The Australian financial market provides investors with a great range of companies to invest in. Right now one of the most exciting parts of the market in my opinion is the financial technology industry.
Although the United States and Europe may be home to some of the largest fintech companies, Australia is certainly no slouch. These three rapidly growing fintech companies will attest to that:
Emerchants Ltd (ASX: EML)
Emerchants is a provider of prepaid debt card programs for consumers and businesses including the likes of Nimble, Ladbrokes, Sportsbet, and Pandora. It currently operates in 13 countries and works with VISA, Mastercard, BPAY and Eftpos to deliver more than 850 programs. It recently reported full year sales growth of 61% to $23 million. With a market cap of $433 million its shares certainly are on the expensive side, but I believe there is a large growth runway ahead for Emerchants that makes its one to keep a close eye on today.
Mobile Embrace Ltd (ASX: MBE)
This growing mobile commerce company recently delivered impressive year-on-year revenue growth of 83% to $60.6 million. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation grew at the even quicker rate of 86% to $9.5 million. The strong result was fuelled by the company establishing four new international territories for direct carrier billing during the year. Direct carrier billing allows consumers to purchase products or services online and have the costs charged automatically to their phone bills. One of the countries the company has started operating in is Pakistan. With 133 million mobile subscribers, but only 1.5 million credit card users there is a huge market opportunity for Mobile Embrace.
Praemium Ltd (ASX: PPS)
Praemium has grown to become a global leader in the provision of investment administration, separately managed account and financial planning technology platforms. The company currently administers over 300,000 investor accounts covering approximately $80 billion in funds globally. If the solid rise of separately managed accounts is sustained, I believe Praemium's growth could prove to be explosive. Considering its shares are changing hands at just 30x estimated FY 2017 earnings, Praemium is one of the best value fintech companies in my view and definitely worthy of closer inspection.
