Google launches Android Pay in Australia
Google has today announced the launch of its contactless smartphone payment system Android Pay in Australia, providing a new way to pay for just about anything without needing to grab your wallet. “We truly believe that we’re at a tipping point in Australia, where we can get mass adoption of mobile payments”, Google’s senior director of product management Pali Bhat tells Fairfax Media, noting that 60 per cent of Australians already make payments with a contactless card. Mobile payment solutions for phones are already offered by Apple, Samsung and some individual banks, but Google believes Android Pay differentiates itself with its ease of use. Because the system is baked directly […]
The Invoice Market sees significant changes in the industry as having both positive and negative impacts
Peer-to-peer alternative financier, The Invoice Market (tim), reached a notable milestone recently, celebrating two years since it helped its first business client cash flow a batch of invoices to the value of $968,340. As one of the earlier entrants to offer flexible invoice funding, the company has seen significant changes, both positive and negative, in the industry over this time. “From funding our first client, a fresh produce supplier, tim has built a strong business supporting SMEs where the traditional funders are unwilling or unable to do so. And, in remaining focused on our core objective, we have now provided funding to over 100 Australian businesses, making tim a […]
The 14 Australian fintech startups chosen for KPMG’s new accelerator program
KPMG Australia today launched mLabs, an accelerator to connect credit unions and mutual banks with some of Australia’s most promising fintech startups. The program follows the successful Energise accelerator run for the energy and natural resources sector last year. The program will initially be used by seven Australian mutual banks and credit unions: Beyond Bank, CUA, Greater Bank, Heritage, IMB Bank, Police Bank and Teachers Mutual Bank. The KPMG Mutuals Review 2015 found that mutuals are well placed to implement new technologies and ideas and to collaborate with fintech startups. “KPMG mLabs is designed to catalyse this process,” says James Mabbott, head of KPMG innovate. “It will be a platform […]
Fintech startup Edstart launches platform to help parents pay for private school fees
Fintech startup Edstart launched a new lending platform last week to help Australian parents manage the cost of private school fees. The private school market is the first of many education sectors the company is looking to target, offering low-cost, customised loan packages to make paying education fees simple and easy. The loans help parents to spread out the cost of school fees over the period of tuition and beyond, allowing 6 years of high school to be paid over 10 years or more. Co-Founder and CEO Jack Stevens said the company’s focus from day one has been on solving for customer pain points. “Over 35% […]
Australian FinTech partners with award winning currency transfer service TorFX
Australian FinTech is here to benefit FinTech companies in Australia and it’s the perfect platform to promote your company, brand awareness and your amazing products and services. To assist on the foreign exchange currency side of your business, Australian FinTech has partnered with TorFX. Australian FinTech have teamed up with award winning currency transfer service TorFX, to provide an alternative to the banks for transferring your funds internationally. A great option for you to transfer your funds is through TorFX. TorFX are assisting a large number of our clients to ensure they receive a more competitive exchange rate comparing to what the banks can offer TorFX are a simple, safe […]
Mutual banks back fintech accelerator mLabs
Member-owned credit union CUA will turn to young, digitally savvy entrepreneurs to help it address a gap in its business: luring in more young, digitally savvy customers. The Queensland-based company is one of seven mutual banks that have signed up to a new fintech accelerator program run by professional services firm KPMG. The mLabs 12-week program will connect the mutual banks with 14 start-up companies in an attempt to promote innovation. Beyond Bank, Greater Bank, Heritage, IMB (Illawarra Mutual Bank), Police Bank, and Teachers Bank have signed up alongside CUA to work closely with the start-ups to come up with solutions to sector-wide issues, and create prototype products and services. […]
Xero & CommBank unveil innovations to transform small business banking
Xero today announced the first of many new features to be released with Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s largest bank, designed to enable mutual small business customers to make smart, informed decisions. A world first is the ability to set up direct bank feeds from either platform. Mutual customers of Commonwealth Bank and Xero can choose to start their journey within Xero, or connect from the Xero accounting platform directly within NetBank. This feature also accelerates the processing time of setting up Commonwealth Bank bank feeds for a small business customer from ten days to having the feeds available overnight. It means Commonwealth Bank and Xero customers can reconcile more of their […]
Bitcoin drifts lower after technical milestone
The virtual currency bitcoin made it through a closely watched technical milestone with a 2 per cent decline. The price of the alternative currency, measured in dollars, dipped on Saturday in light trading by about 4 per cent, but then recovered some ground to trade only about 2 per cent lower than it did early in the day, according to bitcoin tracker Coindesk. In recent months, a run-up in the price of bitcoin was attributed in part to the “halving” that arrived Saturday. That effectively cuts by 50 per cent the rate of production of new bitcoins. In theory, that makes existing bitcoins more valuable. The pre-programmed “halving” that took […]
