Too slow out of the blocks
Blockchain is hands down the most talked about piece of technology in recent memory but the level of investment in Australia on distributed ledger solutions isn’t quite in step with the enthusiasm on display from our corporate set. Sydney start-up Veredictum’s chief executive Tim Lea said the current state of affairs was completely out of synch with the hype around blockchain. According to Mr Lea, Australia ranks behind Panama, Mexico, Argentina, Barbados and Kenya when it comes to putting money into blockchain. With $1.3 billion invested to date in the technology globally, Australia’s share of that pie is a paltry 0.04 per cent. Most of the interest is unsurprisingly coming […]
Ignition Wealth announces goals-based investing
Ignition Wealth CEO Mark Fordree today announced a groundbreaking development as Ignition Wealth becomes the first Australian ‘robo-adviser’ to offer goals-based investing. Ignition Wealth has appointed SiResearch to provide adaptive asset allocation built around goals which have a specific objective and timeframe. Traditional risk assessment has focussed on the investor’s long-term goals, often focussing simply on retirement. The goals-based model acknowledges that investors’ goals may fall into several buckets including short term, medium term and legacy. “In reality an investor’s attitude to risk is influenced by what their goal is and the date by when they want to achieve it. The SiResearch goals-based investment model adds a specific objective […]
Banks stake out Apple Pay battleground in ACCC submission
The concept of the big banks arguing for change in order to increase competition tells you something about Apple’s apparent domination of the mobile phone market and its willingness to exploit this market power. In a submission released today, the banks have responded to the ACCC’s draft denial of the right to collectively negotiate with Apple by dropping their proposed claim to seek the right to fight for the ability to pass on the Apple fee and to cut the period for authorisation in half to 18 months. The latter is designed to show the big banks are not just simply trying to delay Apple and the former is to […]
Fintech disruptors hurting established players
As trends go, financial technology is a beauty. The prospect of nimble “fintech” ventures disrupting financial-service incumbents has whet investor appetites. An Australian fintech sector is rapidly emerging. Fintech has been a boom sector in the United States and United Kingdom as technology-based companies, with their capital-light business models, nibble at the market share of large firms. It happened in print media, publishing, music and education. Now the same trend, where new firms offer financial products and services using online platforms, is disrupting parts of banking, wealth management, insurance, payments, accounting and foreign exchange. There is, of course, much hype about fintech. But the financial-services sector looks a prime target […]
Apple Pay boss says CBA, NAB, Westpac risk missing the future of payments
The global head of Apple Pay has put three of Australia’s big banks on notice that the technology giant’s global payments system will steal their customers and they risk being left behind in the development of digital wallets. Jennifer Bailey said in an exclusive interview that Apple is so confident of the supremacy of its payments system that “customers will say they are happy to switch banks to use it”. With ANZ Banking Group the only big four bank to allow its customers to use Apple Pay, The Australian Financial Review can reveal that Macquarie Bank and ING Direct will turn on the service by the end of February. They […]
DomaCom signs distribution deal with US crowdfunder
Australian crowdfunder, DomaCom has signed an exclusive distribution deal with a New York-based real estate crowdfunding platform, Prodigy Network. The deal aimed to expand investment opportunities for Australian investors wanting to invest in US real estate assets. DomaCom’s chief executive, Arthur Naoumidis, described the agreement as “the start of several overseas property crowdfunding opportunities for Australian investors”. “Enormous buying power exists in our large industry and retail superannuation funds and our growing A$600 billion self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) market. There are vast sums of money sitting there, some of which must be looking for an opportunity to invest in global real estate markets,” he said. “Whilst crowdfunding is still a […]
Mint Payments successfully completes $6m placement
Payments technology solutions provider Mint Payments (ASX: MNW) has successfully completed a placement of new shares to drive its aggressive expansion into South East Asia’s evolving payments landscape. The placement will be made pursuant to s708 (11) of the Corporations Act 2001, to raise $6.0M. Priced at $0.079 per share, the Placement represents a 3.7% discount to the last traded price of $0.082 per share. The capital raising will be undertaken in two tranches: a) Tranche 1 – comprising 50.6M shares, raising $4.0M pursuant to the Company’s existing 15% capital issue limit under ASX Listing Rule 7.1 ; and b) Tranche 2 – comprising 25.3M shares, raising $2.0M. […]
Australian FinTech launches International FinTech platform
The team behind the highly successful AustralianFinTech.com.au, this week launch their International platform, InternationalFinTech.com, aimed at connecting the FinTech industry on a global scale. Founder and CEO, Cameron Dart, says International FinTech has been born on the back of the highly successful Australian FinTech platform and growing demand from the global community to have a dedicated online presence for their sector. “International FinTech mirrors the Australian FinTech platform, including a dedicated industry newsfeed and a comprehensive directory of FinTech companies globally. “The site also aims to educate users of new financial technologies such as peer to peer lending and cryptocurrency, all presented in simple terms with no financial jargon” says […]
