How pocket money has adapted to the digital age
This generation could be the last to know the thrill and discipline of waiting for the weekly pocket money in the form of a bundle of crumpled notes and warm coins. In a world of apps, e-books and online games, more children than ever are asking for their weekly allowance digitally to fuel modern-day spending. For many parents, pocket money has become a source of mild anxiety with the added complexity of the digital age: when should it start? How much to pay? Should it be in return for doing chores, or handed over with no strings attached? According to the survey of more than 1000 parents for the Financial […]
Micro-investing app Raiz – how it works
Raiz, which until recently was known as Acorns, is a micro-investing platform aimed at Australians aged 18 to 35. Raiz allows people to invest small amounts in the stock market using a smartphone app. Over 500,000 people have signed up to Raiz since it launched in February 2016, though only 164,000 of those are active users. Raiz now has $214 million under management and the average customer has a balance of $1234. Raiz Managing Director George Lucas says Raiz is a user-friendly, automated savings and investment tool which doesn’t seek to generate market-leading returns, though “the average Raiz customer has made 11% per annum since launch and 10.1% per annum […]
Netwealth profit up in 2017-18 financial year
Platform provider Netwealth saw its net profit after tax grow 72.7 per cent in the past financial year, the company has reported. The company, which listed on the ASX on 20 November 2017, reported a statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) of $20.8 million, which included IPO transaction costs of $8.7 million. Additionally, Netwealth reported its pro forma NPAT to be $29 million, 6.3 per cent above the company’s prospectus forecast. Commenting on the results, Netwealth joint managing director Michael Heine said the company was “pleased” with its performance. “We are experiencing significant structural changes in the wealth management industry in Australia,” he said. “Many of these changes are benefiting […]
Debtor finance group profits grow
A business finance group has reported its financial results with a profit increase of 14.1% from last year. Scottish Pacific had a profit before interest and tax of $47.6m. Its net profit after tax grew 17.4% to $29.7m, which it puts down to growing customers, operating efficiencies and solid cost controls. According to the group, strong growth from its core Debtor Finance facility was supported by growing customers expanding their facilities with Scottish Pacific. Average exposure over the year is up 15% to $998m and turnover is up 13.2% to $17.5b. Commenting on the results, CEO, Peter Langham said, “We are pleased to have delivered a strong result for FY18, […]
Samsung Pay’s Australian success also now available in six continents
ITWire recently spoke to Mark Hodgson, head of Samsung Pay in Australia, who shared his thoughts on the convenience of mobile wallets; in the meantime, Samsung has announced 1.3 billion Samsung Pay transactions. Billed as being “simple, secure and almost anywhere”, Samsung Pay has reached that milestone globally in 24 markets – which has included Australia since June 2015, and which secured Australia’s four major banks by March 2018, for a total of 45 financial institutions in Australia at that time. Now comes Samsung Pay’s third anniversary, having originally launched in South Korea on 20 August 2015. Since then, Samsung reports its payment service having “experienced significant global growth and […]
Business-only bank Tyro in deal with China’s Alipay
Australian business-only bank Tyro has entered into an agreement with the world’s largest online payment platform, Alipay, to become the first Australian bank to offer an all-in-one Eftpos solution with the Chinese outfit. The partnership, which will be live from the second quarter of 2019, is designed to improve Australian business access to the Chinese visitor market. “Based on requests from several of our merchants to accept Alipay, Tyro and Alipay entered discussions to explore the best way we could work together,” Tyro CEO Robbie Cooke told The Australian. “With Tyro’s in-house engineering team, we were able to deliver Alipay in an agile way which allows for rapid market delivery.” […]
Is the future of banking Fintech or Techfin?
The banking industry is experiencing disruption at an increasing pace. Over the past few years, traditional financial institutions and non-traditional fintech firms have begun to understand that collaboration may be the best path to long-term growth. At the same time, big tech firms are offering financial services, creating techfin solutions. The rationale for collaboration is the ability to bring strengths of both banks and fintech firms together to create an stronger entity than either unit could bring on their own. For most fintech organizations, the primary advantages are an innovation mindset, agility (speed to adjust), consumer-centric perspective, and an infrastructure built for digital. These are advantages that most legacy financial […]
APRA prepares to approve three new banks
There’s a prospect of there will be three new banks in the Australian market by Christmas, operating under unrestricted, full banking licences. That these could be held by three start-ups less than a year old – Volt Bank, 86400 and Judo Capital – shows just how fast the regulatory environment is changing under policy leadership of new Prime Minister Scott Morrison. As Treasurer, he championed the need for more competition to pressure incumbent banks to become more customer-centric. Before Morrison’s 2017 budget paved the way for new entrants to enter the deposit market by streamlining application procedures, APRA had granted only one new banking licence to a local player in […]
