Fintech changes the shape of banking
Jesse McWaters is the project lead for disruptive innovation in financial services at the World Economic Forum. So in January, 2014, it seemed logical to bring together about 50 senior global financial services and banking types attending Davos to consider the impact of fintech. The judgement of the experts was clear. “Banks versus fintechs? No contest,” McWaters says. The banks were considered to be protected by their scale, by their levels of consumer trust and by the regulatory complexity of the financial system. The barrier was considered simply too high for fintech start-ups to become a threat. A year later, there had been a sea change in the mood of […]
Facebook wants to partner with Aussie banks on mobile strategy
Social media behemoth Facebook is looking to partner with Australian banks to explore opportunities in mobile banking, in a move that could radically change the face of retail banks. Paul McCrory, head of financial services Australia at Facebook, said the $428 billion tech giant has built “huge mobile platforms” that see 11 million Australians a day. Facebook sees opportunities in leveraging that scale to do business with Australian banks.”Banks are mobile businesses as well, except they also have legacy [systems] that sit behind them. How do we help partner with this vast scale we’ve got, to help a bank, for example, drive digital options?” Mr McCrory told The Australian Financial […]
BlackRock mulling Aussie robo-advice launch
BlackRock acquired FutureAdvisor in August 2015 and rolled out the platform to financial institutions as a business-to-business service. BlackRock Australia’s head of iShares Jon Howie told InvestorDaily he believes Australia needs FutureAdvisor now. “As always with a large organisation we have to be conscious about how thinly we spread ourselves and so at the moment the focus is on getting the US application of that opportunity right,” Mr Howie said. “I can tell you that internally everyone around the world is putting their hand up and saying, ‘We can make this work in our market’. “BlackRock Australia needs the platform immediately, because it will take some time to tweak the […]
NAB enlists venture capitalists to invest in start-ups
National Australia Bank is turning to the venture capital sector to run its $50 million fund that will invest in fintech start-ups, a plan aimed at boosting innovation across the lender. The bank has appointed Todd Forest, an entrepreneur, angel investor and digital media executive, to run NAB Ventures, which expects to make its first investment in the next month or so. Alongside Mr Forest, NAB has hired Melissa Widner, one of the most senior women in Australian venture capital, who has also worked in the United States, as general partner. A co-founder of leading Australian fund Blackbird Ventures, Bill Bartee, will also work with the NAB fund as an […]
Global regulators move closer to regulating fintech
Global regulators have moved closer to regulating the fledgling fintech sector, which includes blockchain technology that supports bitcoin, to ensure the industry’s rapid growth does not pose any risks to the financial system. The Financial Stability Board (FSB), which met in Tokyo on Thursday, has agreed on a framework for categorising different components of fintech and assessing their potential risks. The FSB, made up of central bankers, regulators and finance ministry officials from the Group of 20 economies, is looking at fintech partly in response to uncertainty over whether it will “disrupt” traditional banking. Some big investment banks, including Goldman Sachs , are already investing heavily in fintech to avoid […]
Fintech threat to banks at tipping point: Citi
Many bank customers can’t even reel off the name of a financial technology company. But the threat from fintech companies is set to get very real for banks and their workers in the next decade as 30 per cent of jobs are cut to slice costs, according to a major report by US giant Citi. “Fintech is changing the world of finance. In the US and Europe, we are at a tipping point, especially in consumer banking,” the global report said. It noted that fintech companies in China had already surpassed banks and had both scale and innovation. “To remain competitive, banks need to get innovation before the fintech companies […]
Payment solution: corporates embrace virtual credit cards
For some time now, the dominant theme in digital payments for retail customers has been: “build it and they will come”. It’s a different story for corporates, where the rate of mobile payments innovation and adoption has been much slower, apart from some key emerging niches including virtual credit cards. A virtual card is exactly what the name implies: instead of the traditional plastic, a random card number is generated by software provided to the corporate customer. The 16-digit number can be accessed through an app on a mobile device, or directly by the company for a business-to-business purchase online. In most cases the number is used only once, it […]
Australia’s banks could be forced to share data with fintech start-ups
Treasurer Scott Morrison is considering forcing Australia’s big banks to share more of their data with financial technology start-ups to bolster the country’s comprehensive credit reporting scheme. The announcement was made as part of the government’s new policy vision for growing the fintech sector, launched today. It revealed it would direct the Productivity Commission to review “options for improving data availability and use”, including weighing up calls from the fintech sector to make comprehensive credit reporting mandatory. The fintech industry’s request draws from a perceived reluctance on the part of the big banks to take part in the comprehensive credit reporting scheme, which was introduced in March 2014 to allow […]
