The 2nd Annual FinTech Awards 2017
The 2nd Annual FinTech Awards 2017 celebrate the achievements of the dynamic people and businesses comprising the FinTech sector. These Awards seek to recognise success in the FinTech sector in its many forms. This event will be an evening of celebrating the best innovation, created by the best innovators and entrepreneurs that live and work in Australia. Australian FinTech is proud to be a media partner for the 2nd Annual FinTech Awards 2017 to be held in Sydney on 22nd June 2017. Australian FinTech’s CEO and Co-Founder, Cameron Dart, recently named as one of the Top 25 Influencers of FinTech in Australia, is honoured to be one of the judges […]
MYOB founder Craig Winkler just backed a Sydney fintech’s $5 million funding round
A Sydney startup that creates accounting software has secured $5 million in a series A capital raising round. Practice Ignition announced Tuesday that Microequities Venture Capital Fund led the investment, while other new contributors included Black Sheep Capital and Right Click Capital. Craig Winkler, last week named the 12th wealthiest man in Australian tech, is an existing investor in Practice Ignition and chipped in an undisclosed amount for the latest round. Winkler is best known for establishing accounting software firm MYOB then, in 2009, investing $14.7 million in its rival Xero. Xero’s shares are now worth more than 20 times the 2009, as the New Zealand company celebrated passing the […]
Bitcoin move over – there’s a new kid on the blockchain
The digital currency bitcoin has broken new records – surging by more than 245 per cent since the start of the year. In just five months, the price of one bitcoin rose from $1,331 to its all-time-high of $3,894 on May 25. People buy bitcoins for all sorts of reasons. They range from those seeking to invest in safe haven assets in the face of political instability, speculators wanting to ride the wave of what some regard to be an asset bubble, to purchasers who want to purchase illegal goods anonymously on the dark web. Since mid-2010, when the highly-volatile currency was worth just 9 cents, it has surged by […]
IRESS and ITG to deliver faster, improved analysis
Financial technology provider IRESS and ITG, a leading agency broker and financial technology firm, today announced a faster and more comprehensive analysis of trading costs for mutual clients. IRESS and ITG have aligned their systems to enable mutual IRESS and ITG clients to receive more comprehensive and efficient analysis of their trades. The alignment will also assist mutual clients in addressing the requirements set out in ASIC’s Regulatory Guide 97, which puts growing focus on costs and transparency in fund management processes. As a result of Regulatory Guide 97, automated access and analysis of trade data is becoming a top priority for the Australian fund management community. ITG’s Head of […]
Vic govt eyes blockchain’s potential
The Victorian government has become a member of Australian Digital Currency and Commerce Association (ADCCA) through the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. The government is looking to partner with the organisation “to explore the potential application and impact of blockchain across the economy, including but not limited to the financial services, health and food sectors,” the state’s minister for small business, innovation and trade, Philip Dalidakis, told Computerworld. Blockchain is the distributed ledger technology (DLT) that underpins Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies. “Backed by the strength of our digital technology sector, Victoria’s fintech sector and its capabilities are growing, and so is our global reputation for developing innovative […]
The other credit risk to watch in China: Fintech-fuelled debt
China’s government has copped what Scott Morrison is so desperate to avoid: a credit rating downgrade. But in the discussion about Moody’s surprise move last week to cut its rating for our biggest trading partner, there’s one word that has been notably absent, even though it’s a risk of growing importance to investors and officials. That word is “fintech”. Nowhere are the large potentially huge benefits of fintech – and longer-term risks – clearer than in China. This realisation comes as financial regulators everywhere, including in Australia, start to turn their attention to how these risks could eventuate, if fintech one day grabs a larger share of the financial services […]
What is Blockchain Technology and why is it so popular
In 2008, a cryptographer named Satoshi Nakamoto—a name used by the unknown person or persons—invented Bitcoin. It is a digital currency that enables people to conduct peer-to-peer transactions without the help of any third party such as banks. Whenever we do any transactions, it happens through a third party such as a bank and regulatory laws, but in the blockchain schema, these transactions happen securely but anonymously without the involvement of any intermediaries. So you might ask how the current transactions are happening online with debit and credit cards? Current transactions happen through electronic intermediaries where we depend a lot on the third parties for trust and fraud detection. More […]
One fintech in ASIC’s sandbox, so government to expand it
Only one start-up has entered the “regulatory sandbox” set up by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to foster fintech innovation, prompting the federal government to broaden its eligibility criteria through new legislation. Six months after the launch of the sandbox, the single start-up using the regime is Goodments, a share trading application which matches retail investors to shares based on their ethical, sustainable and social values. Described by ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft as “essentially a ‘lighter touch’ regulatory environment”, the sandbox was opened to entrepreneurs in December after being announced in last year’s federal budget. It allows start-ups to test business models and products on a limited number of […]
