Biza wins four CDR lenders & adds three executives

Biza has signed four of the seven initial non-bank lenders brought into Australia's Consumer Data Right regime and appointed Max Diamond, Anthony Spark and David Nixon to senior leadership roles.

The new customers give Biza more than 50% of the first wave of non-bank lending providers required to comply with the rules.

Columbus Capital, Resimac Group and Firstmac are among the lenders that selected Biza as their Consumer Data Right solution provider. Biza now represents more than 10 companies and more than 100 brands in the non-bank lending sector.

That footprint means its systems are used across a large segment of the market, serving millions of consumers who can use the Consumer Data Right framework to compare non-bank lending and banking products.

The customer expansion comes as Biza adds three executives to its leadership team.

Diamond has joined as Director of Growth. Spark has been appointed Director of Infrastructure and Security, while Nixon has been appointed Director of Product and Engineering.

Biza said the hires reflect rising demand for its services as regulated firms seek support to meet Consumer Data Right obligations and manage data sharing under the framework.

It also counts 30% of large banks among its clients, adding to its position in non-bank lending as open data rules spread across financial services and energy.

Leadership hires

Diamond brings experience across software, startups and technology sales. His previous roles include Queensland State Manager at Brennan, Chief Sales Officer at MOQdigital and Director of Business Development at Telstra Global in Europe.

Spark spent more than 25 years leading technology and infrastructure at iseek before joining Biza. In his new role, he is responsible for the company's software, security and infrastructure offerings.

Nixon brings more than 16 years of experience in product development and software engineering. He has held engineering leadership roles at Atlassian and Honeywell.

The three appointments are intended to support a broader push to extend open data work across banking and energy while making Consumer Data Right services easier for organisations and consumers to use.

Chief Executive Officer and Founder Stuart Low commented on the company's growth and investment in management.

"Since securing investment in 2022, we've doubled down on our mission to help organisations navigate the highly regulated CDR ecosystem and data-sharing landscape with confidence. We continue to pioneer technical expertise and innovation in this space, and our expanding leadership team will play a pivotal role in driving the business's growth trajectory, while also freeing up capacity for myself and other executives to ensure we continue to take an industry-leading approach to our service offerings and delivery," Low said.

Sector shift

Australia's Consumer Data Right regime has expanded beyond the major banks into other parts of financial services, including non-bank lenders. That shift has created a market for software and compliance providers that help regulated entities share consumer data securely when customers give consent.

Biza has focused on the data-holder side of that market since its founding in Brisbane in 2017. Regulated organisations use their software to share and receive customer transaction data in accordance with the rules.

The inclusion of non-bank lenders marks another step in the broader rollout of open data in Australia. Providers in the sector now need systems that meet technical and security standards while linking into the wider data-sharing ecosystem.

Signing four of the seven initial non-bank lenders gives Biza an early lead in that segment. The company said this builds on an existing presence among larger banks and energy providers.

Diamond outlined his view of the market opportunity after joining the business.

"The data driven economy continues to grow, I'm looking forward to helping unlock value from secure and trusted data sharing," Diamond said.

He also described Biza's position in the Consumer Data Right market.

"Biza has cemented its position as the go-to experts in CDR, particularly for banks, non-bank lenders, and energy providers, so I am excited to join the team pioneering the industry," Diamond said.

Spark also commented on the company's investment in its technology base.

"Biza has always had industry-leading software services and is now further investing in its overall infrastructure and architecture. It's an exciting time to join as consumers and businesses increasingly look to service providers like Biza for best practice security capabilities, an ongoing commitment taken very seriously at Biza, considering the CDR was designed to meet the highest security standards," Spark said.