Samsung Pay adds 38 more banks and credit unions in Australia
Almost two million more Australians will be able to use their smartphone as a credit card today in a move Samsung promised would take the country “a step closer” to ditching traditional wallets entirely. The smartphone giant will add 38 financial institutions to its Samsung Pay app, allowing customers from Credit Union Australia, Australian Unity and more to pay by tapping their smartphone or smartwatch at the cash register. Samsung Pay, which launched one year ago, is still trailing its Apple and Google rivals, but all three now offer payments from more than 40 institutions. Samsung Australia mobile division vice-president Richard Fink said the latest deal, secured with payment solutions […]
Tyro sticks to strategy as CEO Gerd Schenkel exits
It was back to business at Tyro Payments yesterday after the fintech elder severed links with chief executive Gerd Schenkel, who was hired amid great fanfare only eight months with a mission to transform Tyro into an SME bank. Tyro’s decision to target the poorly serviced SME sector was prompted by non-executive director and Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes. Cannon-Brookes scolded his fellow board members for lacking ambition and being happy to live off the fat from unlisted Tyro’s payments platform, which generates $8 million-plus in earnings from servicing the EFTPOS requirements of its 18,000 small business customers. Instead of telling him to go jump, the board agreed. Tyro secured a […]
More openness required to progress advice industry says YTML
The advice industry will struggle to take the next major step in its evolution unless more innovative solutions are delivered to market. According to YTML CEO Kevin Liao, this will require technology providers to come together, collaborate and solve the operational frustrations that have characterised the advice industry for far too long. “Collaboration starts with providers being receptive to the notion that we need to work together. We then need to have an open dialogue and challenge ourselves on how we can leverage our respective complimentary strengths to create solutions that makes it operationally easier to deliver advice.” YTML is a software agnostic service provider, working with the advice industry to […]
Acorns launches sustainable investment portfolio
The Australian micro-investing app today launches its socially responsible Emerald Portfolio following feedback from millennial customers. Micro-investing app Acorns today launches the Emerald Portfolio – an investment option designed to meet environmental, social and corporate governance standards. The app allows Australians to invest their small change, by rounding-up their everyday purchases and putting that money towards one of six investment portfolio options. The new socially driven portfolio option is a result of continued customer feedback, with strong customer demand for an investment option that aligns with their personal values. Acorns says this feedback has largely been driven by millennials, who have been quick to take up the micro-investing app since […]
ASIC signs fintech agreement with Hong Kong
Regulators in Australia and Hong Kong are building bridges to assist financial technology companies expand abroad. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission signed a “co-operation agreement” on Tuesday that provides for facilitated introductions when a fintech company operating in one jurisdiction wants to better understand the rules in the other. ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour said the agreement will help to “ease entry” for Australian fintech start-ups seeking to enter the Hong Kong market by creating a simple pathway for engaging with the securities regulator. The agreement also provides a framework for information sharing between the two regulators. It is understood both want to […]
Success of innovation in Australia’s Financial Services lies in collaboration, not competition
Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology and outsourcing services, today announced the findings of a report published by The Australian Digital Transformation Lab, a joint venture between the University of Sydney Business School and Capgemini. The report finds that while Financial Technology (Fintech) firms are seeking to disrupt the larger players, moving forward, the opportunity in financial services is based on collaboration rather than competition. The emerging Fintech industry and Australia’s traditional banking sector are being urged to work together in order to innovate in ways that allow them to survive the looming threat posed by so called ‘Big Tech’ companies such as Apple and Amazon. It is therefore […]
Fintech a vertical integration disruptor – ASIC
Vertical integration, particularly with respect to the major banks, is likely to be eroded by financial service technology, according to Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chairman, Greg Medcraft. Giving evidence before Senate Estimates, Medcraft said he believed the banks were starting to realise that owning something and cross-selling was probably not a viable strategy anymore. Asked by Tasmanian Green Senator, Peter Whish-Wilson whether vertical integration was being addressed in line with the recommendations of the Murray Review, Medcraft said he believed progress was being made. Whish-Wilson also asked whether the financial services technology changes had been a factor in ANZ’s decision to exit some of its wealth management business. […]
Most loans to be sourced digitally ‘within 10 years’, says fintech
A web-based brokerage has predicted that “within five to 10 years” most home loans will be sourced through digital platforms. Re-iterating what he told The Adviser in May, the founder and CEO of online brokerage uno. has predicted that there is “huge potential” for digital broking in the future, despite digital mortgage origination currently representing less than 3 per cent of the mortgage market. Vincent Turner highlighted research undertaken by financial services firm Deloitte in 2016 for the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia, which found that 27 per cent of broker customers and 34 per cent of direct-to-lender customers would consider making digital mortgage applications, as testament to this […]
