Aussie FinTech Lender Waddles Into The Cloud

Australia’s alternative finance industry is flourishing, and amid a rise in the number of competitors, some players are beginning to benefit through partnerships from each other.

Australia-based financial technology provider Waddle, for one, is looking to invigorate the cloud accounting market through a new partnership with MYOB BankLink, according to an announcement made this week.

Waddle is reportedly aiming to help small businesses access a “bank-like” experience without necessarily working with a traditional financial institution. Part of that strategy, reports said, is a partnership with BankLink, enabling existing BankLink corporate users to access their Waddle loan transaction information from the MYOB platform.

“Waddle identified a broken billion-dollar Australian non-bank lending market that was in need of critical innovation to provide SMEs with a ‘bank-like’ experience without the compliance or administration,” the company said in a release.

According to Waddle, the partnership will provide small business borrowers with a touch-free financial services experience. Waddle will integrate electronic copies of loan transactions in real time, the company added, into the MYOB accounting platform. This allows SMEs to bypass the need for third-party bookkeepers or accountants and automates financial data documentation.

The alternative lender also said that it is working to integrate with other cloud-based accounting service providers in the near future. Waddle declined to specify other financial SaaS companies that it may link with, however.

The alternative lending and financial services market in Australia is on the rise, not only thanks to foreign businesses entering the industry, but through an expanding and developing domestic market. Foreign competitors like OnDeck have upped the game for alternative lending, while local players like Kikka or ThinCats Australia make names for themselves.

Cross-border collaborations are not new, however; MYOB owns a 30 percent stake in OnDeck Australia.



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