Mortgage fintech looks to blockchain for home loans
The CEO and founder of an online mortgage platform has revealed that the fintech is looking into how it can utilise blockchain to make the home loan contract process more efficient. Speaking at the Informa Credit Law Conference, Mandeep Sodhi, the CEO of HashChing, revealed that the platform was looking into the distributed ledger technology for mortgages. When asked by The Adviser what HashChing was using blockchain for, Mr Sodhi said: “We have been exploring blockchain in the home loan contract, smart contract space and securitisation as well. “It’s more in the future roadmap but mostly around how quickly can we exchange a contract – through smart contracts. But also, […]
Tic:Toc selects MuleSoft to power instant online home loan service
MuleSoft, the leading platform for building application networks, today announced that financial services startup Tic:Toc has selected MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform™ to power it’s real-time home loan approval system. Since conception in 2015, Tic:Toc has been working to create a fully automated online home loan application system. In July of this year, the Adelaide-based Fintech launched Tic:Toc and unveiled their new platform which they believe offers loan approval in just 22 minutes, compared with the industry average, which they claim takes 22 days. The service digitally evaluates a borrower’s suitability in real-time by calculating variables, such as property valuation, borrowing ability, credit checks and the validation of financial records. MuleSoft was […]
Australian alternative finance market grew by 53% in 2016: Report
The Australian alternative finance (alt-fi) market grew by 53% in 2016, despite declines in equity crowdfunding activity in the face of regulatory uncertainty, according to a study released in September. The study was undertaken by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, the Tsinghua University Graduate School, the Australian Centre for Financial Studies at Monash Business School and KPMG. It found that the Australian alt-fi market has grown 53% over the past 12 months. According to the Cultivating Growth: The 2nd Asia Pacific Alternative Finance Industry Report, which surveyed 628 alt-fi companies, Australia overtook Japan in 2016 to become the second largest alt-fi market in the Asia Pacific, with a market […]
SocietyOne sets new record with triple milestones in 2017
SocietyOne, Australia’s pioneering and leading consumer marketplace lender, has set new records for lending with growth in 2017 already surpassing the level of volumes for the whole of 2016. Total lending since the company started operating five years ago has now topped $350 million as the current loan book also reached $200 million for the first time in SocietyOne’s history. These were new records for a consumer finance marketplace lender in Australia with SocietyOne having originated more than twice the loans than that of the company’s nearest competitor. SocietyOne has now enjoyed seven successive quarters of strong growth as it scales up. New lending to borrowers in […]
How consumers can help clean up the alternative lending market
An influx of alternative lenders and a seemingly unbreakable cycle of bad debt for borrowers have given the short-term loan sector a bad reputation. However, consumers have a role to play in helping clean up the industry. The first step – understanding how lenders should be acting. ASIC requires lenders to conduct ‘reasonable inquiries about a consumer’s financial situation.’ This means inquiries must be made about the consumer’s actual situation and, while alternative lenders are known to be more lenient when it comes to bad credit scores and being on Centrelink, they must still gather enough information about circumstances likely to affect a consumer’s ability to repay their loan. Daniel […]
Fintech slams aggregator “monopoly”
A heated statement by emerging fintech Hero Broker has accused major aggregator groups of working together and stacking the deck against newcomers to the industry. In a submission to the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into Competition in Australia’s Financial System released last Wednesday (27 September), Clint Howen, founder of Hero Broker, called upon the commission to examine the role that aggregators play in the market. He recounted his experiences with the major aggregator groups, claiming that Hero Broker was denied entry into the market despite meeting the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC’s) compliance regulations. He claimed that there was a “collective discussion” between key figures within the mortgage industry to […]
How Crowdfunding has influenced start-ups
You have a great idea that you would like to bring to the market. However, you have little to no capital in kick-starting product development. Furthermore, you don’t really have the business acumen and the research and development needed to make a solid business presentation to a group of investors. So, how do you go about finding the seed funding you need to start turning your idea into a reality? Many entrepreneurs in recent years have turned to crowdfunding as a way to reach a large audience to fund product ideas and business models. What Is Crowdfunding? Crowdfunding is an alternative way for businesses, and especially start-ups, to source capital […]
Yield-hungry investors switch their cash to peer-to-peer lenders
Peer-to-peer lender, RateSetter, says 56 per cent of money invested with it is from savers withdrawing their money from their bank savings accounts. Yield-hungry investors are understandably frustrated with earning next-to-nothing on their cash held at their banks, with interest rates at historic lows and likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. With the the advent of peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders, online platforms that match investors and borrowers, investors can get up to three times the interest paid by term deposits. P2P lenders charge borrowers lower rates of interest than they would pay on bank loans, while lender-investors earn higher interest than they could get with a bank term […]
