Virgin launches new digital portal for mortgage applications
The lender has announced the launch of a new digital platform designed to improve the efficiency of the home loan application process for mortgage brokers. Virgin Money Australia has revealed that it plans to issue the majority of its home loan applications via its new Digital Acceptance Document Portal. The online delivery and signing platform is designed to provide customers with the opportunity to electronically receive and accept their Virgin Money Home Loans documents. The lender added that the platform, which can be accessed via multiple devices, would also allow brokers to view the progress of their customer’s application process. To read more, please click on the link below…. Source: […]
Binance will let you buy Bitcoin with cash from 1,300 stores in Australia
Binance says cryptocurrency fans in Australia will soon be able to purchase Bitcoin from over 1,300 supported Newsagents across the country. The new service, “Binance Lite,” marks the first time the Malta-based exchange has managed to open a fiat gateway in Australia. While it will only support buying Bitcoin at launch, press materials say more digital currency and fiat options will be added in the future. “Binance Lite Australia further expands digital currency adoption by providing easier ways to buy [Bitcoin],” said Wei Zhou, Binance CFO. “Australia has been at the forefront of blockchain innovation, and we hope Binance Lite Australia can play a role to help further this cause.” Once users […]
Australian house to go under the hammer in world-first cryptocurrency auction
In a world first, Australia will host a live auction in which bidders are being asked to pay not in cash, but in cryptocurrency. The “Jetsons house”, a futuristic-style beachfront home in northern NSW, will be auctioned on April 8, with interested bidders able to buy the luxury property using either Bitcoin or Binance Coin cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a decentralised digital cash system – the technology behind it lets users, in this case bidders, to send currency directly to others without going via a third party like a bank. The futuristic home is expected to fetch 700-800 bitcoins, or $3.5 million, when it goes under the hammer. Bidding will be […]
Westpac abandons financial advice
Westpac will get out of the troubled personal advice sector and two of its top executives will depart the bank as it joins its big-four rivals in abandoning the once-dominant model of vertical integration. The bank announced on Tuesday it would exit the high-cost, loss-making business, producing $280 million in savings by 2020. Westpac group executives George Frazis and Brad Cooper will leave the bank as part of the changes. Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer said most customers did not differentiate between banking and wealth products and just wanted help to buy a home or plan for retirement. “We’re realigning our capabilities into the lines of business where it makes […]
Aussie ETF industry breaks another record
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have continued on their growth trajectory as the Australian ETF industry broke new records last month, with a monthly funds under management (FUM) increase of $2.3 billion, BetaShares’ February Australian ETF Review has said. This figure eclipsed the previous record set in November 2017, and the industry now stands at $44.8 billion. “Similar to January, market rebounds meant that the substantial industry growth primarily came from price increases, accounting for 80 per cent of the total, with the other 20 per cent due to net inflows amounting to $524 million,” the report said. According to BetaShares, investor appetite for global exposures continued to grow, with international equities […]
Use apps to target young investors: GlobalData
Utilizing technology to provide simple, easy-to-use, and accessible apps is paramount to appeal to young investors, according to data and analytics company GlobalData. GlobalData’s ‘2018 Mass Affluent Investors Survey’ found that 53.3 per cent of mass affluent investors between the ages of 18–34 agree they are easily flustered when things are complicated. The company sees this as proof that products should be kept simple in order to reach the young mass affluent population and encourage them to begin investing. “It is important to remember that while these apps may seem easy to use to the well-informed, tech-savvy crowd, it is just as important to ensure the same is true for […]
How Lakeba Group uses AI to identify business opportunities – and when it lets humans take over
Rather than picking a single problem and solving it, Australian technology company Lakeba Group is hedging its bets, using AI to unearth a range of business opportunities, commercialising the underlying technology components as well as applying it to industry-specific use cases. So far the Manly-based company has identified seven commercial ventures, including the Shelfie, a joint venture with Microsoft, and Paid By Coins, a payment service that lets users pay their bills with cryptocurrencies, which Mobecom recently acquired a 80 per cent stake in for $6 million. Giuseppe Porcelli, Lakeba Group CEO, spoke to Which-50 about how the company approaches innovation and commercialising its ideas. Lakeba Group’s neural network is […]
Splitit: why this payments company is dividing the market
The last time fund manager Dean Fergie’s cycling buddies had such a specific interest in the financial markets was during the bitcoin boom. “Two years ago, everyone was going, hey, what about bitcoin. Now it’s about Splitit – it’s the stock everyone is talking about,” says the Melbourne-based Cyan Investment Management director whose fund bought shares in the company during its initial public offering. Splitit Payments, a company that gives credit-card customers the option of paying for purchases in instalments, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in January with a market capitalisation of just $54 million, issuing shares at 20¢ each. Now, its market capitalisation is $450 million – more […]
