Robo advisers march in tracks of royal commission scandals
The shenanigans revealed by the banking royal commission over the past week will inevitably draw attention to the emerging batch of start-ups offering digital financial advice. Often referred to as “robo advisers”, these technology companies are cutting investment fees through automation thereby removing the human foibles dramatically exposed by Commissioner Kenneth Hayne’s inquiry. The commission has shown human adviser education levels can be appallingly low, and paper-based processes have led to poor record keeping. Meanwhile, customers are often apathetic and disengaged, and complexity reigns. Processes being digitised include the creation of broking accounts, executing trades, rebalancing portfolios and generating statements of advice. This can all be presented to customers for […]
Change Financial looks to shake up the status quo for financial enterprise
US-based yet ASX-listed fintech company Change Financial (ASX: CCA) has announced three commercial deals to assist the growth of its enterprise division ahead of the full launch of its Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. The fintech newcomer has secured variously structured deals with Mastercard, Central Bank of Kansas City (CBKC) and Pulse, respectively. The deals aim to improve operating conditions primarily for its enterprise division, although upon further analysis, it seems Change will be able to derive synergies for all three of its business units, serving consumers, enterprises and blockchain users. Its consumer unit is focused on ChimpChange, an award-winning digital bank account and mobile app. ChimpChange makes free […]
Non-bank business lenders growing in popularity amongst SMEs
There is no doubt the big banks remain major players in the SME lending market however, there has been a steady rise in the number of non-bank lenders offering fast and flexible lending options in this space. They are able to move much faster than the traditional banker with their unique ‘fintech’ approach, giving small business owners across Australia alternative options when seeking business funding. Going hand-in-hand with this preference for more flexible finance solutions amongst SMEs is the demand for unsecured lending options. Business owners are demonstrating they understand the need to pay a small premium in return for fast, flexible finance options which do not require them to […]
Wealth management products make big leaps in digital sales readiness
Australians can now apply for 60% of all wealth management products offered by the country’s biggest banks from their mobile phones, according to a fintech which helps financial services companies acquire clients. Avoka measured digital sales readiness for the 50 largest banks across Australia, North America and Europe for products across three segments: personal banking, business banking and wealth management. Eleven of the 50 banks were Australian. Australia “leads them all” in digital readiness, the fintech said. “Banks have accepted that online account opening is a must have, not a ‘nice to have’. The focus now is on whether the largest banks can transform their entire customer engagement across all […]
Global 2018 digital banking sales report finds Australia again leads the way
Avoka, the global leader in digital customer acquisition for financial services, today released its third annual Digital Sales Report which found that Australian banks continue to excel compared with their peers in North America and Europe. The report analysed the digital account opening capabilities of the 50 largest banks in these regions (32 in 2017) and found that as banks capitalise on opportunities in the face of increasingly stiff competition, Australian banks once again lead in digital readiness. Avoka’s study focused on breadth of offer and ease of use, with the capability of 11 Australian banks assessed in the report. Commenting on the global findings, Avoka Chief Executive Phil Copeland […]
“Have we actually delivered?” FinTech Australia chair calls out fintechs, banks
Stuart Stoyan stressed the crossroads the industry will face in 2018. It’s been a good year for Australian fintech. The 2017 Startup Muster survey turned out a glowing report card of a maturing industry; monthly revenue growth for post-revenue fintechs was up 208% over a 12-month period and 24% of fintechs surveyed reported revenue growth of 700%. The EY FinTech Adoption Index ranked Australia fifth out of 20 global markets with an adoption rate of 37% – more than double that of our result in 2015 (13%). FinTech Australia chair Stuart Stoyan discussed these figures in a keynote at this week’s AltFi Australasia Summit, but rather than using them as […]
Fintech adoption speeds up in Australia
Australia is growing faster than most of the global markets and is now outplacing the US in terms of fintech adoption, says Noah Breslow, the chief executive of US online SME lending company OnDeck Capital, which has delivered more than $US8 billion in loans to 80,000 small businesses globally. He told the third AltFi Australasia Summit in Sydney on Monday that Australia is now the second-largest alternative finance market in the Asia-Pacific region. “We are looking at an industry that did $10 million of annual volume – these are numbers from KPMG in 2013, and in 2016 that had grown to $220 million.” Breslow said according to OnDeck estimates, “based […]
Open banking will drive better customer deals and responsible lending outcomes for mortgages and credit cards
The first phase of Australia’s open banking regime should be designed to assist Australians get a better deal on mortgages and credit cards.
