Apple, ANZ Bank strike deal for Apple Pay in Australia
Apple is expanding its Apple Pay digital wallet in Australia after ANZ became the country’s first bank to support the mobile payment service, executives at the pair told Reuters. Apple Pay allows users to register credit cards on devices such as iPhones, and pay for goods and services by swiping the devices over contactless payment terminals. Apple charges card providers for transactions via the service, which it introduced to Australia last year with American Express. The latest partnership extends the service to ANZ customers and represents the culmination of months of talks with the bank and three bigger peers, all of which had already agreed to support Google’s rival Android […]
Goldfields Money Ltd enters fintech JV to progress digital banking initiative
Goldfields Money Ltd (ASX:GMY), an Authorised Deposit‐taking Institution (ADI), has entered into a JV with a financial technology (fintech) company Mooola Pty Ltd, as part of its transformation into a digital bank. As part of the JV, Sydney-based Mooola will provide technical services and advice to Goldfields to develop a digital software platform for its financial products. In return, Goldfields Money will provide core banking and financial products to the customers of Mooola under Mooola’s own retail brand. This will enable Mooola to launch a new retail banking application later this year targeting customers in the 18-35 age bracket using its fintech expertise. New customers who come to Goldfields Money […]
The fintech phenomenon: Do Aussies only want to borrow from banks?
Marketplace lending, online business loans, robo-advice, blockchain – none of it means anything without consumers. So what do Aussies think of fintech? The threatening, disrupting nature of fintech is a widely discussed topic, with consumer benefits often being the focus. However, what’s interesting is that in the push to get companies, ideas and funding across the line, the actual customer — whether they’re a borrower, investor or seeker of advice — often gets left behind. Robert Allen, director of payments technology and consulting at PwCm spoke about what’s driving fintech at a Fintech Sydney event this week. “Fintech is being pushed forward by a new way of thinking, by millennials, […]
Fintech targets trillion dollar profits
Analysis by McKinsey and Co suggests the trillion dollar profits of traditional banks are vulnerable to being leeched by more than 12,000 fintech start ups. The digital innovators, often targeting a single link of the value chain, pose a grave threat to the business model of the old banking houses. Banks have long made their money by bundling a number of businesses together and relying on the stickiness of life-long customer relationships to rake in super profits on high margin products and services such as investment management, foreign exchange and credit cards. Challengers like Paypal, Nerdwallet and Wealthfront have targeted the profit centres while ignoring the low returns on basic […]
Blockchain technology – why all the hype?
As one of the most talked about emerging technologies, some say blockchain technology could revolutionize everything from stock exchange settlements and transport logistics to voting or welfare payments. So what is it and why is it relevant to financial advisers? Internationally, the benefits and wide range of possible uses for blockchain technology have been touted for a couple of years now. Within Australia, it’s gained some ground after a recent Australian Securities Exchange decision to examine its use for a new clearing and settlement system that’s faster and cheaper than the existing CHESS system. To enable this effort, the ASX bought a five per cent stake ($14.9 million) in Blythe […]
Global FinTechs take on Big Four in new Australian frontier
When U.S.-based financial technology company Acorns launched in Australia in February, its mobile app that helps people invest loose pennies in stock markets received nearly 70,000 downloads in just over two months, beating its own expectations. The ‘virtual piggy bank’ chose Australia as its first foreign market thanks to the country’s deep Internet and mobile penetration and tech-savvy population, Managing Director George Lucas told Reuters. Acorns’ entry is a reflection of rising interest in Australia from overseas financial technology – or FinTech – companies, drawn by its heavy banking concentration and limited competition, consultants and financial advisors said. The country’s $348 million alternate finance lending market, which includes peer-to-peer lending […]
Banks Struggle to Keep Pace with FinTech Disruption – World Retail Banking Report 2016
FinTech providers are making increasingly significant inroads with customers, yet the vast majority of banks admit they are not adequately prepared to manage this emerging FinTech threat, according to the 2016 World Retail Banking Report (WRBR), released today by Capgemini and Efma. The report found that nearly two-thirds of customers (63 percent) are now using FinTech products or services, and are much more likely to refer friends and family to their FinTech provider (55 percent) than to their bank (38 percent). However, while 96 percent of banking executives agree that the industry is evolving toward a digital banking ecosystem, where Fintech providers play a much bigger role, only 13 percent […]
Blockchain technology to hit bank profits
Revolutionary blockchain technology threatens to slash the profits of banks and wipe out lenders which fail to quickly adopt the online record-keeping innovation, a high-powered panel of finance and technology experts warned. Jose Fernandez Da Ponte, global digital business executive at Spanish banking giant BBVA, said digital disruption to financial institutions by blockchain posed “extremely large” threats and opportunities. “Those institutions not up to that are likely to cease to exist,” he said at a conference in Washington. At a panel convened by the International Monetary Fund, financiers, technologists and regulators debated the ramifications of the evolving blockchain. IMF deputy managing director David Lipton said banks and regulators were grappling […]
