LanternPay teams up with NAB
InLoop is pleased to announce that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with NAB for HICAPS to acquire 100% of the shares in Lantern Claims Pty Ltd, which operates digital health claiming technology business LanternPay.
LanternPay operates a digital claim payments platform for the healthcare, disability, insurance and aged care sectors. It has been purpose-built to standardise all service providers’ claims and payment experience to healthcare schemes, including private health insurers, state workers and accident insurance, Medicare, and the NDIS.
The proposed acquisition, which remains subject to conditions including regulatory approvals, will allow LanternPay to accelerate the delivery of its vision for the digitisation of all claim types, multi-scheme claiming for all providers of services, and true choice and control for consumers. The transaction will also allow InLoop to increase the investment and focus on the Flexischools, Clickability and Nuonic businesses.
In 2015, InLoop launched LanternPay with a vision to enable “choice and control” in the processing of claims for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). InLoop had previously developed its Flexischools business, which provided valuable experience with cloud-based, tri-party payment systems in high duty of care environments. InLoop believed that it could apply those experiences and learnings to processing payment claims in a digital format with schemes such as the NDIS and others.
Geoff Austen, Managing Director for InLoop, said, “We started LanternPay because we knew there was a better way to manage claim payments. Since 2016, we’ve been motivated by a simple objective – to create a claim payments platform that offers greater choice and control to participants, providers, partners and programs across the health, care, disability, insurance and ageing sectors.”
“The decision to partner with NAB is an exciting move for the LanternPay team. The provider market is very broad, and the claiming and payment space remains highly competitive. NAB’s more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare sector combined with our leading payments technology means that more Australians will benefit from simple digital transactions when visiting their service provider.
“InLoop will use the resources and time resulting from the transaction to invest more heavily in its other digital platforms. We continue to see strong growth in our Clickability services marketplace, and we look forward to continuing our long involvement with the NDIS and disability sector”.
Andrew Irvine, NAB’s Group Executive for Business and Private Bank, said simplifying payments for the growing healthcare sector would be a huge step forward for everyone.
“The healthcare sector is already one of the country’s largest providers of employment and the fifth-largest contributor to Australia’s GDP. Australian healthcare payment systems have been cumbersome – resulting in disjointed payment experiences for patients and complexity for healthcare providers.
“Integrating NAB’s HICAPS with LanternPay technology will over time deliver a seamless digital customer experience – with real-time approvals and faster payments for medical, allied health and other providers.
“Customers who previously might have waited days for a reimbursement from the NDIS for example, will now receive this payment on the spot. For many Australians, this will be an absolute game changer.”
The LanternPay team will be moving across with the transaction, ensuring that all partners and customers of LanternPay will continue to receive the same level of service and innovation that they have come to expect.
Following completion of the proposed acquisition, LanternPay will become part of NAB’s health specialisation in Business and Private Banking, and be integrated into HICAPS, which has been managing claims and payments for over 20 years. ‘Digital’ HICAPS will be rolled out across Australia through 2022.