Australian fintech leaders and startup founders react to the Hayne royal commission final report
After nearly 70 days of hearings, pouring through more than 10,000 public submissions the banking royal commission’s final report has been released. In it, Commissioner Hayne explains that one of the “complicating” factors is the impact of technological developments on the financial advice industry. Hayne writes: “Many in the industry have recognised that technology is likely to play an important role in the future of financial advice, but there is not yet a clear picture of what that role might be. Any recommendation directed to altering the current structure of the industry would need to grapple with the fact that the industry itself will very probably look very different in […]
Bank sector transformation will come with open banking, competition: Xinja
Australian neobank Xinja said transformation of the financial services sector, described by Royal Commissioner Kenneth Hayne as often driven by greed, will only happen when consumers have clear choice, and can move easily and quickly between banks and other providers within the banking sector. The final report from the financial services Royal Commission paints a damning picture of the culture that drives Australia’s banks, with Commissioner Hayne imploring those who run Australia’s biggest and most profitable financial institutions to ‘obey the law’, ‘act fairly’ and offer services that are ‘fit for purpose’. “The reality is, the reason we’ve reached this low is that the sector has been controlled by a […]
Australian regulator vows to tackle ‘cosy oligopoly’ of big banks
Australia’s competition regulator plans to wrest open the “cosy oligopoly” of the country’s four largest banks and punish misconduct via the courts, saying competition is the best way to fix the troubled sector. In an interview before the publication of a public inquiry report into the finance sector on Monday, Rod Sims, chief executive of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said more competition was needed to protect consumers. Australia’s four biggest banks — ANZ Bank, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank — control more than 75 per cent of the domestic market. They enjoy lower funding costs than smaller competitors, due in part to an implicit government guarantee to save […]
Crowd Property Capital’s Non Bank Development Funding Guide 2019 – rates and jargon explained
There are now numerous non-bank funding options available to developers and no shortage of lenders ready to deploy capital into quality projects with sounds fundamentals. The sector has matured over the last 2-3 years but there are many pitfalls (and a lot of jargon which we explain in the guide) to navigate. This guide looks to inform and assist developers considering non bank options for their projects. To download the guide, please click here.
Revolut partners with ClauseMatch prior to the expansion in Australia, Singapore and Japan
Revolut, a digital-only bank and UK’s fastest growing FinTech, announced today that it has signed an agreement with ClauseMatch. Following a successful trial period, Revolut is adopting the innovative regulatory technology from a London-based RegTech to streamline management of internal policies, controls and regulatory compliance. Revolut has experienced significant growth since it was founded three years ago, developing within an extremely regulated environment. Europe’s fastest-growing FinTech player has over 3.7 million users across 28 markets in Europe, and is preparing to launch in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan in the coming months. Revolut is currently working in multiple jurisdictions with different rules applied to financial services […]
Heinemann Sydney Airport stores now offering Alipay through Tyro
Australia’s business-only bank Tyro, announced its next Alipay integration with Sydney Airport tax and duty-free retailer Heinemann Australia, where the payment system is now live. Tyro is the first Australian bank to offer Alipay to its merchants with Heinemann Gold Coast International Airport going live last month, following the deal signed with Alipay in August 2018. With 900 million users choosing to pay for goods and services globally via Alipay and its strategic partners, it has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler and is the number one payment method in China. Through its partnership with Alipay, Tyro is now helping Australian businesses access the ever-expanding Chinese visitor […]
Westpac fast payments rollout a ‘tipping point’
A $1 billion overhaul of Australia’s payment system has passed a key milestone, with all big four banks now offering near real-time payments to most of their customers. After banks were last year criticised for taking too long to roll out a fast payment service, Westpac has switched on the new payments platform (NPP) for 3.6 million accounts, it said. It plans to roll out access for customers of St George and other brands it owns over 2019. Westpac had previously only been offering fast payments to customers in some smaller states, not its home base of NSW, but the bank now believes it is contributing about a third of […]
Banks cull ATMs as more customers ditch cash
Major banks removed hundreds of ATMs in the latest year, as the industry responded to the scrapping of withdrawal fees and consumers further reduced their use of cash. In a trend that is tipped to ramp up as digital payments take off, all of the big four have made cuts to their ATM networks in the latest 12 months for which figures are available, with one lender culling one in four machines. The decline of ATMs, which were first rolled out by banks in the 1980s, has been predicted by experts for several years, but it is only fairly recently that numbers have begun to fall meaningfully from their peak […]
