Future of advice: boutiques for some, robo-plans for the rest
Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer says the growing cost of providing personal financial advice, including sky-rocketing regulatory costs, is creating a bifurcated financial advice market, with specialist boutiques serving customers willing to pay more for bespoke plans, while banks – sensitive about their reputations following the Hayne inquiry – shift to an automated model supplying general advice to the masses. After Westpac announced it would no longer provide personal advice, leading wealth advisers also said the traditional model of major banks seeking to provide cheap, personalised advice funded by cross-selling products was now dead, following the royal commission, and agreed “robo advice” would emerge as the way of delivering financial […]
Do start-ups stand a chance in the face of ‘crypto winter’?
Cryptocurrencies have lost more than $400 billion from their global market cap over the past 12 months, but despite this Australian start-ups remain determined to weather the fallout from “crypto winter”. “The best time to build something is where there’s a lull in the market,” says co-founder of cryptocurrency investment app Amber, Aleks Svetski. Market tracker CoinMarketCap says the past year of volatility sliced the global value of cryptocurrencies from $610 billion to $190 billion. In the US and Europe, entrepreneurs are questioning whether they can make start-ups in the space work long-term and the phrase “crypto winter”, to describe the freezing up of both growth and enthusiasm, was born. The […]
Super funds look to AI to improve member engagement
Tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google are driving members’ expectations of customer experiences which presents a major headache for superannuation funds. Georgie Obst, HESTA’s general manager – campaigns and customer growth – told CFSM delegates on Friday that funds need to do whatever they can to exploit new technologies to help cement their position as their members’ most trusted financial services brand. “That’s a very good role for the super funds to play particularly in the current environment,” she says, What’s shifting she went on to say is that members now expect funds to leverage personal data to the members advantage. Mario Garrido, head of brand behaviour change […]
BGL announces integration with AccountKit
BGL Corporate Solutions, Australia’s leading supplier of SMSF administration and ASIC corporate compliance solutions, proudly announces single click automations with Account Kit designed to streamline client processes. “It’s great to have AccountKit as part of the BGL Ecosystem”, says Ron Lesh, BGL’s Managing Director. “AccountKit provide Australia’s leading tools designed to help automate day-to-day compliance and administrative tasks for cloud-based accounting firms. The integration with CAS 360 and Simple Fund 360 will save our mutual clients time and money, remove duplicate data entry, provide efficiency gains and improve the visibility of data and documents across their businesses”. “We are excited to provide our accounting firm clients with access to their […]
Banks must prioritise NPP, says Reserve Bank
The $1 billion New Payment Platform seems to be another headache for the big banks. Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe asked the chief executives of the big four to confirm they are putting significant resources into rolling out the high speed payment system last year. In emails sent by Lowe to the chief executives of ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank last September, he expressed concern at how long it was taking to roll out the high speed payment system, saying: “The concern is that the slow roll out is limiting both competition and innovation.” He went on to write: “Given these issues, the board has asked me […]
Virgin launches new digital portal for mortgage applications
The lender has announced the launch of a new digital platform designed to improve the efficiency of the home loan application process for mortgage brokers. Virgin Money Australia has revealed that it plans to issue the majority of its home loan applications via its new Digital Acceptance Document Portal. The online delivery and signing platform is designed to provide customers with the opportunity to electronically receive and accept their Virgin Money Home Loans documents. The lender added that the platform, which can be accessed via multiple devices, would also allow brokers to view the progress of their customer’s application process. To read more, please click on the link below…. Source: […]
Binance will let you buy Bitcoin with cash from 1,300 stores in Australia
Binance says cryptocurrency fans in Australia will soon be able to purchase Bitcoin from over 1,300 supported Newsagents across the country. The new service, “Binance Lite,” marks the first time the Malta-based exchange has managed to open a fiat gateway in Australia. While it will only support buying Bitcoin at launch, press materials say more digital currency and fiat options will be added in the future. “Binance Lite Australia further expands digital currency adoption by providing easier ways to buy [Bitcoin],” said Wei Zhou, Binance CFO. “Australia has been at the forefront of blockchain innovation, and we hope Binance Lite Australia can play a role to help further this cause.” Once users […]
Australian house to go under the hammer in world-first cryptocurrency auction
In a world first, Australia will host a live auction in which bidders are being asked to pay not in cash, but in cryptocurrency. The “Jetsons house”, a futuristic-style beachfront home in northern NSW, will be auctioned on April 8, with interested bidders able to buy the luxury property using either Bitcoin or Binance Coin cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a decentralised digital cash system – the technology behind it lets users, in this case bidders, to send currency directly to others without going via a third party like a bank. The futuristic home is expected to fetch 700-800 bitcoins, or $3.5 million, when it goes under the hammer. Bidding will be […]
