Following the successful growth of fintech PayBox in Israel, the next evolution localised for Australia, PayK is now available for download. The new platform is designed to ease consumer stress that comes with group money transactions.
After becoming a household product with over 1 million active users in Israel alone, and counting 20 percent of the banked population as frequent users, PayK founders Udi Libermann and Tomer Zussman entered a licensing partnership with one of Israel’s largest banks, Israel Discount Bank, in order to expand internationally as PayK.
“We saw Australia as a highly advanced economy with an extremely tech savvy population that’s very community focused, which is ideal for our service,” says Liberman.
How has PayK been received in Australia?
Being the first integrated group finance app of its kind in Australia, PayK has already attracted seasoned tech entrepreneurs and investors including Nathan Cher, who was an early-stage investor in Moula Money, Com Tech and OurCrowd. “I have no doubt that PayK can achieve in Australia and beyond what we saw in Israel. Australians are quick to adopt platforms that are convenient and free, PayK promises both and more,”says Cher.
High-profile tech leader, investor and founder & president of Payoneer, Yuval Tal is also backing PayK’s expansion. “It’s impressive how quickly the Israeli platform disrupted the crowded fintech market there. The model clearly resonates with user groups,” says Tal.
The international headquarters have opened in Melbourne. Leading operations and the go-to-market strategy is Sean Ickowicz, an early employee at Seek and responsible for leading international expansion at REA Group.
“The Australian market is primed for PayK. Where other fintechs miss the mark is catering to what banks already do well, but the reality is that people do financial dealings in groups or in a communal capacity. It’s early days but we’re already seeing traction from parents in class groups organising end-of-term teacher’s gifts,” adds Liberman.
How exactly does PayK work?
To remove the friction that comes with collecting funds in groups (sharing BSB’s and chasing people in person), PayK allows you to create groups from within your contacts. Each group member is prompted to contribute their share and the group creator watches as funds are deposited in real time, monitoring who has paid and who hasn’t, and then finally withdrawing the collected money into their nominated account.
“The many pain points in gathering group funds and collecting cash is a thing of the past. PayK is free and easy to set up and is as secure as AirBnb or Uber. Best of all it does the uncomfortable money chasing for you,” says Zussman.
PayK automates group money collections, such as coordinating 16 parents in a footy team buying an end-of-season gift for the coach. “ What used to take four weeks and lots of chasing was completed within minutes using PayK. It alleviated the embarrassment factor often associated with money collection from friends making for a seamless and transparent transaction. The ease of use was another clear advantage. Highly recommended,” says PayK user Clive Hendler from Melbourne.
Liberman and Zussman have forged relationships with Australia’s biggest banks and employed top tier fraud prevention systems to monitor each and every transaction in order to ensure users are afforded benchmark payment security and privacy .
PayK is 100% free and available for download on iOS and Android.
