Moroku’s distribution deal aimed at small merchants overlooked by banks
As fintech niches like lending and payments rapidly become commoditised, the addition of value-added services is a prerequisite for survival. Local fintech Moroku’s distribution deal for its advanced point-of-sale software Marrakash is the latest example. Marrakash’s value for AEVI, a subsidiary of the world’s biggest ATM and POS supplier Diebold Nixdorf of Germany, is not so much vanilla payments as the software’s ability to integrate business, products, customers and payments systems into a single platform. It enables small to medium-sized businesses in the food and hospitality, retail and financial services industries to display a full product catalogue, create customer loyalty schemes and take secure card payments on the go. The […]
NAB makes play for digital wallets
National Australia Bank will soon announce the next stage of the digital wallet market by launching an Android Pay service. NAB is said to be close to quitting the consortium of banks that unsuccessfully pitched to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to collectively negotiate with Apple, forcing the tech giant to open up the iPhone’s near-field communication antenna to their own digital wallets. With the competition watchdog having determined that collective negotiations were likely to reduce or distort competition, the suggestion is that NAB, like ANZ, is ready to go its own way and do a deal with Apple. The truth is that NAB is edging closer to an […]
What’s holding up the blockchain?
It’s not technology or regulation holding back the blockchain – software that stores and transfers value or data across the internet – we just haven’t figured out the next big use-case. Two reports released this week by the CSIRO’s Data61 not only inject some well-researched gravitas into the conversation, they also provide insight into why some of the major blockchain projects have stalled. Since 2015, banks, regulators, tech giants and startups all over the world have raised billions of dollars to explore the blockchain. But the only really successful, scaleable use of the blockchain remains cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Bitcoins currently trade at almost AU$4,000, with a total market equivalent to […]
Open banking start-up Basiq snares funding from Westpac and NAB
The venture capital funds of Westpac Banking Corp and National Australia Bank have co-invested in Basiq, a start-up that scrapes financial data from bank webpages to help fintechs compete with incumbent banks. Taking advantages of the government’s moves to create an economy where data moves more openly, it plans to morph into a new banking platform that uses “application programming interfaces” (APIs, or software connecting computers) to improve customer experience of financial services. The seed investment by Reinventure Group, Westpac’s venture capital fund, and NAB Ventures comes after Treasurer Scott Morrison said in last month’s budget an “open banking” regime would be created, liberating customer banking data. The Productivity Commission, […]
AEVI and Moroku partner to mobilize small merchants
AEVI and Moroku today announced a partnership to distribute Moroku’s all-in-one small merchant POS software Marrakash on AEVI’s Global Marketplace; a B2B app store for smart Point of Sale (SmartPOS) devices. Marrakash is designed with the next generation of banks in mind, delivering a single solution for small merchants that seamlessly integrates their business, products, customers and payment systems into one easy-to-use platform. The partnership will leverage AEVI’s open solutions, payments and global support infrastructure to target multiple vertical markets including the hospitality, food and drink, health and wellness, retail and financial service industries. Based in Sydney, Australia, Moroku is a pioneering Fintech firm that provides the finance industry with […]
Data61 reports blockchain will have a profound impact on the economy
A scientific study of blockchain by the CSIRO’s specialist Data61 unit has found the management of supply chains, including trade finance and insurance, as a “highly promising” use case for the emerging technology, which will enhance productivity across the agriculture, banking, healthcare, logistics and public sectors and help business and government manage the deluge of data about to be unleashed by the internet of things. But two reports to be released on Wednesday also point to various limitations of the much-hyped technology, warning it could compromise privacy, breach confidentiality, and create security concerns should encryption ever be broken by faster computing power. Data61’s reports are the product of almost a […]
SBS Bank has partnered with Sandstone Technology to deploy a new digital banking platform
SBS Bank has partnered with Sandstone Technology to deploy a new digital banking platform to facilitate an anywhere, anytime banking experience for the bank’s Members. The recent project is the first step in what promises to be a long and exciting relationship between the rapidly growing New Zealand Member bank and the FinTech, which was co-founded by New Zealander Bob Hall. The banking platform, developed in collaboration with Sandstone partner Liferay, will soon be extended to create an online sales channel supporting the origination and fulfilment of Member applications for accounts and investments. Approved deposit product applicants will have immediate access to their online banking facilities. Shaun […]
Even banks are touched by the Amazon effect
Such is the impact of Amazon that it is even affecting what people expect from their bank. That’s the view of the chief executive of fintech firm Avoka, Phil Copeland, who said the user experience provided by the shopping giant has fed into an expectation among consumers that you should be able to sign up for products easily and simply online. With banks also nervously eyeing fintech competitors, the dynamic is forcing banks to sharpen their focus on “digital customer acquisition”, or online sales. “Amazon has really changed the landscape a lot, for a lot of people. There’s an expectation that if it’s not as easy as doing business with […]
