Bank gets on board with more digital wallets
A non-major bank has announced that its customers will be able to make payments using Garmin Pay. MyState Bank has added the ability for customers to use Garmin Pay, which functions as a digital wallet and fitness monitor, to make contactless payments. The non-major bank said that it expects a 200 per cent increase in customers using digital wallets by 2020, and that it already allows customers to use Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. “These services could easily overtake the use of credit cards by 2022,” MyState CEO Melos Sulicich said. The non-major bank said that it recognises that security concerns are the “biggest obstacle” hindering mass adoption […]
Banks should watch out – the fintech era has barely begun
There’s an endless stream of news about open banking and challenger banks, while the traditional finance sector watches on with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. Banks have come under attack, not only from the hype-machine, but more meaningfully from startups. Traditional finance providers that assumed they could weather the technology storm on reputation alone are quickly being proved wrong. None of the old guard is safe, because the fintech revolution is not a revolution at all. It never has been. “Fintech” is not a moment of traumatic change that will pass; it is an evolution that will sweep away the companies that do not evolve. And if you think […]
Heritage Bank offers new payment service
Heritage Bank customers now have more payment options at their disposal, following the introduction of a popular service. The bank has introduced Samsung Pay, which means customers can use a compatible Samsung device to make secure purchases in-store in Australia and across the world. Heritage Bank CEO Peter Lock said the bank was thrilled to introduce another contactless payment option for its customers. “We’re delighted to build on our expertise in the digital payments space by launching Samsung Pay at Heritage,” Mr Lock said. “Our customers are looking for quick, convenient and secure payment options, particularly those that allow them to use devices they already own. “When making purchases using […]
New deal connecting Australian businesses to Chinese visitors
Australian businesses are set to benefit from a collaboration between NAB and Alipay which will revolutionise how Chinese tourists pay for products and services. NAB Executive General Manger of Deposit and Transaction Services Shane Conway said more than 1 million Chinese tourists visit Australia each year spending more than $11 billion. “By making China’s number one payment method available to NAB business customers, we’re enabling greater customer service and providing our business customers with access to this large tourism sector which is a win-win for everyone,” Mr Conway said. “We’re beginning pilot testing with a small group of business merchant customers in November, before making the payment system available to […]
ASX-backed Digital Asset plans to power banking with new DAML programming language
For fintech entrepreneurs, it might pay to get on top of a new programming language soon to be released by Digital Asset. DAML (the Digital Asset Modelling Language) is a core part of Digital Asset’s plans to roll its private blockchain beyond equities settlement and clearing to other parts of the financial services industry such as insurance. It could also emerge in the health sector and supply chain management. When the ASX confirmed a year ago it would use Digital Asset, the New York-based start-up of which it owns about 8 per cent, to replace its ageing CHESS system, the blockchain world sat up and paid attention. ASX now wants […]
Bendigo embraces fintech to offer instant home loans
In its bid to improve its services for potential mortgage clients, Bendigo Bank has partnered with fintech provider Tic:Toc to offer instant home loans starting early next year. The partnership enables Bendigo to utilize Tic:Toc’s platform in offering an automated assessment on home-loan applications. The bank was the first Australian lender to offer a digital home-loan application and assessment process under its own brand. Tic:Toc first launched the platform in July 2017, offering a streamlined digital fulfilment process. Tic:Toc founder and CEO Anthony Baum said the platform promises to cut expenses needed to process and deliver home-loan applications, resulting in cost efficiencies on the side of the lenders. “There’s actually […]
Xinja live with SAP Cloud for banking
Xinja today announced that it is live on SAP Cloud for Banking, after a rapid three-month implementation. While this is a global first for SAP, it also allows Xinja to accelerate development of innovative solutions for customers to make banking as easy and engaging as possible. Xinja has implemented SAP Cloud for Banking which comprises: SAP S/4HANA Finance; SAP Banking (Loans and Deposits), SAP Payments Engine, running on SAP Cloud and managed by SAP Cloud Application Services. SAP Cloud for Banking is an easy to configure, open platform, that is agile, collaborative and simple to integrate. It allows for rapid innovation cycles and leverages the power of SAP HANA to […]
Xinja appoints Tesla Senior Engineer Thomas Vikstrom to Board
Xinja, which is building an independent, Australian, 100% digital ‘neobank’, today announced that Tesla senior engineer, Thomas Vikstrom, has been appointed to the Xinja Board. Mr. Vikstrom is an engineer with nearly 20 years of experience leading product development and engineering programs at Tesla, Ford, Noble Metal Processing and SSAB HardTech, Inc. Vikstrom is currently a senior engineer at Tesla where he has worked for nine years, helping to develop and introduce Tesla products. “Banking, like automotive in the past, is an industry ripe for change,” Mr. Vikstrom said. “I’ll be looking beyond what is, and imagining what could be, enabling Xinja to disrupt banking and improve the lives of […]