Blockchain gains traction in fintech as payment networks emerge
J.P. Morgan has created what is arguably one of the largest blockchain payments networks to date. The financial services company announced that the Royal Bank of Canada and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. are the first two banks to join the blockchain network, “representing significant cross-border payment volumes.” J.P. Morgan created the Interbank Information Network (IIN), which it said will significantly reduce the number of participants needed to respond to compliance and other data-related inquiries that delay payments. “IIN will enhance the client experience, decreasing the amount of time – from weeks to hours – and costs associated with resolving payment delays,” said Emma Loftus, Head of Global […]
Partnerships driving the local fintech sector
Financial technology startups are growing in Australia, from less than 100 in 2014 to approximately 579 companies today. Many financial businesses see this as a direct threat, but if our country is to have any hope of building a world-class financial services technology industry, the future lies not in competition, but in collaboration. We are already seeing the local attitude change, with a recent PwC report finding that over 82% of financial institutions expect to increase fintech partnerships in the next three to five years. By partnering and collaborating with smaller fintech startups, established companies can accelerate industry growth and push the capabilities of both parties forward. Australia has a […]
Ethereum Founder: Central Banks far from Digital Currency
Vitalik Buterin, the 23-year-old creator of the world’s second biggest digital currency, Ethereum, isn’t worried about coming competition from the central banks of the world. Speaking in Toronto on Tuesday, Buterin downplayed the possibility of countries creating digital versions of their currencies that could rival or displace bitcoin or Ethereum. He said the advent of a national currency based on a blockchain, which is the distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin and Ethereum, will take years to launch. “If there is [such a launch] it will be a server and a bunch of marketing buzzwords to make it look like a blockchain,” Buterin said, suggesting central banks lack the ability […]
IBM develops blockchain system for banks
The company expects to process up to 60% of all cross-border payments in the South Pacific by early 2018. International technology company IBM has joined forces with blockchain startup Stellar and payments company KlickEx Group to enable high-speed cross-border payments for banks and other financial institutions. The aim of the payments process is to speed up clearances and settlements on a single network in real time. Blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin, is a revolutionary distributed-ledger technology that offers a secure and immediate way of transferring a range of data – more specifically, in this case, currency transactions. IBM’s solution is already active, processing live transactions across 12 different currency corridors […]
Are fintech companies changing the industry for the better?
FinTech is most commonly known as the abbreviation for the term “financial technology” and the name given to an emerging and rapidly growing financial services sector. Financial technology is often used to describe any technological innovations within the financial industry, ranging from banking and investments, all the way through to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. With new technologies come new businesses, and so financial technology companies were born. The question is, however, whether these businesses and the technologies on offer through them are changing the industry for the better, or are they simply a disruption to an already functioning economy? How are fintech companies changing the financial industry? One of the […]
Tic:Toc selects MuleSoft to power instant online home loan service
MuleSoft, the leading platform for building application networks, today announced that financial services startup Tic:Toc has selected MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform™ to power it’s real-time home loan approval system. Since conception in 2015, Tic:Toc has been working to create a fully automated online home loan application system. In July of this year, the Adelaide-based Fintech launched Tic:Toc and unveiled their new platform which they believe offers loan approval in just 22 minutes, compared with the industry average, which they claim takes 22 days. The service digitally evaluates a borrower’s suitability in real-time by calculating variables, such as property valuation, borrowing ability, credit checks and the validation of financial records. MuleSoft was […]
Myer launches credit card featuring Android Pay and Apple Pay
Myer’s new rewards-based Myer Credit Card is the first Australian retailer-provided Visa card with Android Pay and Apple Pay. The Visa credit card, issued by Macquarie Bank, will allow people to use their smart phone’s digital wallet to pay with either Android or Apple Pay. Consumers also have access to a range of security features and budgeting tools through the Myer Credit Card app, designed to make it easier to track and manage spending. The Myer Credit Card works off a rewards-based system, whereby customers can earn uncapped Shopping Credits on eligible purchases at Myer and MYER one affiliates by presenting their MYER one card number at point-of-purchase. Canstar Research […]
NAB’s Apple Pay gap
There have been curious developments over the Tasman in relation to Apple Pay, with National Australia Bank’s BNZ unit announcing today it will offer the service to customers by the end of this month. Yes, that’s the same NAB that tried to enlist the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in a nasty spat with Apple over access to the iPhone’s near-field communication antenna. Success would have enabled the bank to offer its own digital wallet to iPhone users in competition with the Apple’s wallet, but without using Apple Pay. The competition watchdog knocked back the application by NAB, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, ruling that competition could be distorted if the […]
