Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

NZ company eyes Australian Eftpos terminals

Updated at 7:28 am on 29 June 2012

Eftpos terminal services company, Smartpay, says that with its capital raising and restructuring now complete it's firmly focused on the Australian market.

Shareholders on Thursday approved a $13 million dollar capital raising.

As the Eftpos market in New Zealand reaches saturation point, the new money, alongside a capital restructuring, is needed to fund the company's expansion into Australia.

Smartpay's new chief executive Bradley Gerdis says Australia offers significant growth opportunities.

"There's about 120,000 Eftpos devices in New Zealand and about 800,000 in Australia," he says.

"For us to get even a small market share on those numbers could materially eclipse our New Zealand business.

"The trick there is not to compete with the banks ... we work with the banks to service them and their customers."

He says contactless payments, such as the Snapper cards used in Wellington, also represent a growth opportunity in the future.

Mr Gerdis told investors he could not guarantee Smartpay would retain it's listing on the NZX in the long term but a dual listing remained important in the medium term.

Mr Gerdis says new investors include Auckland-based Devon Funds Management and the Australian-based fund manager, Hunter Hall.

His own shareholding has shrunk from more than 6% to 3% following the capital raising.

Listen to Bradley Gerdis on Checkpoint

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