Change Financial insiders expand share holdings

Key insiders at ASX-listed fintech company Change Financial Limited (ASX: CCA) have signalled their confidence in the company's prospects with sizeable increases to their shareholdings over the past year.

The rise in insider holdings arrives as the CCA's steps up overseas expansion plans to expand into the North American fintech market.

Insiders expand share ownership

Buying of CCA stocks by company insiders has increased significantly in the past year, according to data from Simply Wall St.

At the end of January, US-based fintech entrepreneur and investor Michael Giles purchased 11,198,524 CCA shares for a consideration of $553,611.

The January share purchase was part of $6.9 million in new funding led by Giles, to help drive CCA's expansion into the US digital and card payments market.

Giles first acquired an equity position in CCA in 2020, with the latest round of funding raising his stake in the company to 19.99%.

'I have been a small investor in Change since 2020 and I believe that now is the right time for the business and myself personally to make a meaningful investment and time contribution to the company,' Giles said in a statement.

'As a founder of several API-based fintech companies, I know all too well the time and effort it takes to develop and commercialise new financial technologies, typically several years and many millions of dollars.

'I will be contributing my efforts to accelerate the adoption of Change's payments as a service platform, especially in the US market.'

Giles is a veteran of the fintech sector, who first achieved renown as the founder and CEO of Third Party Technologies. In 2019, Third Party was acquired by Jack Dorsey's mobile payments compnay Block (formerly known as Square).

Giles has since pursued investments in over 40 fintech companies, including Moov Financial and Power Finance.

Giles is not the only CCA insider to raise his holdings in in the fintech company. In May, independent Non-Executive Director Edward Gobler purchased 520,883 shares for a consideration of $24,999.

Change Financial targets North American market

Brisbane-based CCA bills itself as a provider of Payments as a Service (PaaS) solutions to enterprise clients and financial institutions, providing them with the tools and infrastructure for the creation of their own customised payments systems.

The company's payments platform Vertexon faciliates the provision of physical and digital card solutions to the customers of client enterprises via integration with their own core systems. Features offered by Vertexon include Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL).

In 2022, CCA entered an exclusive six-year direct issuing partnership deal with Mastercard in Australia and New Zealand. CCA is also a Mastercard partner for card issuance in the US market.

CCA is now focused on growth in the North American fintech market and uncovering commercial opportunities in the demandfor upgrades to antiquated legacy systems.

'The US is a key market in the global financial system, but legacy infrastructure, market fragmentation and a lack of competition have so far restricted the take up of modern payment systems compared with other countries,' said CCA's former CEO Alastair Wilkie at start of 2023, just prior to this resignation in February.

'Times are changing, and younger generations of consumers and businesses are looking for more efficient, seamless and secure payment solutions. This shift is creating a significant opportunity for Change, as we can provide US mid-sized banks and fintechs with a faster path to market for prepaid, credit and debit card products to better meet evolving customer expectations.'

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