Ignition Wealth Teams’ integration as easy as 123
Following the April 14 launch of Ignition Wealth Teams the effortless integration process has ensured an enthusiastic response from professional financial businesses including advice practices and accountancy firms. “We are committed to building real partnerships with businesses in the professional financial industry. For clients adopting the off the shelf version of Ignition Wealth Teams we have made the integration process absolutely effortless. There is no upfront cost to the business and integration can be completed in as little as 24 hours. For businesses daunted by trialling automated advice this is the solution simple, fast and costfree.” Mark Fordree, CEO, Ignition Wealth. With three simple steps the Ignition Wealth […]
Fintech targets trillion dollar profits
Analysis by McKinsey and Co suggests the trillion dollar profits of traditional banks are vulnerable to being leeched by more than 12,000 fintech start ups. The digital innovators, often targeting a single link of the value chain, pose a grave threat to the business model of the old banking houses. Banks have long made their money by bundling a number of businesses together and relying on the stickiness of life-long customer relationships to rake in super profits on high margin products and services such as investment management, foreign exchange and credit cards. Challengers like Paypal, Nerdwallet and Wealthfront have targeted the profit centres while ignoring the low returns on basic […]
Ignition Wealth evolves launching new Ignition Wealth and Ignition Direct websites to need demand
PRESS RELEASE: Ignition Wealth today launched two new websites, splitting the business to business and direct to consumer offerings to meet demand. Ignition Wealth business partners will now be served via www.ignitionwealth.com while direct investors have a new dedicated website at www.ignitiondirect.com.au. Setting the benchmark for Australian automated advice, (or ‘robo advice’) Ignition Wealth provides tools, calculators and automated advice to Australian financial businesses. The Ignition Wealth website ( www.ignitionwealth.com ) will now host all the information our business partners need as they embrace automated financial advice. “Following the rapid expansion of the business to business arm of our company we have created a site entirely dedicated to […]
Sapien Ventures’ first fintech investment is in Hashching
Wealthy Chinese migrants will help disrupt the Australian mortgage broking industry via an investment in Hashching, an online marketplace for home loans that is putting pressure on banks and their brokers. The investment will be the first for Sapien Ventures, which was established last year by Victor Jiang and has raised a $50 million fund to invest in fintech and online marketplaces. Much of the capital has been raised from high-net-worth Chinese migrants after changes to the Significant Investor Visa program last year that require migrants bringing $5 million into Australia to invest at least $500,000 in eligible venture capital. Sapien Ventures has invested $1 million in Hashching, and is […]
Focused fintechs get the nod from Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley once threw money at start-ups that aimed to disrupt broad swaths of finance. Now it is rewarding those that have sharpened their focus. While overall venture funding into lending start-ups is slowing, some platforms still are raising money by taking aim at narrower or less-traditional borrowing niches than the first generation of financial-technology firms. Faced with a glut of online lenders and cooling interest from investors in some loans, a newer crop of fintech start-ups is focusing on areas including loans for real-estate projects, people with poor credit ratings, car buyers and, at the extreme, people getting married. Venture funding for US lending start-ups dropped to $US298 million […]
Blockchain technology – why all the hype?
As one of the most talked about emerging technologies, some say blockchain technology could revolutionize everything from stock exchange settlements and transport logistics to voting or welfare payments. So what is it and why is it relevant to financial advisers? Internationally, the benefits and wide range of possible uses for blockchain technology have been touted for a couple of years now. Within Australia, it’s gained some ground after a recent Australian Securities Exchange decision to examine its use for a new clearing and settlement system that’s faster and cheaper than the existing CHESS system. To enable this effort, the ASX bought a five per cent stake ($14.9 million) in Blythe […]
Global FinTechs take on Big Four in new Australian frontier
When U.S.-based financial technology company Acorns launched in Australia in February, its mobile app that helps people invest loose pennies in stock markets received nearly 70,000 downloads in just over two months, beating its own expectations. The ‘virtual piggy bank’ chose Australia as its first foreign market thanks to the country’s deep Internet and mobile penetration and tech-savvy population, Managing Director George Lucas told Reuters. Acorns’ entry is a reflection of rising interest in Australia from overseas financial technology – or FinTech – companies, drawn by its heavy banking concentration and limited competition, consultants and financial advisors said. The country’s $348 million alternate finance lending market, which includes peer-to-peer lending […]
Banks Struggle to Keep Pace with FinTech Disruption – World Retail Banking Report 2016
FinTech providers are making increasingly significant inroads with customers, yet the vast majority of banks admit they are not adequately prepared to manage this emerging FinTech threat, according to the 2016 World Retail Banking Report (WRBR), released today by Capgemini and Efma. The report found that nearly two-thirds of customers (63 percent) are now using FinTech products or services, and are much more likely to refer friends and family to their FinTech provider (55 percent) than to their bank (38 percent). However, while 96 percent of banking executives agree that the industry is evolving toward a digital banking ecosystem, where Fintech providers play a much bigger role, only 13 percent […]
