Fintech Australia chair Simone Joyce is US-bound with her payments startup Paypa Plane

Paypa Plane cofounder and CEO Simone Joyce is heading to the US with her family to put her fintech front and centre of banking and payments reforms in North America.

Joyce, who is also chair of industry group Fintech Australia, has been at the forefront of Australia’s shift to real time payments and the introduction of PayTo.

Last week, the US Federal Reserve launched FedNow, an instant payment service for consumers and business.

Paypa Plane supports banks in the transition to real-time payments, and the Commonwealth Bank has a 20% stake in the fintech.

The fintech’s proprietary technology handles consent-to-pay and payment initiation processes via a unified API service for banks and enterprises to offer their clients. 

Earlier this year Paypa Plane raised $10 million in a Series A round, led by the Queensland Investment Corporation, with support from payments platform Cuscal, Mastercard and Queensland VC Sprint Ventures.

Joyce said that as the adoption of real-time payments gains momentum in the United States, she’ll base herself in New York to provide dedicated support to Paypa Plane’s US clients.

“With the introduction of FedNow, there hasn’t been a better time for institutional banks and enterprises in America to partner with a fintech to support the transition to faster real-time payments,” she said. 

Her husband, Damian, is Paypa Plane’s creative lead, and along with their four children, their dog, Lulu, the cattle dog-labrador cross, is also headed to the Big Apple.

The rest of the team will still operate in Paypa Plane’s head office in Brisbane, with Simone taking on the role of global CEO. 

Joyce will continue in her role as Fintech Australia chair until the organisation’s AGM, and will be central to FA’s annual 2-day Intersekt Festival in Melbourne, August 30-31.