Afterpay and Tyro announce SME payments partnership
Payments fintechs Afterpay and Tyro have struck a deal that will see Afterpay’s deferred payment product rolled out to thousands of small businesses using Tyro’s EFTPOS terminals, which compete against those offered by the big banks. The commercial partnership will allow Tyro, which gained a banking licence last year, to deepen its relationships by integrating Afterpay’s service with point of sale software systems to help customers increase sales. For Afterpay, the deal will extend its reach into small business, lifting merchant fee revenue, and potentially open up new markets such as medical practices, where Tyro’s terminals are popular. Afterpay’s investors have said one of the big challenges for the young […]
ASX bullish on fintech stock listings
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) expects to see technology listings on the ASX proliferate in the near future, with fintech companies to play a significant role. Speaking to InvestorDaily, Eddie Grieve, head of listings and issuer services at the ASX, said the institution is encouraged by recent activity from technology companies, and those specialising in financial services in particular. “The broader tech sector has been a key focus of ASX for some time, and we see fintech playing a significant part in the sector’s future growth,” Mr Grieve said. Tech listings in 2016 were at the highest number since the dotcom boom of 1999/2000, Mr Grieve explained, with the fintech […]
Blockchain and others will transform financial advice
The potential for distributed ledger and associated technologies has fundamental, long-term ramifications for financial planning businesses. Planners need to be across these innovations now so that when commercial solutions that use these technologies hit the market, their businesses are ready to embrace them. Distributed ledger technology is a way of recording information that makes it easy to verify. Blockchain, which is the system that records how the virtual currency Bitcoin is stored, is one application of this technology. Shortened Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) transaction settlement times will likely be the first real change to the market from Blockchain. Last year, the ASX invested $14.9 million to acquire 5 per cent […]
Scott Morrison to tell global finance leaders Australia backs fintech
The federal government wants to see the fintech sector “grow big, to thrive and deliver benefits for consumers and the economy”, Treasurer Scott Morrison will tell global central bank governors and finance ministers on Wednesday. In a speech to a high-level G20 conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, Mr Morrison will say fintech can boost banking competition and facilitate access to new forms of finance. He will also tell leaders of the global economy that Australia is “strongly pursuing” blockchain technology, and wants to unlock the “enormous untapped potential of Australia’s data”. After the Productivity Commission in November called for consumers to receive a “comprehensive right” to their data, which would allow […]
Luxury Escapes books its dream holiday with zipMoney
Partnership between leading Australian travel retailer and digital payments platform enables Australians the option to travel now and pay later. Luxury Escapes announced it had become the largest Australian travel retailer to partner with ASX-listed zipMoney Limited (ASX: ZML) and is now offering Australians the option to travel now and pay later. Luxury Escapes General Manager, Blake Hutchison, said the agreement with zipMoney meant Luxury Escapes’ million-plus members now have the flexibility to book their holiday today and pay over time in interest-free instalments. “Luxury Escapes is delighted to partner with zipMoney to simplify our members’ online travel booking experience,” Mr Hutchison said. “We want every […]
Exchange trade funds to over take listed investment companies by 2018
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are poised to overtake listed investment companies as the most popular pooled investment option on the ASX within two years if current trends persist. ASX data for November shows that the value of ETFs rose by 17 per cent to $24.5 billion, while the value of listed investment companies rose just 2.3 per cent to $30.5 billion. Experts point to the increasing sophistication of investors, regulatory change, growing numbers of ETF strategies available at low cost and the rise of the self-managed super fund as among the key forces driving ETF fund flows. Listed investment companies, which have a long history of performing for retail funds, […]
Returns on IPOs Jump in 2016
Year-to-date returns on Australian Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) sat at an impressive 35.8% as at November 30, compared to just 2.7% for the S&P/ASX200, a sign of a healthy company float market, according to Ben Bucknell, Chief Executive of OnMarket BookBuilds (OMB). The OnMarket November IPO Report reveals over the month of November, 12 companies raised a total $1.95 billion by floating on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), well up on the five listings in November 2015 which raised $558 million. The average return on those IPOs was 5.2%, a 2.8% outperformance of the S&P/ASX 200. Ben Bucknell, Chief Executive of OnMarket BookBuilds (OMB), said it has been a good […]
StartupAUS’s Crossroads report reveals 14-point plan to transform economy
Two-and-a-half years ago, StartupAUS declared that Australia was at a crossroads. We released our first report, bearing the Crossroads name, and called for a future that embraced technology start-ups and innovation. Today we released the third report in that series. You can find it online at www.startupaus.org/crossroads/. The question in 2016 isn’t which path to go down, but how far and how fast we are prepared to travel. In the last 18 months, we’ve seen encouraging progress across all areas of the nation’s start-up ecosystem. Right from inception, start-ups are better equipped to find a home. Hubs for specific start-ups such as SproutX (agtech) and Stone and Chalk (fintech) have […]
