Igniteme heats up crowdfunding
Australia’s newest fundraising platform, Igniteme, is looking to push the crowdfunding barrow beyond its traditional confines, having raised more than $1 million since its inception. Igniteme, put together by Australia’s first winner of The Apprentice, Andrew Morello, and former Australian Property Institute associate Kristjan Geering, covers a host of funding options, including charity donations, and private lenders offering loan facilities. There’s also a crowd-sourced equity funding feature that will come into play once the Australian equity crowdfunding legislation comes into effect late next month. The platform’s biggest project to date is raising money for an independent Australian full-length documentary on NSW one-punch attacks called The Polisher. It’s a bit left-field […]
Bitcoin Cash just exploded in value
Bitcoin Cash is the latest major cryptocurrency to surge in value, with prices more than doubling over the past two days. Following Bitcoin’s split on August 1, the alternative Bitcoin Cash traded consistently at around $US300. Demand then spiked and a short time ago, prices had shot up to more than $US700. The price surge means that Bitcoin Cash is now the world’s third biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, behind Bitcoin and Ethereum. Prices for Bitcoin were holding steady this morning at just over $US4,100, but down from their record highs earlier in the week above $US4,400. Amid the recent surges in both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum prices have […]
Fintech launches broker version of ‘Fitbit’
HashChing has introduced a Fitbit-like service which allows brokers to “dig deeper” into analytics, track performance and hold themselves “accountable to customers”. The upgrade is centred on a new performance analytics function that measures each broker’s personal metrics, including the number of reviews, the average response time and success rate. By allowing brokers to track their performance indicators and understand how those indicators impact overall ratings, HashChing hopes that the dashboard will act as a “powerful motivator” for brokers to improve service. Atul Narang, chief information officer of the fintech, said that the update was made in response to industry discussions around driving positive consumer outcomes in the mortgage industry. […]
Australia aims to regulate Bitcoin exchanges
While the bitcoin rate is climbing new heights nearly every week, it becomes more and more obvious that a regulatory environment around the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has to evolve as well. Until now there has been two Asian countries, China and Japan, that have announced its desire to regulate their local bitcoin exchanges. This week these countries were joined by Australia, another major market. Let’s quickly analyse the pros and cons of such practices. Bitcoin Use Cases Today the bitcoin is used for nearly all possible kinds of transactions. It is possible to buy a cup of coffee, pay a tuition fee in some universities or simply settle down […]
Australian FinTech launches jobs platform Australian FinTech Jobs
If you didn’t see the news earlier in the week, Australian FinTech has just launched Australian FinTech Jobs – Australia’s first and only employment website dedicated to the FinTech industry. Australian FinTech Jobs is a marketplace site aimed at FinTech companies (from start-ups to ASX-listed companies) and recruitment companies looking for good quality staff. On the other side, there are university graduates and jobseekers looking to start their FinTech careers or move on up into a new role. Australian FinTech have built up quite a community in the past two and a half years, with traffic now exceeding 13,000 unique users per month. The aim now is to drive a […]
Startups with $3 million in capital could soon be allowed to challenge the big banks: What does this mean for the fintech sector?
The hurdles that startups have to overcome to become authorised banking institutions may soon be lowered, with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) encouraging competition from disruptors looking to challenge the big banks in a discussion paper released on Tuesday. The APRA discussion paper proposes revisions to the existing licensing framework that governs which organisations can be classed as authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADI), and these revisions would see a “phased approach” taken in the ADI authorisation and licensing process. This would allow financial startups with $3 million or more in capital to “begin limited operations” before possessing a full banking licence, according to the paper. Designed to make it easier for applicants to […]
Blockchain in race to remake one of the world’s oldest markets
The blockchain revolution is gunning for the gold market. Public online ledgers that emerged from the explosive markets for bitcoin, a virtual currency, already have drawn the attention of businesses from banks to retailers who see blockchain systems as a revolutionary way to verify and record transactions. Now, companies including exchange owner CME Group, IEX Group spinoff TradeWind Markets and financial technology firm Paxos are rolling out similar platforms to bring gold into the digital age. About $US27 billion ($34.1 billion) of gold changes hands every day in over-the-counter markets where settlements can sometimes takes days, leaving price risk for buyers and sellers. Using blockchain promises more transparency, security and […]
Payment protection startup EFTsure follows up $2m Series A capital raise with PwC partnership
In the wake of its recent $2 million Series A capital raise, fintech startup EFTsure has entered into a collaboration agreement with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), for an opportunity to mitigate the risk of electronic payment fraud for a larger pool of businesses. Founded in 2014, the Sydney-based venture has developed a software platform that validates the integrity of business payment data. Speaking to Dynamic Business in July, co-founder and CEO Ian Mirels explained that EFTsure’s platform mitigates the risk of payment error and fraud – the latter of which costs Australian businesses $700 million per year – by utilising a cloud-based, ‘crowd-sourced’ supplier database that matches payee names to bank account […]
