Payright, an Australian payment plan provider developed for merchants

Payright has raised AU$55M in total. We talked with Piers Redward and Myles Redward, brothers and founders of Payright.

PetaCrunch: How would you describe Payright in a single tweet?
R&R: Payright is a buy-now, pay-later provider with products that make purchases more affordable, by spreading out the cost over time, without ever paying interest. Payright is aimed at consumers buying bigger ticket items that are more-considered purchases.

PC: How did it all start and why?

R&R: Established by brothers Piers Redward and Myles Redward, Payright was founded in 2016 with the vision of changing the way customers pay for their products and services.
We both come from consumer finance backgrounds and collectively we have over 25 years of experience in the financial market. We established Payright after identifying that a large number of merchants and retailers with higher price point products and services were being under-serviced by other buy now, pay later providers, and outside of retail, other sectors such as photography, health and beauty, and home improvement further represented an under-serviced space.
We developed the Payright platform for merchants to accelerate return-on-effort by offering a buy now, pay later flexible payment option at the point of sale (be it in-store/clinic, in-home or on-the-go) to their customers, making higher price point products and services – transactions typically around $1,000 and up to $20,000 – more affordable by spreading the cost of purchases over time, without ever paying interest. Merchants are paid upfront and in full on the same day and Payright manages the consumer’s repayments.
Consumers are wanting more choice and flexibility in the way they shop and pay for products and services and we are seeing an increasing societal trend for spreading the cost of purchases and larger living expenses – consumers are moving away from credit cards with high fees and embracing more cost effective services such as Payright and other buy now, pay later products. With consumer confidence in alternative payments such as Buy Now Pay Later steadily increasing and more traditional payment methods such as credit cards and personal loans contracting, we are confident with the future of this category and we expect to see this trend continue into the future.
PC: What have you achieved so far?

R&R: Innovation is fundamental to Payright’s business. We recently released two new modules – payments and e-commerce – and unveiled our new branding and visual identity.
The Payright payments module is an innovative technology stack integrated into its proprietary system. The main benefit of the payments module is automation – it is fully integrated, touch-free, quick and in real-time. Automated processes include end-to-end payments processing, direct debit payment set-up, scheduling workflows such as monthly repayments, early-stage collections, as well as SMS and email reminders to customers, and payment settlements for merchants via automated batch payments.
We recently announced our move into e-commerce enabling accredited merchants to add the payment option to the checkout in their online store. Customers will now be able to select Payright at the online checkout allowing them to opt for the flexible buy now, pay later payment option for their purchases. The functionality is built directly into the platform giving Payright access to thousands of merchants across its target market.
Our new branding and visual identity represent Payright’s company values and ethos of ‘Make easy happen’. As consumer behaviour is increasingly shifting towards buy now, pay later and away from credit cards, we aim to educate and build the Payright brand to resonate with target merchants and consumers. Featuring a new suite of logos and website, the rebranding reflects the transformation of Payright, and visually and verbally differentiates the brand between other buy now, pay later players in the market.
In its first three years of lending, Payright has acquired over 1,500 merchants with around 100 new merchants joining the platform every month and written 22,000 plans totalling approximately AU$55 million. Payright’s end customer base is around 24,000 and the company is targeting $100 million in volume in FY20. The Payright team has expanded from three people to over 40, including a dedicated sales, technology and integration team, operations, legal and compliance, and finance teams.
We have also been recognised locally and globally – Payright was recently awarded a Gold Stevie in the International Business Awards and we have been a finalist in the Fintech Business Awards 2019 and Australian Business Banking Awards 2019.

PC: How will you use your recent funding round?

R&R: We have raised over AU$55 million through a mix of debt and equity, with around AU$27 million secured in the past 18 months. We are in discussions to accelerate our growth profile and the latest capital raise will be used to fuel Payright’s next phase of growth, expand operations and enter into new markets, with the first move into the New Zealand region in the coming month, as well as continued investment in technology.

PC: What do you plan to achieve in the next 2-3 years?

R&R: We see a clear growth in the buy now, pay later space with a $300 billion opportunity in the addressable market. We’ve grown quite quickly in a short amount of time with a period of substantial growth of near-doubling of revenue quarter-on-quarter – we have grown sales each month by over 80 per cent (month-on-month) and also secured a sophisticated funding line.
The next 12 months will be about scaling the business and looking at international expansion with the first move into the New Zealand region in the coming month. On a more strategic mid to long term horizon, we are looking at AU$200 million in volume annually.