An Australian fintech that has spent seven years teaching small businesses to earn airline points on their tax bills is now trying the same pitch in America — and the $28 million it says is funding the move looks a lot like money it already announced.

PayRewards, the US-facing brand of Melbourne-based Pay.com.au, launched in the United States on Aug 24, 2026, on the back of what it describes as a $28 million Series E. Trade coverage puts total capital raised at roughly $70 million. No lead investor was named and no valuation was disclosed. The company runs its American operation out of Dallas and San Francisco, with Blake Hutchison, who spent nearly eight years running Flippa.com, as US chief executive. Two notes on the deal feed: the entity raising is Pay.com.au, not a Dallas-founded startup, and the $28 million figure is contested — more on that below.

What the company does

Pay.com.au was founded in 2019 by Damien Waller, Edward Alder and Grant Austin. The product is narrow and unglamorous: businesses pay suppliers, rent, tax and payroll by card or bank transfer through the platform, and collect credit card points plus the company own PayRewards Points on spending that normally earns nothing. There is no monthly platform fee; the company charges only when a business elects to earn points on a payment.

Points redeem across 16 airline, hotel and card partners, a roster that includes Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Virgin, Amex, Visa and Mastercard. The US product is live in 45 states, sitting out Connecticut, Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. American Express has been the anchor partner in the expansion plan since it was first described.

The numbers behind the round

The Australian business is substantial. It has moved $10 billion in business expenses since its first payment in 2019, and reported annualised gross revenue of $246 million for the September 2025 quarter. FY2025 revenue came in at $73 million against $33.2 million the year prior, with losses of $8.5 million, roughly double FY2024. Customer counts vary by source and date, from 30,000-plus businesses cited at US launch to 75,000 reported in March 2026.

Now the discrepancy. Prior rounds are a matter of record: $5 million in 2023, $18 million in June 2025, then a $53 million capital event in November 2025 split into $25 million of new equity and a $28 million secondary sell-down, at a $633 million valuation, led by Morgans Corporate with Wilson Asset Management, Thorney, Ophir and Gandel Invest participating. That $28 million secondary is the same number now presented as a Series E. No source from November 2025 called that raise a Series E, and cumulative funding was reported then at $76 million — more than the $70 million total attached to the launch. Australian filings are denominated in AUD; the launch coverage cites USD. Read the Series E label with care.

Why the timing matters

The US launch is happening while the company weighs a public listing. In March 2026 it was reported to be preparing an April ASX float seeking $85 million at about $850 million, though the company said only that a listing was one of several pathways and gave no timetable. An American growth story is exactly what an Australian issuer wants in a prospectus, and a launch staged as an NYSE content update is a tell about the intended audience.

The harder question is whether the model travels. Pay.com.au built its position in a market of 2.6 million businesses where fewer than 20 percent currently use it, and where interchange economics and points culture work in its favour. US card economics differ, incumbents are entrenched, and margin on a fee-for-points product is thin by construction. Losses doubling in FY2025 suggest the Australian engine is already expensive to run.

Source

Digital Transactions — "PayRewards Enters the U.S. Offering Points for Small Business Spending"