Auswide Bank lends $60m, takes 20pc in MoneyPlace
Auswide Bank is offering $60 million in personal loans over five years via fledgling peer-to-peer lender MoneyPlace along with a 20 per cent stake in the start-up to boost its personal loans to younger borrowers. Martin Barrett, the managing director of the small, listed Queensland bank, which has a loan book of about $2.4 billion, said it had been in talks with MoneyPlace about investing in and via the platform for about a year while it was seeking its credit licence from the corporate watchdog. “What the P2P guys have to offer is something that is more advanced and capable than what we would be able to put into the […]
RBA governor Glenn Stevens backs blockchain and tech disruptors
The blockchain technology that underpins controversial crypto-currency bitcoin could bring significant benefits to the global banking system, Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens said. Speaking in his regular year-end interview with The Australian Financial Review, Mr Stevens said it was important for banks to figure out how the technology could be used to create broader efficiencies in the financial system. The words of support from a high-profile central banker will be welcomed by banks and start-ups around the world, which are working to develop applications for the relatively new technology. Blockchain is a digital record of transactions spread across separate computers designed to withstand tampering even by the people […]
Westpac trials Prospa tie-up
It is great to see that the big banks in Australia are starting to support our FinTech companies. Lets hope that the this announcement encourages some of the other banks to get in and trial a partnership with an up and coming technology. Westpac has begun quietly trialling a partnership with online small business lender Prospa, signalling a growing willingness by the big four banks to embrace working with the rapidly emerging “fintech” industry. Source: Westpac trials Prospa tie-up
Profit prize of $800m awaits successful mortgage market ‘disrupter’
There’s an $800 million profit prize should a new player achieve the difficult task of replicating the success of supermarket discounter Aldi in the $1.5 trillion mortgage market, according to analysts. As the dust settles on the major banks’ results season, experts are increasingly mulling whether conditions are as good as they get and how vulnerable the industry is to the horde of new “fintech” disrupters and larger players with plenty of capital to deploy. Westpac chief Brian Hartzer was yesterday grilled on whether the banks were setting themselves up for similar pain being felt by Woolworths, once one of the most profitable supermarkets globally, by propping up margins for […]
BPay first to offer instant payments on banks’ New Payments Platform
Getting paid instantly by quoting a mobile number or email address will soon be possible. Big-bank-owned BPay will bury the need to memorise bank account numbers and allow people and businesses to pay each other with mobile numbers, emails or ABNs via the first payment service to be offered on the $1 billion New Payment Platform (NPP) being built by banks, payment companies and the Reserve Bank. The move echoes the plans of the failed MAMBO (Me At My Bank Online) project run by the big four banks and BPay that had a similar plan but collapsed after NAB and ANZ pulled out over fears some banks would get a […]
NAB does 10-year deal with Visa amid banks’ Apple battle
As the battle between tech giants, card companies and banks for a slice of their substantial unsecured lending profits heats up, NAB has announced a decade-long deal with Visa on new payment innovations. Source: NAB does 10-year deal with Visa amid banks’ Apple battle
Apple Pay to launch in Australia through American Express in 2015
Apple has bypassed banks who are unwilling to give up their card fees by launching Apple Pay with American Express in Australia and a host of other countries. Amex’s global head of mobile products and payments, Tony Prentice, said its customers in Australia and Canada will be able to use Apple Pay for transactions on iPhones, Apple Watch and iPads this year and in Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong in 2016. “We believe it is critical to be on the forefront of seamless and innovative payment solutions for our card members and we are pleased to be able to deliver on that with Apple Pay,” he said in a statement. […]
Has fintech dropped the brand awareness ball?
Has fintech dropped the ball when it comes to brand building? Have we spent too much time developing great products and not enough time spruiking them? If recent research by East & Partners is anything to go by, then yes, yes we have. The study found 39 per cent of micro and SME businesses couldn’t recall a single fintech brand and of those who could, only 61 per cent could articulate what product or service it offered. Moreover, the Brokers on Non-Banks survey found lack of brand awareness was the number one reason brokers don’t refer clients to fintech lenders at the moment. Should the fintech industry be alarmed? Yes […]
