The Novatti share price emerged from a trading halt to rocket 54% higher this morning. At the time of writing, Novatti shares are trading at 28 cents apiece, up 49%, giving the company a market capitalisation of $94.2 million.

Novatti granted its banking wish

The ASX fintech share has been trying to get its hands on a banking license for some time now. It first submitted an application to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) in November 2019.

This morning, Novatti revealed that this license finally has been granted after years of waiting.

Specifically, Novatti's dedicated banking subsidiary, International Bank of Australia, has been granted a restricted authorised deposit-taking institution (RADI) license. This license allows holders to conduct limited business banking in Australia before meeting the requirements of the full prudential framework. 

Part of this restriction phase comes with the expectation that a RADI will progress to an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) license. As a result, the restricted phase is for a maximum of two years. After that, the RADI will either progress to an ADI license or the holder will exit banking.

Other ASX shares currently holding an ADI license include Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP), and Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR).

Novatti holds a 91% interest in International Bank of Australia and will tip in a further $5 million as part of a series A funding round to launch the banking business.

What does Novatti have planned for banking?

Novatti's managing director, Peter Cook, sees banking services as significant across card issuing, merchant acquiring, billing, and cross-border payments.

It underpins the infrastructure and capability of Novatti's core payments business. So, in turn, it brings the opportunity to increase margins.

What's more, Cook noted that International Bank of Australia has the advantage of leveraging Novatti's existing payments ecosystem and global footprint to help win customers quickly.

International Bank of Australia has its sights set on fintech customers, believing this market segment has been underserved by traditional banks.

Guy Carvalho, CEO of International Bank of Australia, commented:

For a long time, we have known that traditional banks have not been able to keep up with the requirements of the disruptive business models of fintechs, particularly those offering alternative ways to make or accept payments, domestically or internationally. IBOA will overcome this challenge, leveraging technology to enable the seamless end-to-end movement of money.

International Bank of Australia also sees significant potential in the underserved migrant sector. Commenting on the opportunity, Carvalho said:

The bank will have the advantage of being able to leverage Novatti's existing payments ecosystem and global operating base to reach potential customers overseas and enable them to set-up bank accounts and transact before they even set foot in Australia.

In its investor presentation, the company noted it would be the first bank in Australia to offer a service of this kind.

As an example, with a borderless bank account, it says customers would be able to pay for their university fees and apartment bond instantly before arriving in Australia, avoiding costly foreign exchange and international transaction fees.

Novatti share price snapshot

While ultra-competitive, payments and banking are big business, so it's no surprise to see the Novatti share price race higher today.

Today's surge has almost erased all of Novatti's share price losses this year. At 28 cents, Novatti shares are now sitting just 5% below where they ended 2021. But they're still far from the lofty heights achieved in mid-2021 when shares catapulted to around 80 cents.

In FY22, Novatti doubled its sales revenue to $32.5 million but extended its net loss to $16.6 million.

The post This ASX fintech just got a banking license, and its share price surged 54% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Market sentiment has been mixed today, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) printing a 0.22% loss at the time of writing.

But the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) has found its groove, jumping 1.43% in afternoon trade.

Here are three small-cap ASX tech shares making moves today after reporting full-year FY22 results.

Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV)

The Novatti share price is holding its ground today as investors digest the payment company's FY22 results.

At the time of writing, Novatti shares are trading at yesterday's closing price of 20 cents apiece after earlier recording a 5% jump to 21 cents a share around midday. This gives the company a current market capitalisation of $68 million.

In FY22, Novatti generated record revenue of $32.6 million, almost double the prior year. This came on the back of four consecutive record quarters of revenue.

During the year, Novatti completed an $8 million acquisition of ATX, a Malaysian fintech company.

It also acquired a 19.9% strategic stake in accounting software company Reckon Limited (ASX: RKN).

These acquisitions and associated capital raisings meant that the company's share count increased by 38% in FY22.

Across the year, Novatti burned through $13.0 million of operating cash flows and delivered an expanded net loss of $16.6 million.

Ansarada Group Ltd (ASX: AND)

Unlike Novatti, the Ansarada share price is finding itself under pressure today, sliding 6% at the time of writing to $1.72.

The M&A software company handed in its FY22 results this morning, headlined by a 44% jump in revenue growth. 

However, some of this growth was acquisitive after Ansarada completed the acquisition of TriLine GRC in late October 2021.

The company's customer count now stands at 5,251, up 52% from 3,997 at the end of FY21.

Ansarada remains debt free and generated $12.6 million of adjusted cash flow from operations in FY22, up 38% from the prior year.

Despite the positive cash flow, Ansarada delivered a net loss of $8.6 million as the company continues to scale.

The company noted that M&A volumes peaked mid-year and have been subdued since, impacting the start of FY23. It expects deal volumes to recover in the second half of FY23.

Credit Clear Ltd (ASX: CCR)

Last but not least, Credit Clear is another small-cap ASX tech share reporting results today.

At the time of writing, the Credit Clear share price has climbed 2.53% to 40.5 cents. This bumps up the company's market cap to $119 million.

On the surface, the company delivered rapid top-line growth in FY22, with revenue up 95% to $21.4 million. However, the majority of this growth was acquisitive. 

In February, Credit Clear finalised the $46 million acquisition of ARMA, a provider of debt recovery solutions in Australia and New Zealand. At the time, management said ARMA was slated to increase Credit Clear's revenue by 140% on a pro-forma FY21 basis.

The company ended the financial year with 696 active clients and 831,000 active customer accounts. Both of these metrics more than doubled in FY22.

For the full year, Credit Clear reported net cash operating outflows of $5.9 million. Its net loss expanded from $8.0 million in the prior year to $12.6 million in FY22.

The company ended the year with a revenue run rate of $37.4 million. It noted it was operationally profitable in May and June, which has continued into the first quarter of FY23.

The post 3 ASX tech shares on the move following earnings results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

While the broader market ended the month in the green – the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) and S&P/ASX 200 Index(ASX: XJO) each gained 6.3% in March – nearly all ASX-listed BNPL stocks slipped lower.

In fact, the market's favourite pureplay BNPL stock, Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P), recorded the biggest tumble of the month.

So, what dragged on some of the sector's biggest players in March? Let's take a look.

What drove ASX BNPL shares lower in March?

While ASX BNPL shares might have been hit with talk of inflation and interest rate rises, there were plenty of concrete happenings that weighed many down last month.

Firstly, shares in Zip and Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) both entered March fresh from the freezer after the former made a takeover bid for the latter.

The all-scrip deal – quickly accepted by Sezzle's board – will see investors receiving 0.98 shares in Zip for each Sezzle stock they own.

The Zip share price tumbled 6% on 1 March, while that of Sezzle gained almost 10%.

Zip also underwent a $148.7 million institutional placement to strengthen its balance sheet last month. Finally, it opened a share purchase plan that could raise $50 million.

Additionally, Sezzle made more headlines in March when it announced it would dump 20% of its workforce to save around US$10 million annually.

Over the course of last month, the Zip share price tumbled 32.5% while that of Sezzle fell 24.1%.

Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) was one of the only ASX BNPL shares to record a gain last month. It is, of course, the owner of former market favourite, Afterpay.

The Block share price gained 19.3% in March despite no news being released by the company. However, it was removed from the S&P/ASX 20 Index (ASX: XTL).

Speaking of index movements, shares in Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS) entered the All Ords last month. Meanwhile, those of Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) were booted from the benchmark index.

Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV)'s stock also went through an index shakeup – it was dumped from the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX).

The share prices of Latitude, Novatti, and Splitit fell 5.7%, 4.1%, and 11.1% respectively last month.

Finally, ASX BNPL shares Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) and IOUPay ltd (ASX: IOU) also slipped lower last month. They fell 2.2% and 5.5% respectively.

The post March was a lousy month for ASX BNPL shares. Here's why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The buy now, pay later (BNPL) company's shares closed today trading at 34 cents apiece, a 20% gain since the start of the week.

Let's take a look at what might be happening at the buy now, pay later company.

Director confidence

The Novatti share price is surging ahead this week despite no news from the company. However, a recent show of confidence in the company by CEO and co-founder Peter Cook is worth noting.

Cook has bought $316,667 worth of shares, acquiring 1,666,667 shares at 19 cents each, a market announcement on 4 January revealed.

His purchase involved exercising options that were not due to expire until 30 November. Following this gain, he now owns 13,174,571 shares in the company.

The Novatti share price gained 20% on January 12 alone. This major movement came on the same day as fellow BNPL company Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) announced Bank of Spain has approved its takeover by Block Inc (NYSE: SQ). The Afterpay share price gained nearly 5% yesterday. As my Foolish colleague James reported, Afterpay may not be trading on the Australian share market much longer.

In April 2021, Novatti shares surged 32% on the back of an agreement with Afterpay. Afterpay chose Novatti to provide its services in New Zealand.

In October, Novatti announced it would acquire ATX, a payments fintech based in Malaysia.

Novatti proved to be one of the best performing ASX BNPL shares of 2021, gaining 15% over the year.

Novatti share price snapshot

The Novatti share price has soared around 39% in the past 12 months and 13% in the past month.

For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned more than 12% to investors in the past year.

The company commands a market capitalisation of roughly $117.75 million based on the current share price.

The post The Novatti (ASX:NOV) share price is up 20% so far this week. What's going on? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In fact, only 2 stocks with market capitalisations of over $30 million recorded share price gains for the last 12 months.

Let's take a look at the winning BNPL stocks of the last 12 months.

The best performing ASX BNPL shares of 2021

Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG) – up 36%

The Fatfish share price bested that of its BNPL peers over the course of 2021.

Having started the year trading at 3.8 cents, it finished at 4.9 cents.

The major news that boosted the company's stock was, interestingly, not released by it.

According to the company, its share price soared 440% over 2 sessions, likely due to a sale made by its investee iCandy Interactive Ltd (ASX: ICI).

Additionally, Fatfish acquired Forever Pay, a stake in Pay Direct Technology, BNPL Next, and has launched its BNPL offering, PaySlowSlow in 2021.

Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV) – up 15%

The first half of 2021 saw the Novatti share price performing strongly. However, the second half saw it drop most of its gains to finish just 15% higher than it started.

The major news to move the company's stock was its agreement with fellow ASX BNPL company, Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT).

Afterpay selected Novatti to provide its services in New Zealand, sending the latter's shares 32% higher.

Having started the year trading at 25.5 cents, Novatti's stock finished 2021 swapping hands at 30 cents.

Ioupay Ltd (ASX: IOU) – down 21%

The Ioupay share price's major move of 2021 was an unexplained one.

In February it was handed a 'please explain' from the ASX after its stock gained 32% in a day. The company responded by saying it was as perplexed as anyone else.

Since then, its share price has once more slumped.

After starting 2021 trading at 19.5 cents, it's finished trading at 15.5 cents.

Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) – down 20%

The Humm share price outperformed many of its peers despite recording a 20% tumble.

It began the year trading at $1.13 and finished it at 90 cents.

The most recent news to rumble the company's stock was a mention of a potential takeover.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) – down 18%

Finally, ASX BNPL favourite Zip made it onto the podium – just.

The company's shares started 2021 swapping hands for $5.59 and have since tumbled to finish 2021 trading at $4.33.

Over the course of the year, Zip rebranded its previous purchase, QuadPay in the United States.

It has also acquired – or is working to acquire – inroads in Europe, South Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The post These were the 5 top performing ASX BNPL shares of 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In fact, no ASX BNPL shares recorded any major gains over the course of the month.

Let's take a look at the best performers of the ASX BNPL group.

5 best performing ASX BNPL shares of November

A quick note before we start: This list only contains shares with market capitalisations greater than $40 million.

Fatfish Group Ltd (ASX: FFG) – up 3.5%

For the second month in a row, the Fatfish share price has bested the performance of its peers to take out the crown.

While Fatfish might not ring any immediate bells for market watchers, the company owns and operates a retail BNPL offering, PaySlowSlow, in Malaysia.

The Fatfish share price surged 38% on 18 November as one of its major investments, iCandy Interactive Ltd (ASX: ICI), prepared to release exciting news.

Sadly, only a small percentage of those gains stuck.

The Fatfish share price ended October trading for 5.7 cents and finished November at 5.9 cents.

Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS) – down 1.4%

The second-best ASX BNPL share is Latitude. It operates BNPL offering Latitudepay.

The company didn't release any price-sensitive news to the market last month. However, its stock managed to dodge much of the carnage faced by other BNPL operators.

After ending October at $2.08, the Latitude share price finished off November at $2.05.

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) – down 11.7%

BNPL favourite Afterpay has ended up with November's bronze medal.

The big news from Afterpay last month was still its upcoming takeover by Square Inc (NYSE: SQ).

The company's stock has generally moved alongside its soon-to-be parent company's since the takeover was announced. Though, Afterpay faired considerably better than Square last month – the US-listed payment company's shares tumbled 18% in November.

Afterpay's last close of October saw its share price at $123.29. Sadly, at the end of its final session in November, it was going for $108.85.

Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) – down 17%

This BNPL company has officially lost the silver medal it earned for the month of October. Instead, it has come in as the ASX's fourth-best performing BNPL stock in November.

November was also a quiet month for Humm.

The Humm share price ended October trading at 88 cents and finished November at 73 cents.

Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV) – down 19.7%

Finally, just scraping into the top ASX BNPL performers for November in last place, is operator of software-as-a-service BNPL offering, and Afterpay's New Zealand partner, Novatti.

Once again, there were no big announcements from the company last month.

Its share price ended October trading at 43 cents and finished November at 34.5 cents.

The post Invested in ASX BNPL shares? These were the top 5 performers in November appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

A partnership between unlisted Australian start-up CryptoSpend and payment provider Visa Inc (NYSE: V) is set to make it all easier using standard point-of-sale terminals for the first time on the Visa network.

The revelation was unveiled in an interview published by Tuesday's The Australian Financial Review.

CryptoSpend gets first tick from Visa

There have been other debit and credit payment options for paying with Bitcoin before. However, this marks the first one for any of the major international card schemes in Australia.

So, who managed to convince a US$517 billion company to provide the offering in Aus? It was the duo of Andrew Grech and Richard Voice at CryptoSpend. The two met through their studies at the University of Technology Sydney around 3 years ago.

According to the interview, the global payment provider took a close look under the bonnet to be comfortable with customer privacy, security, and anti-money laundering obligations being met.

The start-up is already operating with the new payments platform (NPP). This enables CryptoSpend users to instantly move Bitcoin funds into Australian bank accounts. As a result, current customers can pay bills and other people through the app.

However, co-founder Andrew Grech noted the drive for a debit spending card:

We have a lot of demand for the card. If the market is green, someone could say it's time to spend some of my profits. On the other side of the fence, another person might say it's going to keep going up, I'll hold onto it. But we have seen more spending volume when the price is going up.

Making Bitcoin spending a reality

As well as partnering with Visa, CryptoSpend will be working alongside two other companies that will assist it in making the Bitcoin payment card possible.

Firstly, the cards themselves will be issued by Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV). In addition, BitGo will be onboard as the custodian of cryptocurrency holdings. CryptoSpend is expected to launch the offering to users of its app in September.

While Bitcoin is the hallmark of the offering, the debit card will also make seamless payments possible with Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP), Bitcoin Cash (CRYPTO: BCH), and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).

All of this is quite intriguing considering recent reports indicate 75% of Aussies think the Bitcoin bubble will burst.

The post Aussie startup set to launch first Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) payment card with Visa appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping:

BWX Ltd (ASX: BWX)

The BWX share price is down over 2% to $5.11. This morning the personal care products company announced the completion of the acquisition of vegan-focused online retail platform operator Flora & Fauna. Investors may be disappointed that the new acquisition is only on track to achieve the low end of the guidance range BWX provided when first announcing the deal.

IPH Ltd (ASX: IPH)

The IPH share price is down 5% to $7.56. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Goldman Sachs this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded the intellectual property services company's shares to a neutral rating with an $8.35 price target. Goldman made the move on valuation grounds.

Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV)

The Novatti share price has sunk 9% to 58 cents. The catalyst for this decline was the company raising $45 million at a 14% discount of 55 cents. This comprises a $40 million placement and a $5 million share purchase plan. These funds will be used to expand the company's presence in existing markets, enter new markets, and acquire a 19.9% interest in Reckon Limited (ASX: RKN).

QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE)

The QBE share price is down 1% to $10.62. This morning the insurance giant revealed that Strand Fitness and others have filed a representative proceeding against QBE Insurance in the Federal Court of Australia. Those proceedings allege that QBE wrongfully denied cover to certain policyholders during the COVID 19 pandemic for losses arising from business interruption. QBE advised that the allegations will be defended. Nevertheless, it is satisfied that its reserving in respect of Business Interruption claims remains robust.

The post Why BWX, IPH, Novatti, & QBE shares are dropping appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Despite starting the day in the green, Reckon shares are now swapping hands for 99 cents – 1.49% less than their previous close.

Reckon's small dip is nothing compared to that of Novatti shares. At the time of writing, the Novatti share price has fallen 9.84% to trade for 58 cents.

Its drop came after Novatti announced its placement and share purchase plan to raise capital to acquire a stake in Reckon was successful.

Quick refresher

Novatti entered a trading halt on Wednesday as it raised capital to fund its growth strategy, part of which was to acquire at least 15% of Reckon's outstanding shares.

The trouble was, Reckon had no idea of Novatti's plans, despite Novatti claiming it had already entered an agreement for the purchase.

Novatti's alleged agreement involved it buying at least 17 million of Reckon's shares for $1 each.

Up until that point, the Reckon share price's 52-week high was 90.5 cents and it had closed the session prior at 79 cents. The news caused the Reckon share price to gain 21% on Wednesday.

Novatti to buy stake in Reckon

Novatti announced today it will be acquiring a 19.9% stake of Reckon, spending around $22.5 million to do so.

Reckon is yet to respond to Novatti's assertion it's acquiring a significant stake in the company.

Novatti said its acquisition of 19.9% of Reckon will benefit it as there's a "tight synergy" between business automation software – Reckon's area of business – and payment processing – Novatti's focus.

Novatti raked in $45 million in its capital raise by offering 72.7 million new shares for 55 cents apiece.

The company will use the remaining $22.5 million to fund its growth strategy, other strategic acquisitions, and to progress its bank licensing application.

Reckon share price snapshot

While Reckon was confused by this week's events, the market took advantage.

The Reckon share price has gained 24% this week – boosting its year-to-date gain to 28%.

It is also 45% higher than it was this time last year.

Reckon has a market capitalisation of around $113 million, with approximately 113 million shares outstanding.

Novatti share price snapshot

Luckily for the the Novatti share price, it has heaps of room to fall before it hits red.

Currently, the Novatti share price is 122% higher than it was at the start of 2021. It has also gained 65% since this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $156 million, with approximately 244 million shares outstanding.

The post Here's why the Reckon (ASX:RKN) share price has gained 25% this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Reckon's dramatic day began before the market opened when Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV) announced it had agreed to acquire at least 15% of Reckon's outstanding shares. However, Reckon quickly declared it had no knowledge of Novatti's plans.

Reckon provides accounting and bookkeeping software, while Novatti is a payment services provider.

Let's take a closer look at the today's ASX soap opera. 

Stock market drama

This morning, Novatti announced it had entered into purchase agreements for the acquisition of at least 15% of Reckon's shares on issue.

However, Reckon responded only hours later, saying it had no idea Novatti planned to become one of its major shareholders.

According to Novatti, it has an agreement to buy 17 million shares of Reckon for $1 each.

Novatti's shares have been frozen today as it undertakes a capital raise. Some of the proceeds are intended to go towards buying a large stake in Reckon.

Peter Cook, Novatti's managing director, said:

We are delighted to have secured a strategic stake in ASX-listed Reckon…

We look forward to successfully completing the capital raising and joining the Reckon share register as a major shareholder.

Reckon, in turn, said it's "monitoring the progress of Novatti's proposed acquisition of their strategic stake".

However, the news that shocked Reckon has excited the market – likely due to Novatti's willingness to pay $1 per share. Reckon shares have spent the last 12 months trading for between 62.5 cents and 90.5 cents apiece.

Reckon share price snapshot

Currently, the Reckon share price has gained around 20% on the ASX in 2021.

It's also 38.68% higher than it was this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $104 million, with approximately 113 million shares outstanding.

The post The Reckon (ASX:RKN) share price is gaining as an ASX mystery unfolds appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the Novatti share price is 77.5 cents – 4.73% higher than yesterday's close.

Let's take a look at what Novatti does and what it's been up to recently.

What does Novatti do?

Novatti is a fintech business with a focus on payment solution software. It has previously partnered with the likes of Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Cathay Pacific Airways.  

Novatti was first listed on the ASX in 2016.

What's Novatti been up to this year?

The Novatti share price has been generally climbing since mid-February. Intitally, there was little news in the public domain as to why.

Then, in late February, the company announced Lifepay, a new fintech platform, was to be launched. Novatti, which owns 25% of Lifepay, was to earn fees from users' activities on Lifepay's platform.

While the Novatti share price hit a new all-time high on the back of the news, the gains didn't last until the session's close.

That was the beginning of a series of announcements from Novatti that saw its share price gaining (and sometimes falling) by relatively small increments.

Then, on 29 April, Novatti announced news that saw its shares gain 32.65% in a single day.

Novatti announced it had been selected by Afterpay Ltd (ASX: ADT) to deliver Afterpay to New Zealand. The agreement between Novatti and Afterpay would see Novatti using its licence with Visa Inc (NYSE: V) to issue digital Afterpay-branded Visa cards to New Zealand users.

The following day, Novatti released its quarterly report, which contained news of record revenue.

Despite the positive release, the Novatti share price fell 4.62% on the news.

Finally, on 3 May, Novatti announced it had partnered with international financial service provider BC Investment Group Holding. It is now ready to launch its banking business, subject to regulatory approval.

It's share price closed that day 4.84% higher than the previous session.

Novatti share price snapshot

So far, 2021 has been a stellar year for Novatti shares.

They are currently 196% higher than at the beginning of the year. They have also gained 220% since this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $186 million, with approximately 241 million shares outstanding.

The post The Novatti (ASX:NOV) share price has hit an all-time high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Let's take a closer look at the news the banking and payments company released this morning.

Ready for action

Novatti announced today it has partnered with international financial service provider BC Investment Group Holdings. As a result, Novatti is now in a position to launch its banking business, subject to regulatory approval.

As part of the partnership, BC Invest will provide Novatti's dedicated banking subsidiary, Novatti B Holding Company (NBHC), with $2 million in its first round of funding. In return, BC Invest will receive a 19.9% stake in NBHC.

In its second round of funding, BC Invest will provide NBHC with another $2.5 million. Novatti will also invest another $3 million into NBHC.

After the funding rounds, Novatti will hold a 57% stake in NBHC while BC Invest holds a 19% stake.

At this point, NBHC will have a post-money valuation of $35 million. This will allow it to begin its banking business immediately after it receives regulatory approval.

Novatti's application for a banking licence from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) was delayed due to COVID-19. APRA has now resumed operations as normal.

BC Invest will also pay $3 million for approximately 6.8 million shares in Novatti, which equals 43.9 cents per share.

BC Invest's CEO David Hinde said the company's investment in NBHC would provide customer access to Novatti's payment services before transition to the proposed digital bank's platform. It will also help the development of its own technology platform.

Commentary from management

Novatti Group managing director Peter Cook commented on the partnership, saying:

Developing Novatti's new banking business is a key pillar of our long-term growth strategy to provide value-add to our existing, established businesses…

[BC Invest's] capabilities will be invaluable in bringing income-generating products, including lending products, to market, which APRA has made clear is a priority for all banking licence applicants in addition to their deposit-taking credentials.

Novatti share price snapshot

The Novatti share price has performed well on the ASX lately.

Currently, shares in Novatti are up 144% year to date and have risen 273% over the last 12 months.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $144 million, with approximately 232 million shares outstanding.

The post The Novatti (ASX:NOV) share price is surging 7% today. Here's why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This comes following yesterday's tremendous performance, which saw the company's share price leap 31.6% higher by the closing bell.

ASX investor enthusiasm was sparked by the revelation that Novatti had been selected by buy now, pay later giant Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) to deliver its digital payment solution in New Zealand.

Below we take a look at the latest quarterly report from the digital banking and payments company.

What did Novatti report?

The Novatti share price is moving lower today despite the company reporting it earned $4.15 million in revenue for the quarter, its highest quarterly revenue yet. Year on year, quarterly sales revenue was up 37% and up 9% from the previous quarter.

Payment processing revenue was the stellar performer. Novatti reported in excess of $3 million in payment processing revenue. The quarter ending 31 March now makes 8 consecutive quarters of record payments from its processing revenue.

Novatti held $6.1 million in cash at the end of the quarter. The company stated it will continue to direct its cash flow towards accelerating its growth strategies. Its new banking business is a cornerstone of its long-term growth plans.

Commenting on the results, Novatti managing director, Peter Cook said:

It was clear across the March quarter that our efforts over past years to develop our digital banking and payments ecosystem is paying off, as new and innovative players continued to turn to Novatti to bring their fintech offerings to market. This was particularly evident with the launch of both LITT and Lifepay. This momentum also continued after the end of the March quarter as we announced the first monetisation of our partnership with global payments disrupter Ripple, which sees Novatti now process cross-border transactions for a leading remittance provider in the Philippines.

These partnerships all provide new potential review opportunities for Novatti going forward. We also continue to strengthen our digital banking and payments ecosystem to ensure we capture future growth opportunities.

Looking ahead, the company forecasts continuing tailwinds with the ongoing global shift to cashless and digital payments, along with the development of new and emerging markets.

Novatti share price snapshot

Despite today's slide, long-term Novatti shareholders will have little to complain about. Over the past 12 months, the Novatti share price is up 218%, far surpassing the 30% gains posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

Year to date, Novatti shares have continued to rocket, up 133% so far in 2021.

The post Why the Novatti Group (ASX:NOV) share price is tumbling 5% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The massive price movement comes as the company announces a deal with Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT). The Afterpay share price is 1.78% greater after today's news at $118.49. For contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 0.34% higher.

Let's take a closer look at today's announcement from the digital banking and payments company.

Afterpay partnership

The Novatti share price is surging after the company released a statement to the ASX advising it "has been selected by Afterpay" to deliver its digital payment solution in New Zealand. The initial agreement is for three years. Afterpay will pay Novatti for project setup as well as monthly recurring and transaction-based fees.

According to the statement, the deal will enable Novatti to leverage its license with Visa Inc (NYSE: V). Afterpay will issue "Visa card solutions…[including] enabling Afterpay's users to access Afterpay-branded payment cards in their digital wallet for use at participating merchants across New Zealand."

Novatti managing director Peter Cook said the deal with Afterpay shows the potential of the company.

This new partnership with Afterpay again highlights Novatti's digital banking and payments ecosystem in full operation, enabling innovative fintech companies to leverage our assets to bring new products and solutions to market. Working with Afterpay will see Novatti generate further revenue and value from existing assets, highlighting our increasing shift from a development to a monetisation phase.

Afterpay and Novatti share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Novatti share price has increased by more than 220%. Even before today's announcement, the company's value has been increasing on several different announcements, including its partnership with blockchain payment platform Ripple.

The Afterpay share price is around 320% greater than this time last year. It has, however, fallen by around 25% since reaching its all-time high in February this year.

Novatti has a market capitalisation of around $114 million and Afterpay's is $34 billion.

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What's driving the Novatti share price higher?

Novatti shares are firmly in the green as investors appear upbeat about the company's future prospects.

According to this morning's release, Novatti advised its recently signed partnership agreement with Ripple is now live.

Established in 2012, Ripple is a global payments company that provides real-time international funds transfer using blockchain technology. Ripple's network comprises more than 300 customers across 40 countries and 6 continents.

Both parties entered into a partnership in December last year, enabling Novatti customers to access Ripple's services.

Initially, the aim of the collaboration was to target cross-border transactions between Australia and the South East Asia region. However, with its main focus on the Philippines, Novatti united with remittance service provider, iRemit, through RippleNet.

iRemit is the Philippines's largest non-bank, engaged in providing fund transfer and remittance services to overseas-based Filipino workers.

The deal is expected to generate several thousand transactions each month being processed by Novatti. This in-turn will lead to increases in revenues and margins for the company.

Novatti noted that further discussions are currently underway to add new South East Asia clients to its service.

Management commentary

Novatti managing director, Peter Cook commented:

Forming our partnership with Ripple was part of Novatti's broader strategy to develop a banking and payments ecosystem that enables our existing platforms to scale quickly.

The early success of Novatti's partnership with Ripple also highlights the benefits of our broader overseas expansion since the start of this year, with new licences obtained for the New Zealand market and Emersion now up and running in the US. As shown through Ripple, this expansion opens Novatti up to new revenue opportunities, and provides us with greater exposure to the global demand for digital payments that we expect to accelerate going forward.

The Novatti share price is up close to 300% in the past 12 months.

The post Why the Novatti (ASX:NOV) share price is soaring 5% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Let's take a closer look at what the digital banking and payments company announced.

What pushed the Novatti share price higher?

Investors were pushing the Novatti share price towards its 52-week high today as the company begins to unlock its growth potential.

According to its release, Novatti has successfully rolled out its software-as-a-service platform, Emersion into the United States market. This completes the next step in the company's international expansion plans to drive growth.

Emersion is a cloud-based subscriber billing, business automation and payments platform. It provides automated end-to-end business processes such as customer engagement, billing, collections, subscription management and payments, customer cash flow, and more.

Aside from the United States launch, Emersion is also available in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.

The platform was acquired by Novatti less than a year ago and has already made strides within the company. Revenue has consistently increased quarter-on-quarter, rising to more than $550,00 in the December FY21 period. In addition, recurring revenue has also surged, up almost 20%. On average, five new customers are secured each month, which represents a strong jump from the original two customers per month before the acquisition.

Addressable market opportunity

The managed global services market is expected to soar to US$329 billion between now and 2025. This reflects a jump of nearly 50% in the market in which Emersion operates.

Novatti noted that the United States market is significant, and several times larger than the Australian and New Zealand markets. This highlights the significant potential to capture new market share and amplify recurring revenues.

What did management say?

Novatti managing director Peter Cook commented:

Emersion's strong, ongoing performance continues to reinforce Novatti's strategic rationale for its acquisition last year. Emersion's customer base across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore provides a solid foundation to continue its international expansion, starting with this launch in the US.

Emersion's launch in the US comes ahead of significant growth forecast for its key market segments in the coming years. This presents a great opportunity for Novatti, with Emersion's full SAAS platform expected to deliver high-margin, recurring revenues with each new client.

The Novatti share price has accelerated in value over the past 12 months, gaining around 460%. Novatti shares are also up by more than 90% year to date.

The post Here's why the Novatti (ASX:NOV) share price climbed today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the digital banking and payments company's shares are down 6.4% to 43.5 cents.

Based in Australia, LITT is a fintech and social hybrid app that connects people through e-commerce, advertising, and digital payments. Users can earn digital cash by watching ads put out by local businesses on their newsfeed.

Basically, the company shares its advertising revenue with its members instead of social media influencers solely making money through posting content.

What did Novatti announce?

The Novatti share price is falling despite delivering a positive update to the ASX market.

In today's release, Novatti advised that it has added LITT to its ecosystem, creating additional revenue streams.

The company will provide LITT members with access to digital Visa Prepaid cards and instore and online payments networks. This is expected to push the interaction between social media and daily life transactions.

The collaboration will see Novatti earn revenue from project set up, transactions, and card-issuing services.

While the company did not disclose the revenue amount projected, it reminded investors that it was focusing on achieving growth. This encompasses its recently launched Lifepay and its Visa Prepaid cards which Apple Pay is now supporting.

More on LITT

LITT has more than 18,000 members and 500 local businesses in its growing portfolio.

Just last month, when Facebook banned news content in Australia, the company saw an 83% increase in new member sign-ups. Local business registering on the platform jumped 85%, highlighting a gap in the market.

Words from the managing director

Novatti's managing director Peter Cook commented:

Novatti's collaboration with LITT is another example of how we are creating new potential revenue opportunities by leveraging our existing digital banking and payments ecosystem.

This ecosystem has now helped propel several new and innovative businesses, including Novatti's Digital Payments Accelerator, Lifepay, with its commercial launch last week, and now LITT.

Each of these opportunities has tapped into Novatti's digital banking and payments ecosystem to bring an innovative new product to market quickly. They also further Novatti's strategy of connecting to new payment networks to drive overall growth while continuing to increase Novatti's B2C exposure.

About the Novatti share price

The Novatti share price has accelerated to more than 330% since this time last year. The company's shares increased sharply from the middle of February after strong investor hype.

Based on the current share price, Novatti has a market capitalisation of around $98 million.

The post Novatti (ASX:NOV) share price sinks 6% on collaboration news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Novatti has been in the news recently. Incredibly, the Novatti share price is now up 94% in less than a month. In fact, Novatti was a recipient of an ASX speeding ticket last week when its share price rocketed 38% in one day. At the time, the company claimed it had no idea why its shares were on fire.

But in terms of today's moves, the picture is far clearer.

Novatti announced this morning that a new product is launching that contains Novatti's technology.

Lifepay to launch in March

This morning before market open, Novatti announced that Lifepay, a "new, innovative fintech platform", would be launching. Lifepay's platform will be run by Lifepay Pty Ltd. Lifepay Pty Ltd is a private company that Novatti has a 25% stake in. According to Novatti, a recent funding round, which Novatti participated in, values Lifepay Pty Ltd at $5.125 million.

Lifepay is a platform that enables its users to manage personal finances and transactions. Customers of Lifepay can do this "simply and effectively" from their mobile device. The platform's services include digital banking (with access to a pre-paid debit card). Additionally, the platform offers payments using services like BPay or tap and go. It also offers a social dimension, enabling easy funds transfers between friends and family.

According to Novatti, the Lifepay launch is initially being restricted to a 'soft launch', with around 200 customers. The full launch is expected to take place "for early March 2021".

How will Lifepay benefit Novatti?

Novatti is set to benefit from this Lifepay platform in a number of ways. Aside from its stake in Lifepay itself, the company tells us that Novatti will, "earn fees from activity on the Lifepay platform, including compliance services, cross border payments, payment acquiring, and the issuing of Visa Prepaid cards, depending on take-up of the service".

Novatti's Managing Director, Peter Cook, had the following to say on the deal:

Novatti's strategy has been to develop a digital banking and payments ecosystem that enables innovative products to leverage Novatti's existing platforms to get to market quickly. This strategy also enables Novatti's platform to scale quickly, providing customer acquisition and value-add channels for our existing businesses, extending our reach into the B2C market, while generating high-margin revenues. The launch of Lifepay is an example of Novatti's ecosystem at play and highlights Novatti's broader shift from a development to a monetisation phase for its digital banking and payments platform.

Judging by the moves in the Novatti share price today, it seems investors have given this deal their blessing.

The post Novatti (ASX: NOV) share price hits new record high. Here's why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

These moves have prompted a 'please explain' speeding ticket from the ASX soon after lunchtime today. This is standard procedure form the stock exchange if a company experiences a seemingly unprovoked share price rise of that kind of magnitude.

In response, Payright issued a release in which it confirmed in rather direct language that it has no idea what would have caused this surge in share price and trading volume. Here's the gist of what Payright told the ASX: "No. The Company is not aware of any reason for the recent trading activity in the Company's securities".

The last market release that Payright gave the markets was back on 3 February. That release detailed a loan facility that the company has entered into, so we can probably assume that has nothing to do with today's moves. So what's going on?

FOMO for Payright shares?

Well, a number of companies in the same payments/fintech space as Payright have seen very similar moves to what thie company has seen today. Yesterday, we discussed how companies like Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU), IOUpay Ltd (ASX: IOU), and Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV) had all seen double-digit share price rises for no obvious reason. In fact, all 3 of those companies subsequently received speeding tickets from the ASX as a result. The share at the forefront of these rather strange moves appears to be buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P). Zip shares had a corker of a day yesterday, rising more than 17% (despite no major news out form the company). The shares added another 13% this morning before Zip itself got a speeding ticket of its own from the ASX.

These moves almost certainly have nothing to do with these companies' fundamentals. So perhaps investors are seeing some very committed momentum trading in this space and trying to buy in ahead of the curve. These kinds of things can set off a chain reaction of sorts as momentum investors try and jump on the bandwagon and make a quick profit before things cool down again.

The post Payright (ASX:PYR) shares get speeding ticket after 32% surge appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

So what's going on here today?

Novatti is a digital payments/fintech company. You might think that some kind of significant announcement from the company might have precipitated this dramatic jump in Novatti shares today. However, there is no major news out of the company today to speak of.

The company's last market-sensitive announcement (a quarterly update) came out on 29 January. Before then, on 22 January, Novatti announced that Apple Pay would now support its prepaid Visa cards. But that's now ancient history by ASX standards.

Something in the BNPL water?

Several companies in the fintech and buy now, pay later (BNPL) spaces have seen similar moves today. Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) was up a whopping 16.8% today for starters.

And two companies in Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU) and IOUpay Ltd (ASX: IOU) experienced such sudden and sharp rises that both companies were given 'speeding ticket' please explain notices from the ASX. That came after Douugh shares rose 50% at one point, while IOUpay shares were up close to 100%.

Unfortunately for Novatti, it now joins this club as well. Novatti was slapped with a speeding ticket of its own for today's share price efforts just after lunchtime. Novatti told the ASX in the publically-released letter that it was not aware of any information that could have contributed to today's share price moves.

The company stated the following on what it thinks might be going on:

Novatti notes that the payments and fintech sectors globally have seen significant growth and re-rating by markets, in particular as a result of COVID-19 and the rapid digital transformation of payments and financial services. Novatti's business has continued to grow strongly, as announced in the recent quarterly update which highlighted major business and financial progress…

For now, at least, no one has a better explanation.

The post The Novatti (ASX:NOV) share price rocketed 38% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.