Fat Zebra forays into Open Banking with the acquisition of Adatree

By Gloria Mathias

Australian FinTech Fat Zebra has announced the acquisition of Adatree, an accredited data recipient transforming data solutions within the Consumer Data Rights (CDR) framework.

Fat Zebra has collaborated with Adatree to enhance its payment services. This acquisition will enable the Australia-based FinTech to provide open data and payment services, further enhancing our offerings to benefit our valued customers.

Pred Dragila, CEO, and founder of Fat Zebra, expressed enthusiasm about the synergies between the two companies, stating, “Open data and open payments are the future of the financial landscape. This acquisition positions Fat Zebra to drive smarter, data-driven payments in Australia, offering enhanced services to our clients and partners.”

Fat Zebra, known for processing payments for over 30,000 SME and enterprise Australian merchants, boasts an impressive customer base, including PayPal, Macquarie Bank, Aussie Broadband, MYOB, and Zip. The company handles over 250 million e-commerce transactions annually in Australia, establishing its role as a major player in the payments industry.

Entering the world of Open Banking signifies an important step for the future of Fat Zebra, aiming to seamlessly integrate consumer data-driven services alongside its payment solutions. This move will give businesses a more robust future-thinking solution, providing greater insights into their payments and customers.

Jill Berry, CEO and co-founder of Adatree shared, “We are thrilled about this opportunity and what it means for our team, company, and product roadmap. Joining forces with Fat Zebra allows us to accelerate our mission of advancing open banking and data-driven solutions. This will enable the development of features to make payments smarter, showing immediate synergies and benefits with the companies joining.”

The acquisition aligns with the rapid progress of Open Banking, bridging synergies between data and payment companies. This collaboration sets the stage for a dynamic product roadmap, harnessing the strengths of both organisations to create solutions in the evolving financial landscape. Currently, Adatree is connected to 114 data sources, which cover 99.73% of the household banking market share. Open Energy has recently gone live with Australian energy companies in November 2023.