Blockchain is ready for prime time despite its critics
By John Heaton – Moneycatcha CTO Over the last few years the hype around Blockchain has been brought to the forefront via mass entry into cryptocurrencies. This is not too dissimilar to when online trading systems became publicly available in the late 1990s early 2000s. The pattern of behaviour is similar with an opportunity being presented and individuals trying to make a return on investment. As with the online trading systems, there will be individuals who manage to make significant returns on investment but the vast majority made marginal or no returns. Before technology is fully commercialised it endures certain growing pains such as awareness, decision to adopt, initial use […]
CashDeck releases software to help brokers and borrowers prepare for tougher lending measures
There’s no doubting that the Hayne Royal Commission will bring about changes to the way borrowers, brokers and bankers behave. As lenders are required to more carefully scrutinise loan applications and living expenses, it is expected that home buyers borrowing power will be greatly reduced. A recent UBS report suggests that credit availability could be cut by 21 to 41%, depending on income. While nobody can tell exactly what measures will come about, change is certain, and smart brokers will already be making changes to their business processes. Compliance will be top of the list, and for brokers this will mean more accurately assessing living expenses—an onerous task. Technology must […]
Prospa appoints Non-Executive Directors and Chairman
Prospa, Australia’s #1 online lender to small business, has today announced the appointment of Gail Pemberton AO and Fiona Trafford-Walker as Independent Non-Executive Directors to the Prospa Board. In addition, current Non-Executive Director Greg Ruddock has been appointed to the role of Chairman of the Board, having recently stepped down from the Board of Eclipx Group Limited to focus on Prospa. The new Board members will join existing Non-Executive Directors Avi Eyal from Entrée Capital, James Cameron from AirTree Ventures, and Executive Directors and Co-Founders Greg Moshal & Beau Bertoli. Joint CEO Greg Moshal commented: “Prospa’s success has been the result of a group of smart, talented and passionate people […]
Private Equity and Venture Capital technology investments key for investors
Chief Executive Officer of Crestone Wealth Management Michael Chisholm says investor access to the quickly growing technology sector is an important investment and social consideration in the current market cycle. Mr Chisholm said access to private equity or venture capital funds, which are uncorrelated to traditional asset classes, can help cushion portolios against any equity market downturn. Crestone recently invited a group of Australia’s leading venture capital (VC) investors to provide their views on technology. The panel included Paul Bassat, Co-Founder and Partner from Square Peg Capital, Daniel Petre, Co-Founder and Partner from AirTree Ventures, Niki Scevak, Managing Director and Founder from Blackbird Ventures, Emma Weston, Co-Founder and CEO from […]
Moneycatcha appoints industry veteran John Heaton as Chief Technology Officer
Moneycatcha, one of Australia’s leading fintech startups, has appointed technology veteran John Heaton to the newly created role of Chief Technology Officer. Mr Heaton joins the multiple award-winning company from Queensland’s Heritage Bank where he oversaw strategy and technology architecture. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the IT, resources and banking sectors, having served in various senior positions at Oracle Corp and Xstrata Copper. Moneycatcha CEO and founder, Ruth Hatherley, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled and privileged to have John join our fast-growing team. “His experience in technology, coupled with insights in banking and finance, is second to none. “John is instrumental in ensuring our products are compatible across […]
BPAY Group develops BPAY BatchMaker and partners with QuickBooks
BPAY Group, Australia’s leading payments provider, has announced its latest innovation, BPAY BatchMaker, a product helping small businesses to pay multiple suppliers at the same time. As part of BPAY Group’s growing portfolio of developing innovative products for the Australian market that solve customer pain points, BPAY BatchMaker helps makes it easier for small businesses to pay multiple bills and create efficiencies by reducing manual processing. BPAY BatchMaker’s first partner is QuickBooks, the global leader in cloud accounting, with 2.8 million subscribers worldwide. The BPAY BatchMaker app is now available to QuickBooks customers, free of charge*, via the QuickBooks app store. The new application is an easy and convenient way […]
First Australian digital currency exchange regulated: Independent Reserve
Independent Reserve, the Australian digital currency exchange, yesterday became the first Australian exchange of its kind to be regulated. Independent Reserve is the first exchange to be regulated by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC). Set up in 1989, AUSTRAC ensures Australian institutions conform to the required standards around Counter-Terrorism Financing and Know Your Customer rules. CEO Adrian Przelozny said the regulation represented a huge leap forward for the local digital currency industry. “We have been lobbying for increased regulation since we opened for business in 2014,” he said. “We passionately believe that the digital currency economy will – and should – become just another part of the mainstream […]
ONLY 6 days left to enter 2018 Finnie Awards
Entries are now open for Australia’s only industry-backed awards. FinTech Australia together with the NSW Government’s Jobs for NSW has come together to launch the 2018 Finnie awards. A total of 23 awards will be on offer, including FinTech Organisation of the Year, FinTech Leader of the Year, Female FinTech Leader of the Year and Emerging FinTech Organisation of the Year. In addition, fintech companies will have the opportunity to be recognised for excellence in sectors such as lending, wealth management, payments, crowdfunding, blockchain, artificial intelligence and regtech. For this year’s awards, a new award category has been introduced for the best fintech user experience/design outcome. Enter now! https://finnies.awardsplatform.com/ […]
