“Profitability can come later on”: Aussie fintech growing into a huge opportunity, despite ongoing talent pool challenges
Australian fintechs are on average a little older, a little more mature, and generating a lot more revenue than they were this time last year, but there are still challenges in the sector according to the EY FinTech Australia Census 2018, released this week. Following a survey of 151 fintechs across Australia, and a series of in-depth interviews, the report shows a maturing fintech market in Australia, with 43% of fintechs over three years old, compared to 31% in 2017 and 20% in 2016. While it’s clearly a good thing these companies are surviving — even thriving — this could also be indicative of a lack of early-stage fintechs following […]
How cryptocurrency is disrupting the global economy & the financial system
For the longest time now, cryptocurrency has been slowly rising and increasing its powers in the background. Though not a lot of people have been paying attention to it lately, it’s still going strong with no signs of stopping. Because of the technology behind it, cryptocurrency has the potential to be one of the biggest disruptors in the global business process. As for the financial sector, here are some of the ways cryptocurrency can change it. Fewer barriers to entry One of the best things about cryptocurrency is that just about everyone can get involved. There are little to no barriers to investing or trading cryptocurrency. And as more people […]
Financial planners should focus on money management
Financial planners should embrace technology to help their clients focus on money management as a central component of financial advice, according to Moneysoft. Although the technology was out there, only a minority of financial planners offered money management or budgeting advice to their clients, citing concerns about the time it would take to offer such services and how to charge clients for this, the firm said. At the same time, the lack of advice on budgeting was named as one of the top unmet advice needs for an average Australian, alongside with retirement planning, according to research house Investment Trends. However, budgeting and money management should be offered as a […]
Young, male and educated: Australian fintech has a type
Australia’s typical fintech founder is a bloke in his 40s with a postgraduate degree. That’s one of the findings of the 2018 EY Fintech Australia census, which shows 72 per cent of Australia’s financial technology startup employees and 81 per cent of founders are men. FinTech Australia chairman Alan Tsen says the sector is focused on boosting the participation of women, noting female fintech staff numbers are up 4 per cent in the past 12 months. “The Fintech Australia board, which is 50:50 gender balance, remains committed to driving tangible actions and initiatives to help further increase female participation in the sector,” he said in a statement when the census […]
The business case for blockchain is often bigger than one organisation, says ASX CIO
Developing a business case for blockchain is inherently more challenging than other technology projects, because the cumulative value of the distributed network technology is often broader than one individual organisation. That’s the view of Dan Chesterman, CIO of the ASX, which is currently replacing its aging Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) with a blockchain solution. During a Q&A session at Gartner Symposium on the Gold Coast yesterday, David Furlonger, distinguished VP Analyst Gartner, cited a lack of a viable business case as a key challenge for advancing blockchain proofs of concept to “full blown deployment and development”. Chesterman said there is a much harder piece, which involves “building the […]
The fintech startup jobs Australian expats are returning home for
Expatriate Australians are returning home to roles in the local fintech industry. The 2018 EY FinTech Australia Census, released in Melbourne today, says many who have been in the industry since its inception talk of the increase in interest from expats. This return of global talent brings international financial services and fintech experience back into the local market. It also helps locals connect to influencers and business leaders in international markets, a major benefit to local fintechs seeking offshore expansion. Most fintechs report difficulties attracting qualified or suitable talent including engineering/software expertise (77%), design and user experience (36%, up from 24% last year) and sales (33%, although down from 41% […]
Sibos 2018 – The Rise of FinTech
FinTech comes of age in Australia at Sibos 2018. As Sibos 2018 comes to a close and the worlds biggest players in banking head home the event can be considered a huge success, especially for FinTech. Sibos is the worlds premiere financial services event and what an event it is. 7000 banking and financial services professionals from across the globe gathered. With Money 20;20 taking place in Vegas at the same time the turn out was incredible. Australian FinTech partnered with Tier One People to cover the four day event. A dedicated Fintech exhibition, The Discovery Zone drew huge crowds. Innotribe, presented the worlds foremost experts on Blockchain, AI, Quanrum Computing and […]
JP Morgan’s Quorum blockchain opens new world of trading opportunities
A blockchain platform built by global investment bank JP Morgan is being used to “tokenise” gold bars to allow sustainable miners to earn a premium on global markets, an indication of new trading opportunities the disruptive technology will create over the coming decade. Blockchain technology, initially deployed to create bitcoin, is moving into production in major investment banks – but it’s not being used to move money. Rather, banks are using it to manage global liquidity, improve information inefficiencies and create “crypto” assets (other than currencies). JP Morgan has created an enterprise version of the Ethereum blockchain – known as Quorum – which allows for the operation of “smart contracts”, […]
