National Australia Bank has struck a multi-year deployment deal with merchant acquiring startup Pollinate and taken a stake in the UK-based fintech.
Pollinate offers a cloud-based technology platform for banks that is intended to compete with the likes of WordlPay, offering a merchant-friendly experience which includes payments, business management, marketing connectivity with consumers and charitable giving.
NAB is the second bank to take up the firm's technology platform, following RBS which rolled out the service under the Tyl brand in May.
Andrew Irvine, NAB’s group executive for Business & Private Banking, says: “Real-time data that delivers greater insights into what customers want, when and how they want it, can be transformative to a small business. Leveraging Pollinate’s platform, NAB will be able to give businesses the information they need to make decisions about their daily sales at their fingertips.”
NAB also joins NatWest, Mastercard, EFM Asset Management and Motive Partners as an investor in Pollinate, bringing the total amount raised to £70m.
Run by a team of executives including former Monitise chief Al Lukies, Pollinate says it is in advanced discussions with other leading banks in South Africa and Canada.