Name

Zai Payments

Legal name

Zai Australia Pty. Ltd.

Website

https://hellozai.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing Platform

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Credit Card Issuing (522210)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Marketplace & Platform Seller Payouts (FSAMAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bank-to-Bank Transfers & Pay-by-Bank (Consumer & Merchant) (FSAMAFAC), Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets) (FSAGALAB), Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) & Local Rails (ACH/SEPA/UPI, etc.) (CRAFALAG), A2A Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) (FSAMAFAB), Multi-Currency Accounts, Wallets & IBAN Services (FSAMAIAG)

Keywords

• Payment orchestration platform
• API payment processing
• Platform payment infrastructure
• Multi-party payment workflows
• Online payment collection

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Transaction and Processing Fees: Zai charges fees calculated on Item totals for payment processing. Platform fees are collected during the payment flow so platforms receive only the fees they charge for their service. Supports buyer/seller fees, payment surcharges based on payment method, and disbursement fees.
2. Platform Fees: Platforms can charge their own fees on both sides of transactions. Zai provides mechanisms for collecting these fees during payment flows. Supports fixed fees, percentage fees, minimum fees, and capped fees.
3. Card Processing: Fees associated with card payment processing through partnership with global card acquirer. Supports Visa, Mastercard, and American Express with network tokenization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Zai Payments provides an API-powered payment orchestration platform designed for platforms and marketplaces to collect, disburse, and manage end-to-end payment workflows. The platform supports multiple Australian payment rails including NPP/PayTo, BPAY, Direct Debit, and card networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) alongside fraud prevention, virtual accounts for automatic reconciliation, and hosted payment UI components.

Product overview

Zai Payments is a modular payment platform offering an integrated suite of payment collection, payout, and orchestration solutions. The core platform consists of Collect Payments, Make Payments, Payment Workflows, Fraud Prevention, Payment Data and Reporting, and API Integrations modules. Payment methods include PayTo (real-time via NPP), BPAY, Cards (Visa/Mastercard/Amex with 3DS2 and tokenization), and Direct Debit. Supporting infrastructure includes Wallet Accounts (with sub-wallets and stored value), Virtual Accounts (with PayID), User Verification (KYC), Hosted Fields/Forms (PCI-compliant UI components), Reporting API, Webhooks API, and Confirmation of Payee. The WooCommerce plugin extends the platform to e-commerce merchants. The platform is built on a RESTful API architecture with OAuth2 authentication and supports both sandbox and production environments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Collect Payments Payment collection solution enabling customers to quickly pay online via PayTo, BPAY, Cards, and Direct Debit payment methods for platforms and marketplaces.
• Make Payments Automated payout solution enabling businesses to pay individuals and entities on time via various payment rails including real-time payments, Direct Credit, BPAY, and Direct Debit.
• Payment Workflows Modular payment orchestration platform allowing businesses to create and customise any payment flow, including multi-party payments, with API-driven flexibility.
• Fraud Prevention Intelligent fraud detection and risk management solution featuring real-time fraud scoring, merchant underwriting, KYC review, daily transaction monitoring, chargeback management, 3DS2 authentication, and multi-factor authentication for dashboard access.
• Payment Data and Reporting Cloud-based reporting and analytics platform with Reporting API for embedding payment data into BI tools, real-time visibility dashboards, virtual accounts for automatic reconciliation, and multi-factor authentication.
• API Integrations Developer integration platform providing API integration for custom payment workflows and hosted form/fields solutions to reduce PCI compliance burden while accepting card payments.
• WooCommerce Payment Plugin Official WordPress/WooCommerce plugin enabling online stores to accept payments via Zai's platform including cards, PayTo, BPAY, and Direct Debit.

Quantifiable outcome

• Payment turnaround times reduced from 20 days to 60 seconds
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability1 record

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Global Card AcquirercoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with global card acquirer processing 40+ billion transactions and USD$1.7 trillion in payment volume annually. Enables enhanced card processing capabilities including 3DS2, Network Tokenization, Apple Pay, and Google Wallet acceptance. Transfer of card processing to new acquirer with encrypted tokens transferred in PCI DSS compliant manner.
• Cuscal LimitedcoreTechnology or IntegrationArrangement with Cuscal Limited, an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI), which holds the stored value as the ultimate holder. Cuscal provides the banking infrastructure for Zai's stored value wallet accounts.
• Currencyfair GroupcoreTechnology or IntegrationCurrencyfair Group provides Zai's cross-border payment services. Currencyfair Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, registered with FCA under TPR, and is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Currencyfair Australia Pty Ltd (ASIC AFS Licence No. 402709).
• Card Schemes (Visa, Mastercard, American Express)coreTechnology or IntegrationRegistered Third-Party Agent by Visa; adheres to card schemes' operating regulations. Subject to regular audits and reviews by Visa, MasterCard, and partner banks. Supports major card schemes for payment processing.
• NPP Australia LimitedcoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with New Payments Platform (NPP) operated by NPP Australia Limited. Enables real-time payments via PayTo and PayID services, operating 24/7 throughout the year.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Stripe: Global API-first payments platform serving platforms and marketplaces. Directly comparable product model (collect, payouts, Connect for marketplaces) and developer-led GTM, though at vastly larger scale and with global reach versus Zai's ANZ focus.
• Adyen: Unified global payments platform serving large enterprises and platforms with multi-party payment flows. Comparable in targeting marketplaces/platforms with a single API, but operates globally with much higher payment volume.
• Checkout.com: End-to-end payments platform built for platforms and marketplaces with fraud, payouts, and orchestration. Closely aligned on multi-party payment architecture and enterprise platform GTM, though globally distributed rather than ANZ-anchored.
• Airwallex: Melbourne-headquartered, Australia-originated payments platform offering collect, payouts, multi-currency accounts, and embedded finance. Highly comparable on geography, product breadth, and target customer (platforms/marketplaces), with stronger global reach.
• Pin Payments: Australian payment gateway serving online businesses with card processing and developer-friendly APIs. Direct overlap on geography (ANZ) and SMB/platform merchant focus, though narrower product scope than Zai.

Regional players

• Fat Zebra: Australian payment gateway and processor offering card acquiring and gateway services. Comparable on Australian market focus and payment processing offering, primarily serving merchants rather than platforms/marketplaces.
• eWAY (Global Payments): Long-standing Australian online payment gateway now part of Global Payments. Comparable on ANZ-focused payment processing for online merchants, though as a broader incumbent rather than platform-specialist.

Broad incumbents

• Braintree (PayPal): PayPal-owned payment platform for marketplaces and platforms with vault, payouts, and 3DS. Comparable on platform/marketplace orchestration and developer-first API, but as part of PayPal's broader payments stack.
• Block (Square): Broad payments and financial services platform offering card processing, payouts, and developer APIs across multiple geographies. Comparable as a full-stack payments platform, though with a much wider merchant and consumer product portfolio.

Emerging players

• Mangopay: European payment infrastructure provider purpose-built for marketplaces and platforms, offering escrow, multi-party payments, and KYC. Highly comparable on the marketplace/platform-specialist positioning and modular API, though primarily serving European platforms.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/wearezai
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hellozai

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zai Payments