Fintechs, Koch clash over branding
Personal finance brand-cum-TV commentator David Koch had some advice for today’s fintech leaders. They didn’t all agree with it. Koch, who launched Money Magazine, moderated a panel of seven speakers at a fintech event on Tuesday in Sydney. There, he commented that a big problem the financial technology industry is facing right now is that the consumer does not see another human being they can trust. “I’m not suggesting the Gerry Harvey or the John Symond model,” Koch continued, “but none of you put yourself up in the market [as if to say to clients that] there is a living human being looking after your interests in running the platform. […]
No need for national digital dollars: RBA
The Reserve Bank of Australia and a global investment bank say the speed of payments innovation will fend off any threat from cryptocurrencies, and creating digitised versions of central bank money will make bank runs much more likely during a crisis. After last year’s speculative bitcoin bubble, the potential for the Australian central bank to issue digital dollars to allow money to move through distributed ledgers is fading. RBA assistant governor Michelle Bullock told a global audience at Sibos that while it’s still open to considering wholesale applications for a digital Australian dollar, it hasn’t yet been convinced of the need to create one, and the RBA does not want […]
2018 AFR Young Rich List: Emily Skye backs Millennial bank start-up
Fitness star and Young Rich Lister Emily Skye may have built a small fortune but that doesn’t mean she’s good with money. “I’ve never really known what’s going on with money, I mean I love to spend it but I’m not able to track it and really be responsible for it,” Ms Skye said. Ms Skye rockets up the 2018 Financial Review Young Rich List with an estimated worth of $36 million, reflecting growth in her online fitness business that attracted an undisclosed investment from Quadrant Private Equity this year. As she continues to build the fitness business, including releasing the first app for her FIT program this year, Ms […]
The Fintech100 – announcing the world’s leading fintech innovators for 2018
The 2018 Fintech100 was announced today, highlighting dynamic fintechs from around the world that are transforming the financial services industry, from digital payments and lending, to insurtech, to neo-banking, as they attract investment at a record pace. The 2018 Fintech100 is the fifth edition of the annual report, a collaboration between fintech investment firm H2 Ventures and KPMG Fintech. The Fintech 100 includes the ‘Leading 50’ fintech firms around the globe, ranked based on innovation, capital raising activity, size and reach; and the ‘Emerging 50’, exciting new fintechs that are at the forefront of innovative technologies and practices and are often pursuing new business models. Key highlights from the 2018 […]
Melbourne Fintech to disrupt the way young Australians travel
Melbourne Fintech Pelikin is on the cusp of disrupting the Australian travel money market with its mobile-only multi-currency account and prepaid Visa card. The young team is on a mission to make “travel brighter” for young Australians by providing them with valuable travel and money services that have been built with their best interests first. At its core, the Pelikin app and card will allow users to hold up to five different currencies at once and spend in over 200 countries across the world in an easy, affordable way. Last month, Pelikin released its prepaid card and with a unique vertical and neon yellow design, it’s a far cry from […]
Verrency adds two more partners – Basiq and Pulse iD – to enable financial data aggregation and geolocation services to be easily accessed by banks
Australian global payments innovator Verrency has certified two new strategic partners, Basiq and Pulse iD, to enhance the commercial offerings it enables for issuers and banks. Announcing the partnership today at Money 20/20 in Las Vegas, the deal enables Basiq and Pulse iD to easily distribute their financial data aggregation and geolocation services to global financial institutions via Verrency’s integration platform. Verrency Founder and CEO, David Link, said Basiq and Pulse iD are fantastic additions to Verrency’s growing fintech services marketplace, V+, in making it increasingly easier for banks and issuers to innovate at scale by significantly reducing their own cost of integration with FinTechs. In accessing Basiq via the […]
Apollo Capital becomes an advisor to Melbourne Mint’s digital currency project
Enhanced Society has announced that Apollo Capital’s Henrik Andersson has joined as an advisor to Australia’s pre-eminent precious metals retailer, Melbourne Mint, to support the development of MELD, a gold backed stable coin. Apollo Capital’s Henrik Andersson, who contributes 17 years experience in global financial markets, with almost a decade on Wall Street, joins the MELD project as an advisor. His expert knowledge in the field of tokenomics, cryptocurrency applications, and knack for identifying the long term viability of projects is an invaluable asset to MELD. With over 100 years of precious metals expertise, Melbourne Mint and their partners are leading the way with a product that digitises gold, making […]
Australia’s ‘first’ blockchain lender sets sights on mortgages
Australia’s “first” blockchain lender, which is set to launch next year, is offering a crowdsourced funding equity to brokers. Australian Mortgage Marketplace (AMM), co-founded by industry stalwarts Graham Andersen (CEO) and Kym Dalton (COO), has pledged to “overhaul” the Australian mortgage market with the “biggest change since the GFC” by funding prime loans on “Australia’s first mortgage securitisation blockchain”. According to the wholesale lender, which aims to be backed by major investors and industry super funds, its “Carbon” securitisation platform will leverage distributed ledger technology to deliver the benefits of increased transparency, security and automation. Its operating efficiencies will also reportedly present “pricing benefits” for Australian borrowers, enabling partner brokers to […]
