which will accelerate our growth here in Australia and international markets.
In May, we sponsored the NPPA’s inaugural More Than Just Speed real-time payments summit in Sydney, participating in and moderating panels, as well as activating a PayID-powered real-time fundraising platform that raised more than $4000 for Disaster Relief Australia’s flood appeal.
We partnered with our friends at Basiq, helping them deliver a 'Smart Payments' solution that brings data and payments together on a single platform to help supercharge Fintechs launching new services.
Our presence was felt in the halls of power as we headed to Canberra for the Tech Council of Australia’s Parliamentary Innovation Showcase at Parliament House, and attended a post-budget discussion with the Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy, and the Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business. In August, Zepto CEO Chris Jewell presented to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Payments Systems Board in Sydney.
And on that very same day, Zepto took out the Best Innovation in Payments award at the 7th Annual FinTech Awards.
As of 30 August 2022, Zepto had registered 1.35 million of the 11.88 million active PayIDs in Australia––that’s more than 11% of all existing PayIDs. We are blown away by that.
We are also blown away by the role our customers have played in shaping the business we have become, the solutions we’re creating, and the influence they’re having on our product and strategic roadmap.
We are proud of more than just those achievements, moments and underlying numbers. The contribution that each Zeptonian has made to The Zepto Way through the last 12-months has been remarkable.
Happy 1st Zeptoversary, everyone.
Zepto’s first year has been a remarkable one. By every possible measure, we are a different business to the one that emerged from Split Payments after a rebrand in September 2021. Here are some reflections of that year from leaders across the business.
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2022 has been a huge year for Zepto. It has seen investment, immense growth and innovation––the kind of innovation that helped deliver this gong at the 7th Annual FinTech Awards. And we couldn't be prouder.
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