CommSec founder Paul Rickard is investing in HashChing and joining its board
CommSec founder Paul Rickard and finance media figure Marty Switzer are joining the board of Australian online mortgage marketplace startup HashChing after joining in the company’s $6 million capital raising round. “The HashChing business model of connecting home loan borrowers with customer reviewed brokers and the best rates is unique, and I am excited by the investment opportunity,” said Rickard. Rickard founded the CommSec online retail stockbroking service in 1994, and served as its managing director until 2002. He also served as Commonwealth Bank’s executive general manager for payments and business tech until 2009. HashChing, which has been recently incrementally extending out from purely mortgages to services like home insurance […]
International payments the winning application for blockchain
Start-ups and banking institutions around the world are investing heavily in blockchain and on paper it seems like the perfect solution to fixing banking systems, which often times lag behind current technology trends and in some cases were created before the internet. But, it’s never as simple as it seems. As a refresher, a blockchain are a decentralised, secure, digital ledgers that can be used to record many different types of information. First developed as the architecture behind the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin, it allows for real-time transfers and a dramatic reduction in transfer fees. Theoretically, blockchain should be the perfect solution to the cumbersome process of international payments in particular. […]
Former Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock makes the jump to robo-advice
Robo-advice is the new black – or the new gold as the case may be – with former Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock jumping ship from NAB to join former UBS fund manager Chris Brycki at Peak Advisors. There is little detail on Peak’s website about its business or its staff: “We work with high-net-worth individuals and families providing expert advice, personalised service and tailored financial outcomes,” it says. But we know that Brycki is the founder of automated investment adviser Stockspot, and that Peak – like Stockspot – is a bet on robo-advice. This is the catch-all phrase for the new wave of digital investment services that are expected to […]
Prospa’s Telstra Business Award win puts the fintech sector ‘on the map’, says co-founder
Online small business loan provider Prospa has become the first fintech company to win Telstra’s NSW Medium Business Award, with co-CEO Beau Bertoli stating that the accolade shows fintech is “no longer just some startup idea”. Bertoli, who founded Prospa with Greg Moshal in 2011, spoke to Dynamic Business about the five-year-old company’s victory at the 2017 NSW Telstra Business Awards. DB:What does the win mean for Prospa and how useful was the experience? Bertoli: We were a Telstra Business Awards finalist in 2015 and 2016, which was very encouraging but it meant there was room for improvement. We’re pumped to have taken out the crown this year – third […]
Government paves the way for open banking
Third parties could soon be given greater access to banking data under a proposed open banking system regime. The regime, announced for review by Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison yesterday, will seek to open up consumer and third party access – with consumer consent – to customer and product data traditionally held by banks. In a statement, Morrison said that giving Australian consumers greater access and has the potential to “transform the way in which Australians interact with the banking system.” “Greater consumer access to their own banking data and data on banking products will allow consumers to seek out products that better suit their circumstances, saving them money and allowing […]
Ignition Wealth to open in Ireland
Ignition Wealth CEO Mark Fordree has announced two significant appointments, with a view to opening Ignition Wealth Ireland. Irish fintech expert Peter Oakes has joined the Ignition Wealth executive team as a member of the Advisory Board. Peter Oakes is renowned in the Irish financial services industry for his astute knowledge and innovative attitude. As a former senior executive at both the Central Bank of Ireland and Bank of America Peter holds an excellent international banking pedigree. As an early adopter, and advocate of financial technology and ‘regtech’ Peter will provide guidance to Ignition Wealth globally and advise on the current capital raise in Ireland. In addition, leading […]
Stone & Chalk to open in Melbourne, backed by AustralianSuper, NAB, ANZ
Fintech hub Stone & Chalk will open in Melbourne next month with the support of new corporate backers including AustralianSuper and National Australia Bank, in a move that will establish a centre of gravity for fintech in Victoria. Alan Tsen, who will become Stone & Chalk’s general manager in Melbourne, having stepped down as chief executive of Fintech Victoria, says the new location at 459 Collins Street, alongside agtech acclerator SproutX, will be its first base in the city. The space will open in mid-August and expand to accommodate about 15 start-ups (the space has room for 60 desks) before expansion into a bigger hub. The second centre for Stone […]
More than $600 million in funding went into Australian startups last quarter, and fintech took the most cash
Startup tracking service Techboard has compiled its first national numbers on capital raised in the Australian startup community, finding $625 million had been raised for the quarter ending June. The amount includes equity, debt facilities, acquisitions and grants for more than 100 startups and “young” tech companies less than 10 years old (or had a significant “pivot” in the past decade). “We put together our funding reports based on the data collected in the course of running the monthly Techboard Ranking, supplemented with intel from Techboard’s many investor contacts across the country,” co-founder Rafael Kimberley Bowen said. NSW led the states for most money raised, although if fintech ZipMoney’s massive […]
