CBA & Waddle team to enable digital lending offering to SMEs in Australia

By Gloria Mathias

x15ventures, a venture-scaling arm of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has entered an agreement to acquire cloud-based invoice lending platform Waddle, accelerating the bank’s ambition to provide working capital solutions for Australian businesses.

CBA has an existing partnership with Waddle through its Stream Working Capital product, which allows its business customers to unlock cash tied up in unpaid invoices with a digital cash flow solution connected to business accounting software like Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks.

Acquiring Waddle and bringing the technology in-house will enable CBA to accelerate the growth of its Stream Working Capital product while continuing to benefit from the first-class automation and flexibility the Waddle platform is known for.

CBA Group Executive Business Banking, Mike Vacy-Lyle, said acquiring Waddle further supports the bank’s focus on simplifying finance – making it easier for businesses to access funds through its Stream Working Capital product as well as providing the best digital experiences to its customers.

“Access to working capital is vital for many businesses and Stream Working Capital offers greater flexibility, simplicity and faster access to cash flow,” Vacy-Lyle said.

“We launched Stream Working Capital as a digital solution to use outstanding invoices as loan security, with the loan size reducing as invoices are paid. This digital end-to-end solution was a first for a major Australian bank.

“Through acquiring the Waddle platform, we can continue to provide the best integrated digital working capital solution in the market and support more of our customers with faster funding assessments and approvals. This is a positive step in helping more Australian businesses to maximise cash flow and drive business growth.”

Toby Norton-Smith, Managing Director, x15ventures, said the acquisition was a great opportunity to maximise existing CBA investments for the benefit of its customers.

“This will bring together a phenomenal product and distribution arm in Stream Working Capital, with the secure technology and operating environment of x15ventures, giving Waddle the flexibility and freedom to continue innovating at pace,” Norton-Smith added.