Millions looking to leave major banks
New research has found that over two million Australians are currently seeking new banking providers, with many currently customers at one of the big four. The research produced by Nielsen found that 2.1 million Australians are seeking new providers and 67 per cent of them are currently customers at one of the big four. The research found that Australians were increasingly looking away from the established banks and instead looking at digital banks, with a five-percentage point increase in Australians looking to change to digital banks in the past twelve months. Nielsen’s head of financial services and insurance Jo Brockhurst believed that the open banking legislation would see this number […]
DiviPay launches Australia’s first virtual corporate expense card
DiviPay, an Australian fintech start-up, has launched a virtual corporate expense card and expense management platform.
Fintech space set to grow in 2019
The Australian fintech industry is due for strong growth over the next year, with platforms as one of the most active areas for financing, according to a law firm. According to DLA Piper’s analysis of 70 venture deals it has advised on in Australia for the 2018 calendar year, fintech is the most funded category of start-up companies. Forty-one per cent of those deals involved funding into fintech companies. The law firm said the most active areas for fintech financing are payments, platforms improving use of data including through open banking, anything that is neo-banking related, and alternative lending and mortgage platforms. DLA Piper partner Joel Cox sees strong growth […]
Ten years of bitcoin is about more than boom, bubble and bust
This weekend will mark the 10th anniversary of the very first transaction involving bitcoin. A decade later the future of bitcoins and the host of the so-called cryptocurrencies that it spawned is still uncertain. On 12 January 2009, someone who called themselves Satoshi Nakamoto sent 10 bitcoins to a US software engineer, Hal Finney (they may, some believe, have been one and the same). The coins were virtually worthless and it took more than two years before the first exchange of bitcoins for goods – 10,000 bitcoin for two pizzas worth about $US30 ($42) – occurred. For most of their history cryptocurrencies have been a curiosity, a peer-to-peer anti-establishment version […]
Australian University awards funding to local Bitcoin exchange
A Brisbane-based Bitcoin exchange has caught the eye of Queensland’s University of Technology (QUT), which awarded the start-up $15,000 in funding. Digital Surge was selected among eight innovations to receive the money, as part of QUT’s ‘Bluebox Accelerator’ program. “We look for the most innovative start-ups across all disciplines,” said the program mentor Dr Tim MacTaggart. “This year we have a bright group who cover the emerging Queensland interests including cryptocurrency, retail and some of our most pressing social issues such as homelessness.” The QUT Bluebox accelerator is a three month intensive program aimed at getting start-ups reading for fast-tracking commercial growth. As well as the funding, selected teams receive […]
Wisr added to Platform Finance panel as it strengthens business team
Wisr, Australia’s first neo lender (ASX: WZR), has joined the consumer lending panel of one of the country’s biggest finance broker communities and strengthened its business teams. Platform Finance, part of the Consolidated Operations Group (ASX: COG), has finance brokers across Australia and will now be able to offer their consumer clients access to Wisr’s unsecured personal loans. This appointment follows a period of real growth in Wisr’s personal loan business through the broker channel. The company has recorded 46% quarter on quarter growth in loan settlements through the broker channel as at 30 September 2018. Today more than half of all finance brokers are able to assist clients with […]
Advice dealer group, fintech align
Advisers licensed by Elders Financial Planning can now access Cashwerkz, a term deposit administration service and cash management platform. Advice clients can access current term deposit rates across a wide range of Australian banks and other authorised deposit-taking institutions. Elders advisers using Xplan can also benefit from a wide range of data feeds offered by Cashwerkz, enabling them to comprehensively measure asset allocation, cash exposure and liquidity levels. “We are very conscious of the need to continuously innovate throughout our organisation to counteract the increased levels of administration and myriad of challenges that advisers are currently facing and Cashwerkz will be a big help in creating these efficiencies for our […]
Afterpay is different from competitors, says co-founder
Afterpay has rejected rival Zip Pay’s call for industry-wide responsible lending checks, saying the government shouldn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to the buy-now, pay-later sector. The rift comes ahead of Afterpay and Zip’s scheduled appearance before a Senate committee later this month in Brisbane where Young Rich listers, Zip’s Larry Diamond and Afterpay’s Nick Molnar, will give evidence. Zip’s co-founder Peter Gray said the buy-now, pay-later providers should comply with a limited version of responsible lending obligations, by verifying customers’ identity, income and credit history.But in a statement, Afterpay executive chairman and co-founder Anthony Eisen said there were “distinct differences” in the products offered in the buy-now, pay-later sector and […]
