Nuvei Adds Australia As It Expands in Asia-Pacific And Readies Paya for Overseas Duty

The major Canadian processor Nuvei Corp. on Sunday announced the next step in its international expansion with the news that it has begun operations in Australia to process e-commerce traffic. The move follows a trend as North American processors master overseas payment methods and look to compete with local providers.

Montreal-based Nuvei’s latest news also follows the company’s U.S. expansion with its $1.3 billion acquisition of Atlanta-based payments platform Paya Holdings Inc., a deal that closed last month and one that will play a role in the company’s international strategy, officials say. The move into Australia represents Nuvei’s third thrust in the Asia-Pacific region, as the company last year began processing in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The Australian venture will support local acquiring of debit card and credit card transactions but will also handle local payment methods, Nuvei says, including the country’s New Payments Platform. That payments rail, launched in February 2018 by the Reserve Bank of Australia, enables account-to-account transfers in near real time and with accompanying remittance data. Nuvei processes in-store transactions only in North America so far, but plans to begin offering them in Europe this year, a spokesman says via email.

Nuvei sees its support of local payment methods as a point of differentiation as the company pursues international markets. “Being able to support merchants in Hong Kong, Singapore, and now Australia with local acquiring solutions demonstrates our commitment to our customers’ growth,” said Philip Fayer, Nuvei’s chairman and chief executive, in a statement. Australia accounted for $41 billion (U.S.) in e-commerce volume last year, according to Savvy, an Australian online financial broker.

The company says it has already received necessary licenses from networks and regulatory agencies to support processing for local payment methods in Australia. “We know the role local acquiring plays in payments optimization,” Fayer added in a statement. The company says it can process 150 currencies and more than 600 alternative payment methods.

International expansion will be a priority for Nuvei in 2023, the company says, especially now that the Paya deal has been closed. “Paya’s business is additive to Nuvei and will strengthen our U.S. footprint, and the deal also enables us to roll out the Paya product globally,” the Nuvei spokesman says. “We also see [Latin America] as being an exciting market we’re keen to penetrate further in 2023.”