Blockchain payment solutions that simplify travel transactions
Fenex – a blockchain-powered payment and services solution for the travel and hospitality industry that provides a network of payment products to simplify B2B travel transactions. Fenex’s range of products will serve travel agents, hotels, airlines and tourism experience providers looking to speed up payment settlements, automate processing, reduce transaction fees and generate additional revenue opportunities. These products include the patent pending blockchain powered digital business to business payment platform (dB2B), BlocRec, and BlocTic, among others. Today, the current structure of the credit card issuance and acceptance costs in the hospitality industry can be as complicated as a 16-step process. Fenex is out to simplify this for its partners, offering […]
Automic Group appoints FinTech leader Astrid Raetze to accelerate growth
Automic Group announces the appointment of Astrid Raetze as an Executive Director. A tech company that provides a unique ecosystem of share registry, company secretarial, legal and finance services, and which already services more than 10 per cent of ASX listed companies, Automic is delighted to celebrate the appointment of an exceptional leader. Astrid was previously a partner at KPMG, where she was the Australian Head of FinTech. She has more than 20 years of experience in the finance and legal industries, including a long tenure with Baker & McKenzie where she was the Global Head of FinTech, a member of the Global Innovation Committee and the Australian lead for […]
Interview: Anthony Thomson, 86 400 – roaming numerals
In an exclusive interview, Anthony Thomson, chairman of Australian challenger bank 86 400, tells FinTech Futures about what makes it different from its rivals, and why the big four Down Under got what they deserved. Most people don’t want to be the same as others and strive to be different and stand out. For challenger bank 86 400 (pronounced eighty-six, four-hundred), up against plenty of other Australian rivals such as Xinja and Volt, Thomson wants to make it known about its distinctive qualities. “Unlike others, we made the decision to apply directly for a full banking licence, rather than piggyback off another licence, or via the restricted licence route.” The […]
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 […]
