The Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV) share price had an impressive run on the market today, finishing 11.11% higher after rallying as much as 20% in early morning trade.
Novatti is in the business of digital banking and payments. Through technology, the company aims to position its customers to thrive in the growing cashless economy.
Novatti has a number of transaction processing services under its banner. This includes ChinaPayments (a bill payment service), Flexepin (an open-loop cash voucher service), and Flexewallet (for remittance and compliance services).
Overall, the company has a wide range of software solutions in the banking and payments space, including consumer digital wallets, mobile money, and voucher management systems.
Why did the Novatti share price jump today?
Well, this morning, Novatti announced it has partnered with Alipay to enable in-app BPAY bill payments via its ChinaPayments platform.
More specifically, the China-focused, cross-border payments platform, ChinaPayments, has been added directly to the main page of Alipay's app. As a result, Alipay users will be able to directly pay their Australian bills within the app.
For some background, Novatti launched ChinaPayments in early 2018 as a first-to-market platform enabling Chinese residents to pay Australian BPAY bills using Chinese currency. So, for example, a Chinese student might use the platform to pay for things like education fees, utilities, rent, and phone bills.
Novatti believes the platform is an innovative solution that enables Chinese residents to pay their Australian bills easily, while also improving the cashflow of Australian billers through on-time payment.
According to Novatti, more than 500 BPAY billers have received payments through the ChinaPayments platform over the past year.
Commenting on its partnership with the Chinese payments giant, Novatti's managing director, Peter Cook, said:
"Novatti has enjoyed a constructive partnership with Alipay, a global major third-party mobile and online payments platform. Our close co-operation has led to the integration of ChinaPayments into the Alipay platform and validates our strategy of working with tier one providers."
Mr Cook closed out his comments by stating that the integration into Alipay has led to an immediate increase in consumer enquiries, social media interaction and ultimately, more transactions on the ChinaPayments platform.
The Novatti share price closed at 25 cents today, taking the company's market capitalisation to around $46 million.
