The big four banks sold 55.2 million shares to institutional investors on Thursday, at a price of $6.65 per share (about $367 million in total).
He said the decision to sell Zip’s stake reflected its strategy of business simplification and ensuring efficient use of capital.
The bank’s chief information officer, Gary Thursby, said Zip’s management team had done a “tremendous amount of work” to grow the business and expand globally.
At the same time, Westpac has also partnered with Afterpay to roll out savings and transaction accounts for the provider’s Buy Now, Pay Later customers.
Afterpay will introduce savings accounts and cash flow tools, facilitated by Westpac’s digital banking platform, to its 3.3 million customers in the second quarter of next year.
“We continue to explore opportunities with Zip, including working to integrate their buy now, pay later functionality into our mobile banking apps across Westpac and our regional banking brands,” Mr Thursby said.
“This would expand our offering to customers and expand the customer base that Zip can reach.
“We are also working with Zip on other consumer, business and enterprise opportunities that we believe could be mutually beneficial, as we continue to grow our banking relationship with Zip.”
Speaking on the Afterpay partnership, Westpac chief executive Peter King said fintech innovation is “changing the banking industry in a big way”, with the digital banking platform part of a long-term strategy to meet to the trend and changing customer needs.
