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 […]
Row emerges over digital advice regulations
A row is developing in the financial planning sector with so-called robo-advisers claiming that regulatory measures proposed by the Financial Planning Association would make the provision of digital advice unworkable. In a submission to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which is in the midst of consulting industry on how digital advice should be regulated, the FPA proposed that robo-advisers be required to appoint independent actuaries to monitor the algorithms used in the provision of automated advice. “If ASIC is after visibility of these results, an obligation to provide independent review results should be included in the regulatory guidance,” the FPA said in the submission.Robo-advisers argued that a need for […]
SocietyOne, Australia’s leading marketplace lender, appoints new board director
SocietyOne, Australia’s leading marketplace lender, today announced the appointment of Brett Clegg to its board as a non-executive director. Mr Clegg is Managing Director of News Corp Australia’s Community Publishing division. Among his responsibilities are its community titles in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, SMB digital marketing services provider newsXtend, and the company’s investments in a range of disruptive technology companies including hipages and Sports Technology Group. Prior to spells with News Corp’s The Australian newspaper where he was deputy chief executive and later Fairfax Media’s CEO and Publisher of the Financial Review Group, Mr Clegg was a journalist, columnist and senior editor on the Australian Financial Review. He […]
New online platform ESIC Hub to accelerate benefits for early-stage companies and investors
A new online platform – ESIC Hub – is the first in Australia for high net worth investors and early-stage companies seeking to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in new tax relief and funding. From this month, high net worth and sophisticated investors, including SMSFs, are eligible for new tax incentives of up to $200,000 a year when they invest in an early-stage investment. However, under new legislation, the company seeking the funding must qualify as an “ESIC” or “Early Stage Innovation Company”, or the investor will miss out. ESIC Hub founder Stephen Crowe, who has advised multi-national and Australian firms for more than 30 years, […]
