Change Financial provides positive trading update on the rollout of its Vertexon PaaS platform
ASX-listed Change Financial have provided a trading update on the rollout of its Vertexon PaaS platform in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
Change Financial CEO, Tony Sheehan said, “We have achieved several key milestones in recent months, the most significant being the completion of the migration of our NZ financial institution clients, signing Unity Credit Union as a new PaaS client in NZ, launch of our first PaaS client in Australia and the expanding rollout in the US.
“We remain focussed on driving growth through continued execution of our operating plan and delivering market leading solutions and services to our clients. It is pleasing to see the resulting improvement in financial performance and that Change will achieve record revenue in FY24 with PaaS volumes continuing to increase into FY25 as clients continue to be onboarded, building upon our increasing recurring revenue base.”
Growth in PaaS Revenues
Following completion of the migration of clients to the Vertexon PaaS platform, Change Financial now expects the already onboarded clients to deliver revenue in excess of US$3.2m (A$4.8m) per annum, an increase of more than 40% from initial estimates. With a number of NZ clients now fully onboarded to the Vertexon PaaS platform and the final 20,000 cards issued in late May for Change’s NZ financial institution clients, transaction volumes and resulting revenues (including interchange) are significantly higher than the Company’s initial expectations.
New PaaS client, Unity Credit Union (announced 30 May 2024), is expected to migrate cardholders to Change during H1 FY25 and is anticipated to deliver revenue in excess of US$2.0m (A$3.0m) per annum in addition to the already onboarded NZ clients.
Following completion of the Unity Credit Union migration, Change will be one of the largest non-bank issuers of debit cards in NZ.
Vertexon PaaS Metrics
Change Financial has now completed the migration of all debit cards for its first four NZ financial institution clients (First Credit Union, Nelson Building Society, Police Credit Union and Auckland Credit Union) which collectively represent approximately 45,000 accountholders. Approximately 20,000 cards were issued in late May and as such, Change expects a material uplift in card activations and a resulting contribution to PaaS volumes and revenue from June 2024 onwards.
The company also achieved another key milestone with the first cards now live in Australia and the resulting first transactions for HealthNow Australia processed. In addition, Change’s US clients, Rolling Thunder (LatinPay) and PlutusM (VirtCC), have completed onboarding and will now work through their own launch and rollout plans with Change looking forward to supporting the client’s growth.
Change Financial has now issued more than 55,000 cards in NZ, Australia and the US, with more than 27,000 cards activated (at the date of this announcement). Transactional revenues will continue to increase with the onboarding of additional clients and associated issue of cards. Unity Credit Union is expected to begin issuing debit cards on the Vertexon PaaS platform during H1 FY25, with Change’s prepaid card clients also continuing to progressively roll out cards.
The metrics presented below are global (Australia, NZ and US) metrics for Change relating to its Vertexon PaaS offering. Vertexon on-premise client metrics are not reported given the limited correlation between card and transaction volumes and resulting revenue.
Change Financial has remained focussed on delivering earnings accretive revenue growth in FY24.
Change Financial can confirm it has reached its target of completing the migration of all existing NZ financial institution clients by June 2024 and they are now making a meaningful contribution to revenue and EBITDA. The Company has also completed the launch of its first client in Australia with the Vertexon PaaS platform now fully operational in all key target markets.
As a result of the continued rollout of Change’s PaaS offering and improved financial performance, the company will achieve record revenue in FY24 with PaaS revenues continuing to increase through to the end of FY24. For FY24 May YTD, Change has delivered revenue (unaudited) of US$9.6m (A$14.5m) compared to full year FY23 revenue of US$8.7m (A$13.2m). The increasing revenue profile demonstrates the growth that Change can begin to deliver now the Vertexon PaaS platform is live and clients are onboarding and transacting.
Change Financial is targeting to achieve monthly EBITDA positive and operating cashflow breakeven run-rate exiting FY24.
