Fintech – The evolution of modern financial technology in the 21st Century
Financial procedures have evolved drastically over the last 100 years. We have seen a huge change in how many aspects of finance are processed such as payments, investment, data storage and types of currency. A term that has sprung up in the last couple of decades and gained prominence is ‘Fintech’ – this articles details exactly what Fintech is, and why it is essential for the modern world. What is Fintech ? Fintech = financial technology This is the basic meaning. Fintech is much more than that however – it is any new type of innovative technology that competes with or precedes traditional financial methods; particularly the delivery of financial […]
These are the 12 cryptocurrencies fintech experts say will soar by the end of 2018
A group of fintech leaders say bitcoin will hit $38,000 by the end of 2018, but its 194% growth will be miniscule compared to rising cryptocurrency stars. Comparison site finder.com.au has just released the results of its March Cryptocurrency Predictions Survey, forecasting how the top 10 by market cap and top two trending cryptocurrencies will perform in 2018. Comparing the forecast market capitalisations, nine experts say the big three – bitcoin, bitcoin cash and ethereum – will experience modest growth by crypto standards: Bitcoin – +194% Bitcoin cash – +123% Ethereum – +212% But of the 12 coins reviewed, by far the biggest forecast came for Dogecoin, the digital currency […]
Danielle Szetho is stepping down as CEO of FinTech Australia
Danielle Szetho, the inaugural CEO of industry group FinTech Australia, is leaving after almost two years of successful lobbying for change in Australia’s financial industry landscape. Sarah Worboys, a former chartered accountant now active with startups, will be interim CEO. More recently she was head of strategy and operations at Melbourne-based peer-to-peer invoice financier Timelio. Szetho, a former Fairfax Media product manager, was the driving force behind the not for profit industry body, establishing the annual the Finnie awards, arguing successfully for equity crowdfunding and getting the federal government to make fintech a priority. During her tenure, membership at FinTech Australia, whose aim is to make Australia one of the […]
Scale Investors and VentureCrowd introduce new female board members
Female-focused angel investor network, Scale Investors today announced a strategic partnership with alternative assets crowdfunding platform VentureCrowd, as well as the appointment of three new members to the Scale Investors board – Catherine Robson, Judith Smith and Lynda Coker who have joined the board, effective from 1 March. The Scale Investors and VentureCrowd collaboration has two main components. VentureCrowd will ease syndication of an investment for Scale Investors by handling the administration, such as collecting investment funds, setting up a unit trust and all required documentation. It also includes facilitating on long-term relationships between startups and a syndicate by managing investor updates and communications. Secondly, companies that Scale Investors invest […]
Link4 explores current bookkeeping issues with ICB CEO Amanda Linton
CEO of The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, Amanda Linton, visited the Link4 office to provide an up to date insight into bookkeeping in 2018. This allows the Link4 team to stay on top of things and continue to serve bookkeepers diligently based on their current challenges. In her recent visit, Amanda Linton talked about the main issues bookkeepers face in their day-to-day business. More importantly, she discussed how technology is dramatically changing how they undertake their work. Bookkeepers are taking on a completely different role now to what they were a decade ago. “Ten years ago, bookkeepers would spend around 80 percent of their time entering data from invoices, […]
NYC Immersion Program – 5 Things Australian Scaleup’s Learned
The US market might seem like a distant goal for many Australian businesses. The reality is, however, that more local startups are making the leap to grow their business every year – and learning a lot along the way. We know that Founders are always looking for the most efficient way to grow and scale and what better way than to learn from those who are making it happen? That’s why we asked some of the participants from our 2017 FinTech NYC Immersion Program about some of the most important lessons they learned during their time in the US. Here are their tips for startups looking to follow in their footsteps: […]
Pressing for progress for women in tech
In early November, the World Economic Forum announced a statistic that was hard to stomach: the gender gap widened for the first time in the last decade. A year ago the association claimed it would take 170 years to reach full gender parity, but now we’re up to 217 years. While there are many prominent areas of gender inequality in Australia’s workforce, one specific area hit close to home for us. Women occupy only one quarter of the Australian STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) workforce. In response to this statistic, this year we set out to learn more about what some of the leaders, both men and women, in the […]
Paypal files patent for expedited cryptocurrency transaction system
A recent patent filing reveals that Paypal might be considering expanding its exposure to the cryptocurrency ecosystem with a new system for speedy transactions. We shouldn’t however expect a Paypal Lightning Network or anything close to that any time soon. There is currently a global race to file patents for everything crypto or “blockchain” related and the company might just be strengthening its portfolio for future patent battles. Expedited Cryptocurrency Transaction System Online payments provider Paypal has filed a new patent application for an “expedited virtual currency transaction system” with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The last time it was reported that the company filed a patent application related […]
