Emerge disrupts New Zealand banking with SME platform

The New Zealand banking landscape is set for a disruptive shift following the launch of the business finance platform named Emerge. The company, initially known for its viral pocket-money app SquareOne, aims to rectify what its founders label as a broken landscape of business accounts. Emerge is on course to make banking more streamlined and user-friendly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with its first business account offering.

Jovan Pavlicevic, Co-Founder of Emerge with Jamie Jermain, indicated that the switch from SquareOne to Emerge is the company's move to fulfil the needs of a growing customer base. Pavlicevic explained: "SquareOne was just the beginning. When those same customers grow up, we want them to have innovative banking options available to them. We started at SquareOne as that's where we saw the biggest need; businesses are next in terms of being underserved."

An array of tailored features for SMEs accompanies the Emerge platform. These include the power to open an account in a matter of minutes, generate virtual cards for immediate use, and access round-the-clock customer service. Customers can rid themselves of laborious paperwork and long bank queues by opening accounts directly from the Emerge application.

Jermain expressed that legacy technology is a hindrance to innovation for many established banks. However, Emerge hopes to revolutionise this to provide the "simplest offering" with its unique customer experience. The platform eliminates the need for branch visits or extensive paperwork due to its integrated and fully digitised anti-money laundering process.

One of Emerge's beta launch participants shared their excitement: "Emerge has fixed banking for SMEs! Instant account access and the ability to allocate funds to employee cards with a tap is a game-changer. No more wait times to change account structures; or even worse - bank queues. Emerge is available 24/7 and works at the speed at which startups operate."

Pilot customers of Emerge come from a broad spectrum of businesses in terms of size, industry and locations across New Zealand. Jamie says, "Working with our target customers and receiving their feedback on the offering first-hand has helped us prove product-market fit even before we launch."

Emerge plans to continue its mission to redefine the banking sphere further by transforming the way mobile and online banking is offered to individuals. Presently, Emerge collaborates with major banks wherein all funds are stashed in a bare account inaccessible to the company, but it aspires to evolve into a full-feature challenger bank.

Stating that 'building a full-service bank is still a race to first in New Zealand', Jovan enthused: "'Emerge is an opportunity to go after massive impact on the social fabric of the country - we want to change the way Kiwis access and use banking; and we can't do this without re-inventing what this looks like."

At the end of 2023, Emerge announced a $5.8 million seed extension round, headed by Auckland venture capital firm Altered Capital, with backing from Enterprise Angels and Angel Investors Marlborough. Moreover, Emerge has reached an agreement with investor Mastercard to incorporate across its platform in over 200 countries.