CBA's x15ventures to acquire invoice lending fintech

CBA’s x15ventures is set to acquire Waddle, a digital invoice lending service that powers part of one of the bank's financial products.

Founded by Nathan Andrews and Simon Creighton in 2015, Waddle claimed a customer base of hundreds of companies when it was acquired by Xero in 2020.

CommBank has had a partnership with Waddle since 2021 for the bank's stream working capital (SWC) product.

SWC features integration with accounting software including Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks.

In a statement, business banking group executive Mike Vacy-Lyle said that “access to working capital is vital for many businesses, and Stream Working Capital offers greater flexibility, simplicity and faster access to cash flow.

“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.”

As an in-house product, Vacy-Lyle also said CommBank customers will get faster funding assessments and approvals.