Afterpay becomes first fintech to join Westpac’s banking-as-a-service platform

Westpac has introduced local buy now, pay later player AfterPay as the first third party fintech to operate on its new banking-as-a-service platform.

The new digital platform uses cloud-native technology from 10x Future Technologies and allows Westpac to deepen its relationship with fintech partners as they tap into traditional banking services for the roll out of new products for their users.

Westpac CEO, Peter King, said: “Fintech innovation is changing banking in important ways and our new digital banking platform is part of our long-term strategy to support this trend and better respond to changing customer needs. The platform allows us to combine our banking experience with the innovation of our partners to support new customer experiences.”

For Afterpay, the arrangement will provide Westpac transaction and savings accounts and other cash flow management tools to its 3.3 million customers in Australia in Q2 2021.

Afterpay CEO, Anthony Eisen, says: “Afterpay is in a unique position to extend and deepen the relationship with our customers and help them to manage their money more seamlessly through savings and budgeting tools. For Afterpay, this is clearly just the beginning as we explore this opportunity globally.” he said.

Westpac’s general manager, corporate and business development, Macgregor Duncan, comments: “We have built the platform to allow us to collaborate closely with our partners, and we are excited to work with Afterpay to pioneer services relevant to, and reflective of, its customer base and unique business model.”