GoCardless Launches In Australia; Manchester United Teams Up With MoPlay

Welcome to The Axis, your late look at payments news from around the world. Coverage includes the rollout of GoCardless in Australia through a partnership with Xero. In addition, the U.K.‘s Manchester United is teaming up with mobile betting and gaming brand MoPlay, and Iran is relaxing currency rules.

U.K.-based GoCardless’ payment solution has launched in Australia with the help of small business platform Xero, the companies said in an announcement. With the integration, small businesses in the country can use direct debit to automate their payment collection and reconciliation processes. The news comes 18 months after GoCardless integrated with Xero in the U.K.

In the announcement, Xero U.K. EMEA Director Of FinTech & Ecosystem Edward Berks said, “the expansion of GoCardless to Australia shows how our app marketplace can help innovative tech companies to boost their growth across the world, improving effectiveness and efficiency for businesses everywhere.”

And Manchester United is teaming up with mobile betting and gaming brand MoPlay, the companies said in an announcement. With the tie-up, the football club and MoPlay plans to create co-branded activations as well as exclusive collaborative content for fans.

“We are immensely proud to partner with what we regard as the biggest sports club in the world,” MoPlay CEO Juergen Reutter said in an announcement. “Engaging in such a high-profile partnership so soon after our inception truly puts our exciting new brand on the map.”

In other news, Iran is easing foreign exchange rules that were meant to be in response to U.S. sanctions, Financial Times reported. On Sunday (Aug. 5), the Central Bank of Iran said that it would allow for unlimited inflows of hard currencies, such as euros and U.S. dollars, in addition to gold. It would also set aside subsidized hard currencies for trade of pharmaceuticals, as well as commodities. Plus, the bank would allow currency markets to open again.

“We are in conditions similar to an economic war,” Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati has said on television, according to Financial Times. “[But] I tell the people that our economic situation is very good and our foreign exchange balance is good.”