The listing gives the company access to larger capital markets at the ideal time, as it looks to convert early market traction into a scalable US fintech solution.

ASX fintech Douugh (ASX:DOU) is executing on its strategy to build market share with a full-service banking app for the massive US market.

And this week, it took another step forward in that strategy after getting approval to dual-list on the US OTCQB market.

Commenting on yesterday’s update, Douugh CEO Andy Taylor said the move was in response to strong interest from US investors, and opens the company up to much bigger capital markets as it prepares to scale up.

 

OTCQB – the details

Since listing on the ASX in 2020, Douugh has been focused on establishing traction in the huge US market for its banking super app – a market-leading fintech platform that helps customers budget, save and invest.

In that context, the company’s US listing gives it a number of strategic advantages by creating accessibility and liquidity for North American investors.

Specifically, the OTCQB market allows for trades and settlement in US dollars while also allowing investors to trade in the North American time zone.

In addition, an OTCQB share is the same class of ordinary share to ASX traded stock, which means it’s not just a synthetic product for US investors and the share registry is still maintained by Australian platform Automic Group, in conjunction with a US transfer agent.

Strategically, the US trading approval gives Douugh low-cost access to a much larger capital market, with no additional compliance requirements.

Douugh shares will trade under the stock code OTCQB: DOUFF.

 

US expansion

On a broader level, Taylor said the US listing offers Douugh other benefits that come from giving direct access to US investors.

In particular, he said the accessibility and liquidity opens up a channel for market comparisons for other US fintech platforms such as Chime and the publicly listed Dave, both of which trade on high valuation multiples amid strong investor demand.

In addition, many smaller US funds are either less willing or able to buy into foreign-owned companies.

“Many US retail investors are also virtually locked out of trading shares in Australian issuers unless those companies have a US ticker symbol that can be purchased in US dollars during market hours,” Taylor said.

“This listing facilitates these parties potentially becoming Douugh shareholders.”

With a pathway to US capital markets now established, Douugh has taken another step forward in scaling its full-service banking technology for what is a major addressable market opportunity.

 

North of 160 million

As Taylor told Stockhead recently, the pool of customers that can benefit from savings management products in the US markets stands at north of 160 million people.

“So that’s where we’re finding our sweet spot. It makes our business a mass-market play because there’s a huge addressable audience we can talk to,” Taylor said.

The company’s latest trading update showed its customer base more than doubled in the December quarter.

And Taylor said those numbers continued to accelerate through January.

“The focus is on actually a banking app that helps customers budget and save,” Taylor said.

“Once that’s established you can build it out to include investing, but for now the priority is those key areas. And if we get it right we can scale the platform into a ‘unicorn’ business pretty quickly.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Douugh, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.