Xero launches biggest number of products in its history
Cloud accounting software platform Xero has launched the biggest collection of products in the company’s 11-year history, including a partnership that promises to offer automated marketing for accounting firms, an educational learning platform for high schools, universities and businesses and a complete re-thinking of Xero Expenses. The features have consumed much of the company’s growing research and development spend, which is 41 per cent of revenue. The suite of products was announced by Xero chief executive and co-founder Rod Drury at this year’s Xerocon in Melbourne, which attracted more than 3300 people from 19 countries. Mr Drury told The Australian Financial Review announcements at next year’s Xerocon would be even […]
Sydney charges ahead as a global FinTech leader, Melbourne not far behind
FinTech Australia, a national FinTech startup community, has welcomed the strong performance by Sydney and Melbourne in the most recent Global Financial Centres Index. The Index ranks London in the top spot with a rating of 780, followed by New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore respectively. The Index is published every six months and measures the attractiveness of the 108 global financial centres. The report analyses research from a number of major international organisations, including the United Nations and World Bank. Australia did particularly well with Sydney holding its position at number eight in the world, and Melbourne experiencing a significant increase from number 21 to number 13. FinTech Australia […]
Four areas Australia should focus on to lead in the coming fintech boom
If Australia wants to lead the next wave of fintech innovation, it needs the next generation of start-ups to be successful. Although the federal government and the corporate sector are on board, it will take more than general support for Australia’s fintech scene to mature competitively. Sydney start-up hub Stone and Chalk’s CEO Alex Scandurra believes the Australian fintech industry is already maturing past apps and gadgets, but the “valley of death” – the time before a start-up is cashflow positive – still looms large in an industry riddled with failed ventures. This is one reason the focus for Stone and Chalk has grown into more of a “fintech ecosystem”, […]
Criticism of Acorns’ fee structure is missing the point: a Millennial responds to ‘rip-off’ claims
Financial planners tell the rest of the population how to invest based on logic and structure. But most people look beyond just numbers when making decisions. Recently Gary Stone, chief executive of Share Wealth Systems and author of Blueprint to Wealth, wrote about Millennials being ripped off by investment apps such as Acorns. He pulled out his calculator and came up with a number of 6.2 per cent in fees that people with small balances were paying Acorns. He claimed this was outrageously high compared with other managed investments. But he has missed the point. An investment app such as Acorns is not a managed fund. It’s an education and […]
ASIC poised to release ICO guidelines: What this means for startups
Startups enticed by the growing popularity of initial coin offerings (ICO) as a fundraising method may soon be subject to more regulation, as the corporate watchdog prepares step up its oversight of the blockchain-based funding practice to weed out any scams. However, one local startup founder who’s in the midst of his own ICO says more regulation is needed to ensure startups don’t expose themselves to unnecessary risk. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is poised to release a guiding statement on ICOs, reports Innovation Aus, which will likely see Australia follow the lead of the US by including the fundraising method within its existing regulations governing initial public offerings […]
PledgeMe joins Equitise in eyeing Australian market
PledgeMe, the equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platform, has joined rival Equitise in signalling plans to enter the Australian market ahead of a law change coming into effect across the Tasman this month. Co-founder Anna Guenther will relocate to Brisbane for six months to establish the Wellington-based company’s Australian arm, according to a PledgeMe blog post. PledgeMe will participate in the Queensland government’s HotDesQ programme, which provides networks, support, and funding for companies to relocate to the state. “There are over 2.1 million SME’s in Australia (compared to just under 500,000 here in New Zealand), so the opportunity is pretty clear,” she says. The Australian Corporations Amendment (Crowd-sourced Funding) Act […]
Eight of 10 Australians don’t get financial advice. Is technology the answer?
About eight in 10 adult Australians are not receiving financial advice, even though many would benefit. Despite surveys showing how stressed many of us are about money, it’s a figure that hasn’t changed over the past 25 years. Many people are put off by the cost of face-to-face advice, they’re concerned that products would be pushed or they perceive a lack of independence within some parts of the financial planning industry. Sometimes people find some advisers are not very interested in talking to clients who don’t have substantial wealth to invest. Those behind “robo-advisers”, which provide automated advice, say technology can reduce the advice gap by making the advice cheap. […]
Peppermint tech deal with 200,000 strong Philippines distribution network
Perth-based tech company Peppermint Innovation has received a significant boost as it marches towards full commercialisation of its mobile payments technology. The company announced yesterday it had signed a deal with burgeoning Philippines multi-level marketing distribution firm, Sante Barley. Under the deal, Sante Barley’s 200,000 strong network of agents will be able to accept money from their own networks of people and customers who wish to pay their household bills, transfer money to others or even load up some mobile phone air time. Sante Barley agents will use Peppermint’s proprietary, non-bank, mobile payments and remittance technology to do this and both Sante Barley and Peppermint will share a fee each […]
