Zeller

Zeller is a Melbourne-based Australian fintech offering an integrated payments and business banking product set for businesses. Its products span in-person and remote payment acceptance (EFTPOS terminals, Tap to Pay, invoices, a virtual terminal and a zero-cost EFTPOS option), a point-of-sale system (Zeller POS and POS Lite), business transaction and savings accounts, business debit Mastercards and corporate cards, expense management, and a mobile app and web dashboard for reporting and settlement management.

The company positions itself as an alternative to Australia's incumbent business banks, arguing that account setup, pricing transparency and in-person payment technology at traditional banks are inadequate for small and growing businesses. At Series B it said over 80% of its customers had switched from an incumbent provider and that most had adopted products beyond payment processing, using the combined Zeller Account and Card as their primary business banking service. Later product lines extended this to segments including hospitality, retail, health and beauty, trades and services, pubs and venues, franchises, events, and startups, and a developer suite of SDKs and APIs for embedding payments into third-party software.

Onboarding is fully digital: customers sign up at the Zeller dashboard using an email, ABN or ACN where applicable, government-issued ID and personal details, with identity and business verification required before payments can be accepted and a minimum age of 18. Support is provided 24/7 via phone, SMS, email and social channels.

Founding story

Ben Pfisterer left Square in 2019, where he had been Australian Country Manager after being recruited in 2014, and had previously held roles at Visa, NAB, JetStar. He has described being persuaded by his small-business-owner brother at a Northcote cafe in Melbourne to start the company, motivated by the view that Australia's four large banks left the payments and business banking market under-innovated. He partnered with Dominic Yap, who had worked in his team at Square and previously at PwC and other consulting firms, and who serves as COO. The company was founded in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and unveiled in June 2020.

Business model

Zeller sells payment acceptance hardware and software alongside deposit-style business accounts and cards. Hardware (the Zeller Terminal) is sold outright — the company cites a $199 terminal price with no recurring monthly rental charge — while transactions are priced at a flat 1.4% per transaction rather than card-type-dependent rates. The company states there are no monthly rental fees, subscription fees, account fees or lock-in contracts on its accounts, cards, terminal and app, and offers custom pricing packages via its sales team for larger merchants.

Primarily transaction-based: a flat 1.4% fee on card transactions, plus one-off hardware sales (terminal priced at $199 as of September 2024). The company states it does not charge monthly terminal rental, subscription, or account fees, and offers negotiated custom pricing for some merchants.

Traction

Over 10,000 businesses within eight months of launch (March 2022); approaching 65,000 customers as of September 2024; over 85,000 SMEs as of February 2025; and over 110,000 businesses cited on the company website. At Series B, more than 80% of customers had switched from an incumbent provider and a majority had adopted products beyond payments. 1,500 businesses signed up in the first month of operation.

Latest developments

In September 2024 Zeller launched a new streamlined payments terminal designed at its Melbourne headquarters, sold directly through its website at $199 with no recurring charge. In February 2025 it announced Zeller for Startups, an all-in-one financial product suite for technology founders combining transaction accounts, unlimited digital or physical debit cards, high-interest savings accounts at an ongoing 3.2% p.a. standard variable rate, integrated expense management and partner discounts, supported by a founder survey it commissioned. The company website currently promotes a new Zeller POS system, Zeller Terminal 2, a developer suite of SDKs and APIs, and cites over 110,000 businesses.