The royal commission sparked anger at the big banks. Bitcoin’s not the only alternative.
In the wake of the banking royal commission, many people are fed up with the big institutions, and are hunting for alternatives. But the growing number of options — everything from stashing your money under the mattress to investing in cryptocurrency or switching to a credit union — can be pretty overwhelming. And if you’re thinking of completely ghosting your bank, it might not really be feasible — yet. “In Australia our entire payment system is mediated through the major banks … essentially you have to go through a bank to pay for anything,” says Brendan Markey-Towler, an economist and researcher with RMIT’s Blockchain Innovation Hub. But, he adds: “Watch […]
IRESS CEO Andrew Walsh tips widespread automation of financial advice
Financial services software company IRESS is tipping a burgeoning role for the automation of financial advice in the aftermath of the Hayne royal commission as the sector looks to rebuild trust. The business, which is valued at $2.2 billion, provides a full suite of software services ranging from client relationship management to portfolio tracking for financial advisory and superannuation firms and dominates about 60 per cent of the market in Australia. IRESS chief executive Andrew Walsh said the business was investing in AI and the company had already launched its first automated advice solution with WA Super last October. It lets members set their retirement goals and provides them with […]
Telstra and CBA partner on 5G banking trials
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is kicking off trials of 5G banking and edge computing thanks to a partnership with Telstra and Ericsson announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019. Under the collaboration, Telstra, CBA, and Ericsson will test “end-to-end banking solutions over 5G” during the next few months, the companies told media on Sunday in Barcelona. Speaking with ZDNet, Ericsson ANZ head Emilio Romeo said some of the 5G use cases that the trial will look at include exploring different network architectures such as network slicing, dynamic orchestration, and control use plane separation. Network slices on demand would be particularly useful for enabling enterprise customers such as banks to […]
SocietyOne: Peer-to-peer lending offers a “better deal than the banks”
CEO Mark Jones reflects on six months in charge of Australia’s biggest peer-to-peer lender. SocietyOne became the first Australian peer-to-peer lender to cross $500 million in total lending in August last year. Since then, the company has enjoyed 6 months of consecutive record months for lending and is now about to pass the $600 million lending mark. After taking over as CEO in June 2018, Mark Jones has seen Australia’s first peer-to-peer lender go from strength to strength, and it remains on track to reach break-even point in March. “Over the last six months, we’ve really taken the business forward. We’re probably writing triple the business today that we were […]
Quantifeed opens office in Australia to meet growing demand for digital wealth advice; taps local tech talent
Quantifeed, Asia Pacific’s leading provider of digital wealth management solutions, has opened an office in Australia to strengthen its strategic relationships as demand for B2B digital advice solutions grows. Quantifeed’s new Sydney office – staffed with eight employees- will also enable the company to grow its technology offering by leveraging local software engineering talent. Lars Bischoff will head the technology development team in Australia. He has led software development teams at major Australian financial institutions for over three decades and has been a senior member of the Quantifeed engineering team for the past four years. Graeme Brant heads Quantifeed’s development of strategic partnerships in Australia. He has a background in […]
IRESS reports strong 2018
Financial technology provider IRESS reported solid figures for 2018, anticipating a successful 2019 to follow. IRESS group operating revenue grew 6%, driven by 7% growth in its UK business and 9% in Australia and New Zealand. IRESS cited a number of strategic achievements as key drivers, including significant deliveries to large wealth management and financial advice clients, momentum in lending and increased innovation across the IRESS offering. The Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Wealth Management segment saw operating revenue of $136.4 million and a direct contribution of $100.7 million. This is an increase of 9% and 7% respectively. This was down to the delivery of significant projects to advice and […]
Tech puts value of advice in question
Addressing a room of financial advisers at the Portfolio Construction Forum’s 2019 Finology Summit yesterday, US-based financial planner, Michael Kitces, says advisers should turn their attention away from the regulators and towards technology if they want to stay relevant. Kitces said technology has slowly (and silently) been disrupting the financial advice industry since Wall Street brokers traded stocks for non-negotiable fixed prices in the 50s, and, while advisers may think it’s the regulators that are forcing change, Kitces makes the point that regulators are simply reacting to it. “There’s a tendency to solve the last crisis rather than the next one,” he said. But, five industry trends he sees reshaping […]
Apple Pay goes plastic: Goldman Sachs and Apple partner on new credit card launch
The Apple and Goldman Sachs joint credit card could be hitting the market soon. After announcing last year that the tech giant and Wall Street firm would be launching an Apple Pay credit card, the Wall Street Journal reports that employee testing of the product should begin within the coming weeks. Both companies are looking to expand their consumer base, and this new Apple Pay credit card just might be their ticket. Apple has long been a tech favorite among the Millennial crowd, but they are beginning to shift their focus to other products and services as iPhone sales start to lose steam. To read more, please click on […]
