Commonwealth Bank and QTC create first government bond using blockchain
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Commonwealth Bank) has arranged a virtual cryptobond for Queensland Treasury Corporation using its capital markets blockchain platform, in the first blockchain bond issuance by a government entity both in Australia and in the world. The transaction marks the first trial of Commonwealth Bank’s private, permissioned blockchain platform for the end-to-end issuance of bonds. Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) successfully used the blockchain to generate a bond tender, view investor bids in real time, finalise investment allocation and settle instantly with investors. QTC acted in both the issuer and investor role to test the end-to-end process for the issuance. The QTC bond was created in digital form using […]
SocietyOne appoints John Cummins as Chief Investment Officer
SocietyOne, Australia’s pioneering and leading lending marketplace, has appointed John Cummins to the new role of Chief Investment Officer, a position which reflects the critical importance of its investor funders to the company’s future growth. John will have responsibility for all of SocietyOne’s funding requirements to support demand from an expanding number of borrower customers. This will include building on SocietyOne’s existing network of investor funders who include large financial institutions, mutual banks, credit unions, high net worth individuals and SMSFs. John will also play a key role in helping the company to achieve its five-year goals of expanding and deepening its funding base to support growth in borrower customers […]
Top 5 Fintech and Banking Trends for 2017
FinTech Competition Will Drive Banking Transformation FinTech companies are competing with banks on a number of levels including peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, lending, saving, and investing. Banks should especially be worried about the fact that 33% of millennials don’t believe they’ll need a bank in the next 5 years, and almost 75% of millennials reported that they are more interested in financial offerings from Google and Amazon that from traditional nationwide banks. For banks to continue to compete, they’ll need to make sure they are providing better services and customer experiences than both their bank competitors, but also upstart FinTech companies. Continued Shift From In-Branch to Digital Channels Millennials are […]
Develop New Ways to Sell Online: Introducing Build with Square
When you’re growing your business, the thought of piecing together hardware, software and payments services from multiple vendors can be exhausting. Unfortunately, that’s the challenge many Australian business owners face. At Square, we believe that all business owners — big and small, online and offline — should have the tools to start, run and grow using one cohesive and fully integrated platform. Build with Square is a new set of new payment APIs which are now available to Australian sellers and developers, designed to empower offline businesses with payment solutions to service omni-channel needs. Our collection of APIs enable you to integrate your custom point of sale or e-commerce solutions […]
Global Payments & Mint Payments sign strategic partnership agreement
Mint Payments Limited (ASX: MNW) (Mint or the Company) and Global Payments Asia Pacific Limited, a subsidiary company of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and merchant acquiring services, today announced a partnership agreement that will equip Mint and its licensed distribution partners with the ability to provide the Company’s integrated payment technology solutions with Global Payments as the acquirer, in the territories of Malaysia and Singapore with additional territories to follow. As part of the Agreement, Global Payments will also refer its merchants to adopt Mint’s range of integrated payment solutions in these two markets. In the Asia Pacific region, Global Payments Asia […]
How integrating digital can help banks save money, improve sales
By Don Bergal, CMO at Avoka Retail banks are successfully integrating digital into a continuous omnichannel experience for customers across marketing, selling and delivery of their products. With the internet continuing to make inroads into almost every aspect of our daily lives, the need for this integration — and the opportunity it presents — is obvious. Digital Customer Engagement Heavy use of digital for promotional and marketing purposes — through social media, internet search, digital ads, websites and so on — is now commonplace. The service element, i.e. how customers consume financial products, has also been transformed by the rise and popularity of online banking. For instance, most banks now […]
Why we need to change how we talk about Superannuation
Mike Goodall, Corporate and Industry Fund Sales Manager at Ignition Wealth has over 30 years experience working with retail and industry superannuation. Mike has a real passion for helping the industry super funds to connect more meaningfully with their clients. With record levels of disengagement the industry is ripe for disruption and Mike is committed to helping the superfunds revolutionise from inside, through the utilisation of the best emerging technologies. It’s no secret member engagement is the biggest challenge facing the superannuation industry in Australia. Despite collectively having more than $2.1 trillion invested in super, the majority of people don’t view superannuation as an investment or nest egg – at best they […]
VentureCrowd completes first Israeli crowdfunding deal with Knowmail
VentureCrowd, Australia’s leading alternative assets investment platform, today announced the successful completion of a $155,000 crowdfunding round for Knowmail. The company is the first Israeli startup to be funded through VentureCrowd under a partnership with investment management firm Kentgrove Capital. VentureCrowd raised $155,000 in convertible notes, as part of a larger US$3 million funding round led by reputable venture capital firms CE Ventures, AfterDox, Plus Ventures and 2B Angels. The investment gave sophisticated investors on the VentureCrowd platform the opportunity to access convertible notes at an interest rate of 4.5 per cent per annum. Knowmail, one of few startups to participate in the Microsoft Accelerator Program, is creating an artificial […]
