Samsung Pay on Gear S2, S3 sparks smartwatch pay war with Apple
Samsung has joined Apple in offering users the ability to pay by flashing their smartwatch across a retail terminal. Customers who buy Samsung’s new Gear S3 smartwatch or who own last year’s Gear S2 model will be able to pay at shops with the flick of a wrist. Samsung users already can use Samsung Pay with recently released Samsung smartphones, but today’s announcement extends this to smartwatches as well. An ability to make payments from a Gear S2 and S3 watch with Samsung Pay will give Australians yet another layer of convenience when shopping and will let them make payments quickly and easily, says Richard Fink, Head of IT and […]
How UBank’s FinTech culture enables Agile to thrive
Some organisational cultures can find it difficult to adapt to an Agile mindset. Central to adopting an Agile approach is emphasising visibility and transparency. This includes making everything (including bad news) visible across the entire organisation. It also means prioritising face-to-face communication. Finally, open team reflection is critical to identifying where things went wrong and how they should improve. One organisation that has done this successfully is online bank, UBank. Bulletproof was engaged by UBank in July to provide Agile coaching for ten weeks across four product teams in its digital division. The bank – which says it operates more like FinTech with a banking licence – wanted to improve […]
Apple offers banks an olive branch
It’s a rare thing to see three of Australia’s big banks, so dominant in their home market, arguing for special dispensation from commercial laws to boost their bargaining position. But when it comes to dealing with Apple, the world’s largest company, Australia’s banks are mere minnows. But with the combination of smartphone proliferation and tap-and-go technology set to revolutionise payments by allowing customers to use their phones like plastic cards, the banks see this case as a cudgel. They’re desperate to retain customer relationships at the point of sale and as commerce moves to mobiles. This fight is an early battle for control of the digital wallet. Apple, banks, retailers […]
ACCC blocks banks’ bid to collectively bargain over Apple Pay
The competition watchdog has denied a bid by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp, National Australia Bank and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to collectively bargain with tech giant Apple over access to its Apple Pay payments platform. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a draft determination “proposing, on balance, to deny” an application for authorisation to allow the banks to form a cartel to negotiate with Apple. A final decision will be made in March. The ACCC said the banks’ proposals could distort competition between mobile operating systems, reduce competitive tension between banks individually negotiating with Apple, and reduce competition between the banks in the supply of […]
Hashching creates virtual ID system for first fully-digital loan approvals
Hashching, a website for home buyers to choose mortgage brokers, has built the first fully-digital process for home loan verification in Australia, which would allow banks to comply with strict regulations for identifying clients without having to send them to a branch. This weekend, Hashching, which has processed $2.6 billion of mortgages since launching 15 months ago, will begin the pilot for a biometric identity verification service allowing brokers on its platform to satisfy strict “know your client” (KYC) banking regulations by asking a customer on a video call to hold up a proof of identity to the camera on their computer or mobile phone. Across the banking industry, KYC […]
Fintech finds itself disrupted as forces of consolidation strike
The consultancy industry’s urge to claim brand ownership of fintech in all its different guises is almost as powerful as the rise of fintech itself. McKinsey & Co is the latest example, stating with its usual gravity that fintech is itself maturing and entering a period of rapid change; in other words, the disrupter is now being disrupted. It’s easy to be cynical, but seriously, what would you expect? That said, the global management consultancy has presented some useful data on a number of trends, including valuations, to support its thesis. Examining 44 fintech companies valued at more than $US1 billion, McKinsey found that the spikes in valuation that occurred […]
Fintechs must jump many hurdles on the road to disruption
Bendigo & Adelaide Bank was one of the first Australian banks to invest in fintech start-ups. In 2012, Bendigo announced a $1.5 million investment for a 15 per cent stake in Adelaide-based NoQ, a joint venture with former Adelaide Crows AFL player Brad Moran. These days “NoQ” (no queue) provides independent supermarket and liquor retailers with e-commerce solutions. Bendigo managing director and CEO Mike Hirst has said there are excess profit pools among the diverse product range of the Aussie banks that could be targeted by single product-focused fintechs such as NoQ. Some big investors say the inexorable forces are clear. Successful fintech innovators are cutting costs and improving service. […]
Blockchain adoption in banks coming, but slower than expected
Recent headlines suggest that blockchain technology is revolutionizing financial services. JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, Commonwealth Bank, Wells Fargo and several other leading banks are using the digital ledger technology to conduct equity swaps, cross-border trades, and other transactions. You might think that blockchain has gone mainstream. Not so fast, says former UBS CIO Oliver Bussmann, who claims it may take banks two years to run blockchain in production due to regulatory hurdles, a lack of standards and other stumbling blocks. “This is real, this will come but in a very regulated environment. We will go through a lot of validation,” says Bussmann, who jumpstarted blockchain efforts when he was leading […]
