Tyro kicks off proceedings against Kounta

Tyro Payments has launched proceedings against Kounta for allegedly offering a competing product to Tyro merchants, in breach of an arrangement between the two.

The Sydney-based payment fintech kicked off proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court against Kounta, stating it believes legal obligations were breached following the discovery the point-of-sale (POS) company has begun promoting a competing Lightspeed Payments product.

Kounta was acquired by Canadian cloud-based POS company Lightspeed in 2019 for US$35.3 million to boost its Asia-Pacific presence.

Tyro alleges the behaviour occurred “at a time that Kounta is Tyro’s agent under a contract between the parties as well as being an authorised representative under Tyro’s Australian Financial Services Licence.”

“Tyro considers that this conduct by Kounta directly breaches Kounta’s obligations to Tyro, including its contractual obligations as Tyro’s agent,” the company’s statement said.

Tyro said it tried to resolve the matter “commercially” with Kounta but that those involved “have not been able to reach a resolution that is acceptable to Tyro.”

It is now seeking orders from the NSW Supreme Court to restrain “Kounta from breaching its contractual non-solicitation obligations to Tyro which extend to September 2024”.

It’s also seeking “for Kounta to indemnify Tyro for all loss arising out of, in connection with, or in relation to any breach or non-performance of its contractual obligations” plus damages and compensation.