NAB launches Google Pay across its debit and credit cards
This adds to NAB’s existing contactless payment options of NAB Pay and NAB PayTag, Samsung Pay, and Fitbit and Garmin smartwatches. NAB has today announced the launch of Google Pay across both its debit and credit cards, enabling customers to securely make contactless payments with their smartphone or compatible device. Google Pay allows customers to make tap and go payments with their smartphone in store and online, instead of using their physical credit or debit card. Just like when using your debit card to tap and go, when using Google Pay customers won’t need to enter a PIN for their transaction unless it’s more than $100. Google Pay is Google’s […]
CashDeck releases software to help brokers and borrowers prepare for tougher lending measures
There’s no doubting that the Hayne Royal Commission will bring about changes to the way borrowers, brokers and bankers behave. As lenders are required to more carefully scrutinise loan applications and living expenses, it is expected that home buyers borrowing power will be greatly reduced. A recent UBS report suggests that credit availability could be cut by 21 to 41%, depending on income. While nobody can tell exactly what measures will come about, change is certain, and smart brokers will already be making changes to their business processes. Compliance will be top of the list, and for brokers this will mean more accurately assessing living expenses—an onerous task. Technology must […]
Australia lags on digital banking revolution: Oracle survey
Would you be prepared to give a little-known business access to your most sensitive financial data, if it meant getting a better deal on your home loan? This type of question is set to become increasingly relevant in the coming years, as the big data revolution joins forces with a push for greater competition in banking. Data is one of the most valuable assets in the financial world, and there’s a clear trend towards policies that put more of this value back into the hands of consumers, rather than large corporations. The only catch is that often, the way for consumers to squeeze more value from their data it to […]
How to find out what those strange charges are on your credit card
Credit card bills, with lists of charges from businesses you’ve sure you’ve never heard of, are sometimes harder to translate than an alien message left on a moon circling a distant sun. Stuart Grover founded a company, Look Who’s Charging, in 2016 after puzzling over expenses at his previous business, 3D Printing Studios. He was wasting hours of time trying to reconcile and categorise the often cryptic transactions within the bank feed of his accounting software. “The more research we did the more we realised that this wasn’t just a big problem for small business owners and bookkeepers but that it is also a significant problem for consumers and financial […]
Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer says cashless society is just round the corner
Plenty of intriguing insights about fintech were delivered at The Australian Financial Review’s Banking & Wealth Summit last week. So, here’s a selection of highlights, in no particular order. Brian Hartzer says cash is disappearing from the economy “faster than any of us anticipated”. A recent trip to Copenhagen by the Westpac chief revealed the decline of cash in Denmark is being driven by customers. Danske Bank’s MobilePay is being used by more than 80 per cent of Danes to pay each other, after five years in the market. Hartzer reckons 95 per cent of Westpac transactions will be online or mobile within a decade. Other Westpac bankers are also […]
Australian first in-app tool Free2Spend revolutionises the personal finance management game
Today UBank, Australia’s leading digital bank[1], unveiled Free2Spend, a ground-breaking in-app tool that simplifies budgeting. Designed and built in Australia, the innovative new tool delivers users one number giving a daily spend that adapts in real-time. Free2Spend first asks users to set goals, whether they’re saving for a wedding, investment property or holiday or even just saving in general. Users then input income and fixed expenses, with the tool then using these figures to calculate the daily Free2Spend number or ‘one number’. For example, if you’re saving for a $20,000 car, and you have a monthly income of $5,000 with monthly expenses like rent, utilities and bills of $2,500, Free2Spend […]
Open banking a solution to royal commission lending concerns
The government’s “Open Banking” regime will allow banks to meet stricter requirements to lend responsibly that may flow from the Hayne royal commission, experts say, because it will allow each major bank to get the actual income and expenses data from new customers’ existing banks, avoiding the need to rely on estimates or benchmarks. After the banking royal commission expressed concern about ANZ Banking Group not checking borrower expenses submitted by mortgage brokers, ANZ’s business services head, Nigel Dobson, told The Australian Financial Review Banking & Wealth Summit that open banking will “help us to enhance our responsible lending obligations, as we will have more precision and transparency around a […]
Banks bet on AI to win back regulator, consumer trust
International tech behemoth IBM is expecting a significant boost to its Watson Financial Services division in Australia, with the big four banks turning to artificial intelligence in its IT systems to win back the trust of consumers in the wake of the Hayne royal commission and years of banking scandals. Speaking to The Australian Financial Review from his Astor Place office in New York, IBM vice-president of Watson Financial Services, Marc Andrews, said it was already conducting trials with most of the major banks in the country using its cognitive computer Watson for everything from reducing the strain of regulatory compliance, to overhauling the way the banks detect financial crimes. […]
