Fintech platform Raiz Invest (ASX: RZI) continues to slowly build its user base amid a more benign investment environment for global stocks.

The company’s monthly operations update this morning showed active users rose 2 per cent to 190,685, while funds under management (excluding super) were up seven per cent to $280.78m.

Shares in the company initially edged higher but were unchanged at 51.5 cents at 10:45am eastern time.

The company is still trying to gain traction with investors after listing in June last year at $1.80.

That followed a rebrand from the product’s initial name of Acorns, which was licensed from the US company of the same name.

The platform allows users to collate the change amounts on purchases, pool the funds and invest the difference in ETF vehicles which give exposure to domestic and global stocks.

Watching the users

Each month, Raiz also provides updates on customer signups and total investment accounts. But the key metric investors would be focused on is active user growth. For each account — no matter how small — that is actively pooling and investing money, Raiz charges an annual $15 account maintenance fee.

For larger account fees of $5,000 or more, Raiz also charges an account fee of 0.275 per cent. But it’s the subscription-style revenue stream that makes up the majority of Raiz’s income.

Active user growth slowed into the end of last year, amid a sharp selloff in global stocks just before Christmas.

Figures released last week showed Raiz’s quarterly active user growth rose by 6.5 per cent in the three months to March, so the two per cent gain in April is indicative of a consistent rate of growth in Q2. Quarterly funds under management rose by 18 per cent.

The company had $1.43m of cash receipts in the quarter but operating outflows of $1.35m. Total cash and cash equivalents fell to $7.98m from $9.62m.

Additional costs were incurred in the quarter as part of the company’s push into Indonesia, with the launch of RaizIND in January. The company is also looking into joint venture options in Malaysia and Thailand.

“A significant portion of our ongoing growth will be driven by the macro tail winds of large populations and emerging wealth in Southeast Asia,” CEO George Lucas said.
 

In other ASX fintech news today

Regulatory technology (RegTech) company Kyckr (ASX: KYK) announced the launch of a new digital platform which it says will improve customer identification for clients. The company provides Know Your Customer (KYC) products to financial services firms to help verify clients and prevent fraud.

Kyckr said its new platform offers “enhanced functionality and user experience”. CEO Ian Henderson said the new digital platform leaves the company well-placed from the ongoing regulatory crackdown on financial crime across developed markets. Shares in Kyckr were down two per cent at 4.8 cents.

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