Pushpay in talks to expand deal with Church Community Builder, migrates to NZX mainboard

Tuesday 9th June 2015

Pushpay Holdings, the mobile payments app developer, is in talks to expand its contract with US software developer, Church Community Builder, as it graduates to the main board on the NZX.

The Auckland based company expects to sign a new referral contract with Church Community Builder in the next four weeks which is likely to lift the number of churches which use Pushpay's system to collect money from parishioners. The mobile payments services company disclosed the talks as it moves today from NZX's small cap NZAX market to the mainboard as the negotiations may be material information, it said in a statement.

"The proposed new contract is likely to involve Church Community Builder referring merchants to Pushpay, and Pushpay paying Church Community Builder a fee for the referral services," the company said. "The value of this contract is likely to be driven by the number of new merchants that Church Community Builder can refer to Pushpay and it is possible that the referral arrangement, if completed, may result in an increase in the rate of customer acquisition in the USA."

Pushpay is targeting the US faith sector for growth where there are more than 314,000 churches with an average 500 attendees each. In the first half of its current financial year, the company aims to push its merchant numbers above 2,000. That's more than double the 996 merchants it had at the end of the 2015 financial year, 87 percent of which are in the US, and 158 merchants at the end of its 2014 year.

Last month, the company said it widened its annual loss to $7.5 million in the year ended March 31, from a loss of $1.6 million a year earlier. Sales revenue soared to $4.8 million from $316,000 a year earlier, while expenses jumped to $12.7 million from $2 million.

Shares of Pushpay last traded at $3.85 on the NZAX, up from its $1 listing price in August last year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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