Businesses Can Find Innovative Banking and Payments Solutions Under One Fintech’s Roof

In a Nutshell: One of the first tasks on a new business’s to-do list is to establish a relationship with a bank. But fintechs like Zeller can offer innovative financial tools that exceed a business’s expectations. Zeller’s financial and payments solutions bolster a business’s bottom line. Its card products help business owners manage employee spend and create actionable reports.

Certain technological innovations were intended to improve our lives but have instead introduced a level of complexity to them. When I was young, the TV remote had three buttons — one to turn the monitor on and off, one to scroll up through channels, and one to scroll down. Now, my television remote looks like something Capt. Kirk would use to command the USS Enterprise.

Collecting customer payments used to be a simpler task for businesses. People once paid for goods and services with cash. But times change, and advances in technology have paved the way for consumers to pay in a variety of ways, including credit and debit cards and account-to-account solutions.

That means that a business that once only required a cashbox and a safe place to store it to accept payments from their customers, now needs a variety of payment-acceptance tools. For business owners that already have a lot on their plates, keeping up with the pace of payments innovations can be a tall task. 

Zeller is a one-stop-shop for merchants, providing payments and other financial services solutions that help businesses manage their money. We spoke with Joshua McNicol, Zeller’s Director of Growth and Communications, to learn how the company’s tools can benefit emerging and established businesses.

Zeller is based in Australia. McNicol told us businesses there have historically engaged separately with a bank, a payment provider, and an invoicing software company. Zeller launched in 2021 with a goal of bringing the services those entities offer together under one provider. 

“There are some businesses that had to have five to seven disconnected solutions or pieces of software or technology just to manage their finances,” McNicol told us.

Not only did Zeller aim to streamline those solutions, the company sought to make its services affordable. McNicol told us the company does not charge monthly fees or lock its customers into contracts. 

Zeller has come a long way since it formed. McNicol told us the company works with more than 75,000 businesses in Australia. 

“We take payment terminals, debit cards, expense management tools, corporate cards, transaction and savings accounts, and online invoicing and combine all those things together into one account,” McNicol told us. “Having an alternative provider that’s fully digital is something that’s quite unique in Australia. We work with small businesses, like coffee shops and butchers, up to very large brands, like Domino’s and Baskin-Robbins.” 

I got lost once when trying to find a restaurant that was less than 50 miles from the town I was in. This was before the internet, so I had to rely on a physical map to find my way. As I looked at the map, I marveled at how sometimes it can be a challenge to travel a relatively short distance.

Business owners who want an integrated financial services platform may shudder when they think of all the time it’ll take them to move their existing processes to a more advanced solution. But Zeller provides an expedited onboarding experience. 

McNicol told us that Zeller’s research reveals that banks in Australia ask businesses to provide between six to eight pieces of physical documentation before allowing them to open a business banking account. But businesses don’t need to visit a physical branch or submit much documentation before enrolling in Zeller’s solutions. The company has digitized its onboarding process.

“We make sure that the whole onboarding process is as seamless as possible because the harder you make it, the more people drop off,” McNicol told us. “So we have a team of product managers and engineers that are constantly assessing every step a customer takes when signing up.”

It’s easy to miss the details in a process when we’re in a hurry. But when it comes to financial services, overlooking even a relatively minor detail during customer onboarding can lead to security issues.

Zeller employs dedicated onboarding teams to manage every aspect of financial security, from chargeback support, to 24 / 7 fraud detection. McNicol told us that human expertise works hand-in-hand with machine monitoring and learning to monitor everything from know-your-customer to cardholder security. 

I used to think investing in the stock market was like gambling. I thought investors put their money into a stock and hoped the company they invested in turned into the next big thing, making them rich in the process. It wasn’t until I spoke to a seasoned investor that I learned about the importance of diversifying your investment portfolio.

Diversification can also be important to a business’s ability to sustain profits over time. McNicol told us Zeller works with many different types of businesses. 

The company engages with entrepreneurs who are attempting to turn a hobby or a side hustle into a full-time endeavor. Many new businesses turn to Zeller because they want an all-in-one digital solution. McNicol told us entrepreneurs want to be able to manage their business’s finances from an app on their smartphone.

Zeller also works with established mid-sized businesses that have more than one location.

“The core of our business are those companies where the owner is wearing many hats and managing accounting, marketing, financing, sales, and product development,” McNicol told us. “Those owners are attracted to us for our payment processing, but as they explore what we have to offer, they realize we can provide better services than their bank can. Naturally, the number of our products that they use grows over time.”

Enterprise businesses, including companies operating in countries worldwide, also turn to Zeller for its innovative products. McNicol told us large companies aren’t as price sensitive as smaller ones — they’re interested in solutions that can help them advance their strategy.

Zeller designs its products so customers can begin using them without training, but the company provides customer support to businesses that need it. 

“If someone wants to sit on a call with us and have a demo of how things work, we can offer that,” McNicol told us. “We also have account executives that can visit a business and show them how our payment terminals and other solutions work.”

A business that needs a way for its employees to access company funds can use Zeller’s debit card. Business owners can store company funds in one of Zeller’s transaction accounts and access them with the card. 

Zeller allows businesses to order an unlimited number of physical debit cards. Businesses that need to extend purchasing power to an employee who doesn’t have a physical company debit card can instantly create a virtual card through Zeller’s app. 

Most people who have a bank account are familiar with debit cards, and they may think they know everything there is to know about them. But McNicol told us Zeller’s debit card comes with functionality that allows businesses to manage their expenses more effectively.

“You can add tags to debit transactions that will feed through into your accounting software to help you classify expenses,” McNicol told us. “That allows you to start to see reports in real time that show you whether you’re spending a lot of funds at one particular retailer or supplier. The solution’s designed to help you put a lot more intelligence behind your business spending.”

Zeller’s corporate cards allow businesses to control employee spending by setting limits on individual transactions and capping the total an employee can spend on a card. McNicol told us corporate cards are a great replacement tool for businesses still using a traditional expense-reimbursement process.

“So many businesses are looking at alternative and digital providers to get access to numerous financial services,” McNicol told us. “That really motivates us to keep delivering these types of products. It’s exciting to see Australian business owners quickly migrating to solutions like those Zeller provides that offer them convenience and flexibility.”