Simone Joyce: Breaking into the US Fintech market with Paypa Plane

Simone Joyce CEO of Paypa Plane joins Dexter to share the good news of their US expansion.

In this chat we uncover:

• The challenges facing Aussie founders looking to launch in the US
• The opportunities for Aussie payments Fintechs in North America
• The US approach to regulation and how it fosters growth
• Getting the balance right between entrepreneurship, innovation and regulation in Aus
• Funding landscape down under
• Intersekt 2023

Find out more about Paypa Plane

** A call to arms.**

 Recent data shows the amount of Fintech funding in aus fell to 90% last quarter compared to the previous year.

I created this podcast to give a platform to Fintech founders to help promote their story to the world. Whilst we haven’t seen a 90% drop in listeners we have seen a drop. 

Fintech Chatter is in the top 1% of  downloaded podcasts in the world and one of the most shared podcasts on Spotify, so you’re already doing an amazing job, but if you could help us out just a little more I’d be forever grateful.

Please give us a share on your social media platforms. 

Connect on with Dexter Cousins on Linkedin

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Transcript

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Paypa Plane Expands in US Fintech

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to Fintech Jetta , presented by T1People leaders in Fintech executive search . Follow us on your favourite podcast player or Fintech Jetta TV on YouTube . Hello and welcome to another Fintech shot . This one is coming at you smoother than a coffee patron . I'm joined by my good friend , simone Joyce from Paper Plane . But before we chat , simone , I've got a little bit of a cold arms .

Speaker 1 0:38

Recent data shows that the amount of Fintech funding in Australia fell almost 90% Last quarter compared to the previous year . I create this podcast to give a platform to Fintech founders like Simone to help promote their story to the world . We'll listen to in over 40 countries and whilst we haven't seen a drop of 90% in listeners , we have seen a bit of a drop . So if you are listening , please give us a share on your social media platforms . Fintech Jetta is in the top 1% of the most shared podcast on Spotify and it's also in the top 1% of the most listened to podcasts in the world . So you're already doing an amazing job , but if you could help us just that little bit more , I'd be forever grateful , simone , welcome .

Speaker 2 1:28

Thank you , dexter , it's good to be with you again .

Speaker 1 1:31

I'm going to be a bit teary . Are we saying goodbye ?

Speaker 2 1:35

No , we're not . Do you know what I've spent the last few weeks saying to everyone ? I'm not going to the moon , I'm just going to work from a different office . It's fine , but just this weekend I said bye to my mum and some of my family and I was a mess . I'm like , oh , where's this coming from ?

Speaker 1 1:51

Yeah , yeah , yeah . Well , I totally in my text I would be tearing up Right .

Speaker 2 1:56

I know Well , don't you ?

Speaker 1 1:57

do that , but anyway , we'll keep our listeners in suspense . Share the good news .

Speaker 2 2:02

Oh right , I am relocating myself and my family to New York in order to establish Paper Plane USA , to look after some beachhead clients for us in that market and to think about establishing a support team to help support and grow that client base . I'm moving actually in two days , so it's coming down to the wire and I am feeling it today .

Speaker 1 2:28

Yeah , well , look , thank you so much for taking some time to join us . I invited you on the show because you know we've talked a lot over the years about the importance of international markets and fintechs in Australia . Looking to go international from day one , I thought this would be a great opportunity not only to share the good news , but just you know , maybe some of the experiences that you've had so far , you know any advice that you could give to founders . So I guess what really kind of stuck out to me is that you said there that you're going first of all to support some beachhead clients , which sounds to me like the ideal way of going and launching overseas . Could you tell us a little bit more about how that came about ?

Speaker 2 3:07

Yeah , sure . So I think that you're right , Dix do , when you say you know global from day one . But I will nuance that a little bit . Australia , for us , is a very good market and it's always going to be our headquarters , particularly in Brisbane , where our amazing team is all based at the moment . But for when we look forward into the future and we think about the partners and the shareholders that we've got , we know that we also need to be able to grow into new markets successfully in order to really fulfil the promise of the technology that we're building and the shareholders we've got . So we did a lot of I suppose , soul and globe searching to figure out where the ideal market was for us , and we had a combination of factors that we were really looking for . I originally thought a few years ago that it would be the UK , the global heartland of Mendec , but it's not quite the case for us . So I think that we're doing .

Speaker 1 4:04

He's going to deal with this ashes stuff , can you ?

Speaker 2 4:08

I thought it was your real investor . I went no move . No , no . Look , the UK is actually a lot more mature in some respects for the particular trend and trajectory of the market that we're looking for , and the US is right in a sweet spot for us . So look the reason that I'm going . We did a bit of scenario mapping for what typically happens when companies choose to do this . And some companies choose to find someone in market and deputize them and say look you're it . Build the brand , find the clients . That has some degrees of success , but not necessarily for the client base that we're working with . The second option is that you do part-time split , so three weeks in the new market , two weeks back in the home market , and so on and so forth .

Speaker 2 4:59

I don't have the stamina for that type of travel , and I'm pretty sure that my four children would be not pleased with those arrangements , let alone my husband . So we actually went for what looks to be the most effective option for having success in the market , which is clients that we're looking at really really respect and value having found a CEO function in their market , give them a nice big cuddle and show how important that market is to us as a company . So it's also the best way to protect our downside . It's the best way to measure , honestly and clearly , exactly what's happening in that market and to calibrate the whole way through with the board and with the executive team back here in Australia . So that's what we're doing .

Speaker 1 5:44

Awesome . Interesting that you touched on the kind of differences between the UK and the US markets , because I always kind of chuckle when I see some of my network talking and I get a lot of actual businesses approach me to be on podcasts from the US and they're talking about these solutions and like we ain't got that problem right . What do you see as the opportunity for not just paper plan but Australian FinTech innovation to go into the US and actually be successful ?

Speaker 2 6:17

Yeah , I think the first thing that people look at is the size of the market , and there is no denying that it is many times over bigger than Australia . So that's okay . I think it's so for us , obviously looking at trends in both business banking and real time payments , as well as other impacts on that , such as open banking or open data , and mixing all that together to figure out whether the sweet spots for us to fill up , for us , we're looking at things like the advent of FedNow to sit alongside the existing RTP service from the clearing house and the competitive pressure that will bring to the market . We're looking at what challenger banks are doing in that market . So we've seen some success with consumer focused challenger banks or , I suppose , shadow banks like Chime that aren't a bank but they're still behaving like one . And then we're looking at how that's actually pushing up to business banking services

Challenges and Opportunities launching in the US

Speaker 2 7:13

. If we look at the UK again , we saw consumer banks really take root , and then your Monzo's , your Starlings , your Cash Plus , your Tide all of those banks transitioned to business banking and started putting pressure on the incumbents to really up their game in their product offering . We're seeing the start of that in the US .

Speaker 2 7:31

The other thing that we really like about the US is change is often driven by market demand , as opposed to what's happening in Australia , where we're really looking at reforming regulation first before we see the products come to life . That has its benefits long term . You have a much more robust , protective and equal ecosystem for people to participate in . In the US , it's almost the opposite , and we saw that with their open data . So Plaid , finicity and companies like that really drove their open data market and now we're starting to see some regulation potentially come in . So we like that because there's a lot more propensity for a bank to go look , this is a great solution . Let's work with this partner to bring it to life . We don't need to wait for regulation to help us do that , and then we've got a much bigger addressable market under that , so there's a wider pathway for growth . I don't know if that answers the question or it just took you .

Speaker 1 8:25

So it's a great answer actually , Simone , and look , it's a one that kind of , I think , really summarizes you know where we're . You know the almost the malaise I would say that we're in here in Australia and the industry , and it's kind of , you know , it's something that keeps me awake at night , to be honest , right when I think of the advancements that we've made and the progress that we've made and over the last 12 months , it just seems like it's been dismantled , you know , week by week , and I think you know they and I put this post up last week on LinkedIn , which I think you kind of put a little hard to , which was around entrepreneurs don't look to government solve problems , and unfortunately we're kind of in this , you know , vicious cycle of looking to the government and regulate as to give us the green light .

Speaker 2 9:15

Yeah , and it's such a dilemma .

Speaker 2 9:18

Right , because yes , I think there's some inertia there at the moment and we're almost a victim of our own success . So the way that our CDR rolled out and even the way that services like pay to roll out really gave a shot in the arm to the foundation layer . So everyone's switched on , everyone's connected . When I say everyone , I mean banks in this . In this respect , that's good , but now we almost need to go Okay , the foundations are set . What's the next thing that we can do bilaterally ? How can we creatively work with these foundations to drive more function services adoption that's really really hard , but FinTechs are kind of geared up to do really , really hard things .

Speaker 2 9:59

So , yeah , victim of our own success . We also , in fairness , had a change of government . We've had treasury really split focus on a few things . So hopefully , towards the back half of this year into next year , we'll see some more activity that will stimulate some more products and services . I also think people are being you know , understandably conservative with runway at the moment , and when you're being conservative with one with runway , it's really hard to take a shot . That's kind of like a long shot around the outside .

Speaker 1 10:30

Yeah , look , and it's , unfortunately , you know it's . It's not , it's not being pessimistic , it's not being negative , it's just being factual , right Pragmatic . Yeah , I think funding is down and we're losing talent as well . The two things that you need are money and talent to build businesses and solve problems , and I think that's kind of you know , they're kind of you know , cold warms that we've got now is , I think it's another six to 12 months . You know , I think of really bunkering down , as you said , and coming out the other end and look , it will bounce back . It always does and it always does .

Speaker 2 11:06

Yeah , maybe we're being unfair . Maybe we're actually in the eye of the hurricane as far as what Vintex in Australia are doing that really weird calm bit . Yeah , before we hit the next .

Speaker 1 11:17

Yeah , I mean , I'm optimistic , right , and 12 months ago I was pessimistic . And I was pessimistic because I could see all of the signals that I've seen prior to the GFC , prior to the dot com crash . Yeah , and I wasn't trying to kind of , you know , be a downer . It was like get set , you know , get braced , we're going to have a crash . Right , the storm shut us up . Yeah , I've experienced that in my business over the last 12 months . Now start to see things come back . And the great thing is , you know , when you look in the higher execs and boards , right , that's the catalyst to your strangers coming .

Speaker 2 11:55

Yeah , the signal it's like you're almost like the Oracle Dexter people should come to . Yeah , oracle .

Speaker 1 12:02

If only . I could apply that Oracle lens to my investment portfolio .

Speaker 2 12:09

You can't be choosy with your gifts , I think .

Speaker 1 12:13

Yeah , it was . You know , with great power comes great responsibility . Very funny .

Speaker 2 12:20

But , dexter , you'll be at Intersect this year , won't you ?

Speaker 1 12:22

Yeah , so I will actually . But , smart man , I'm only doing the Wednesday because on the Thursday everybody is wiped out . So I'm going to go Wednesday , go full of beans and then back home on Thursday .

Speaker 2 12:38

Well , I'm flying back to Australia for Intersect . I wouldn't miss it this year , so I look forward to seeing you there . It's a big one this year .

Speaker 1 12:46

Well , that was big right .

Speaker 2 12:49

It's ever bigger , ever bigger .

Speaker 1 12:50

Yeah , you got it . My first one was 2018 , right ? So I kind of remember the .

Speaker 2 12:54

I remember that that was down in the Philippines . Yeah , goodness me , how far we've come .

Speaker 1 13:01

We have . Yeah , that was the week where I actually think it was the . That was the pivot point for Australian fintech because we had Cybos that week in Sydney as well . We did .

Speaker 2 13:14

And look for fintech Australia . That was a really interesting intersect . It had come at the end of a period of quite a lot of turbulence and it was a miracle that intersect went ahead , even in the small form that it did . And you know , it's kind of a nice little , you know , allegorical tale for fintech in general in Australia . I think we're going to come through it and the benefit of coming through a phase like we're in at the moment the eye of the storm or whatever it is , whether you're waiting for regulation or waiting for funding it rests on your resilience and your ability to overcome , which you know is absolutely critical to having a successful fintech . If you don't have any grit , there's no problems .

Speaker 1 13:59

You know the kind of the great thing is as well . Everybody who's around is serious and committed .

Speaker 2 14:04

Totally .

Speaker 1 14:05

And they don't go long too .

Speaker 2 14:07

There's no tourists in this market now , so Well , tone of intersect .

Speaker 1 14:13

Here's your opportunity to give a plug . Where can people get tickets ?

Speaker 2 14:17

You need to go to intersect , google intersect , or look on the fintech Australia website . That's fintech Australia dot org . I highly recommend , if you want to come , that you do that quickly , because we sold out very quickly last year and there were people trying to beg , borrow and steal tickets .

Speaker 1 14:32

Could not even get a ticket for spare ticket Right .

Speaker 2 14:36

Exactly so don't , don't miss out , particularly if you are sort of thinking about how am I going to get through this , this next phase , it's actually .

Speaker 1 14:42

I can't think of a better networking opportunity than represent so now , as I mentioned in the intro as well , we're listening to in 40 countries . North America is one of them . We get investors , we get great talent listening to this show . Anybody's interested in paper plane Aussie , us ? What's the best way for them to find out more ?

Speaker 2 15:04

You can go to paperplanecom that's P-A-Y-P-A-P-O-A-N-E . Or you can look me up on LinkedIn , simone Joyce .

Speaker 1 15:12

Simone , it's been fantastic to chat you . Look forward to seeing you at Intersect . Yeah , I'm kind of I am going to miss you , which is weird , right , Because you're in Brisbane , I'm in New York . I've never seen each other at Intersect anyway .

Speaker 2 15:25

Well , I'll see you in Intersect .

Speaker 1 15:30

But you know you're going to be in North America , so I don't know why that's making a difference , but somehow it is . I think it's . I think what it's down to is , first of all , I know what it's like to to give everything up and start again in a new country , and I think , second of all , you know , you're just somebody who I really consider a friend and it's just fantastic to see you know , you , you , you and your mission and your family and your business just gone from strength to strength , and that you know that's a reason why I dub you the superwoman at FinTech .

Speaker 2 16:01

Oh , dexter , thank you . I'm going to miss you too , and if you ever , you know , feel like a little holiday to New York , I will be personally offended if you don't look me up and ask if I can accommodate you .

Speaker 1 16:12

Very well . Beyond the course We'll have to do a FinTech chat , a live from New York .

Speaker 2 16:18

On a Saturday .

Speaker 1 16:19

Yeah , Well , it'd be . It'd be Sunday for Rossies , won't it ?

Speaker 2 16:25

Yeah , I just want to be able to say live from New York , it's FinTech chat .

Speaker 1 16:29

Madison Square Gardens .

Speaker 2 16:31

I mean , I'd be what ?

Speaker 1 16:34

The standard side .

Speaker 2 16:37

I might just get a background that looks like Madison Square .

Speaker 1 16:41

Gardens . Good luck with everything and thanks for joining me .

Speaker 2 16:45

Thanks , dexter .

Speaker 1 16:46

As always , folks , you can connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter . If you're new to the show , make sure to give us a follow on your favorite podcast player , and if you'd like what we do , please consider leaving us a review . It really helps me elevate and share great news and great founders like Simone to the FinTech family . Until the next episode , keep well . Fintech Chatter is produced by Tier 1 People leaders in FinTech Executive Search . We'll find world-class leadership talent to build world-class FinTech ventures , and you can find us at Tier1Peoplecom .