Prospa first Australian fintech to deliver a half billion dollars of small business loans
Prospa, Australia’s number one online lender for small business, has announced the delivery of more than half a billion dollars into the economy, providing loans to over 12,000 small businesses across the country. Now in its sixth year, Prospa has scaled rapidly, today placing second in the Fast 100 for 2017 thanks a 239 per cent average revenue growth since 2013-14. The AFR’s Fast 100 ranks the fastest growing companies in Australia, and in previous years has included the likes of Atlassian, Lonely Planet, SEEK and WebJet. 2017 has been been a bumper year for Prospa, having secured over $50m in equity and debt funding. The firm announced […]
Bitcoin to consolidate at $US8000 a coin: Goldman Sachs
Technical analysis of the unorthodox Bitcoin market has led Goldman Sachs to believe the major cryptocurrency is set to consolidate at $US8000 ($10,500) a coin. After a month that saw Bitcoin soar beyond $US5000, $US6000 and then $US7000 a coin, technical analysts Sheba Jafari and Jack Abramowitz have warned traders against betting on a near-term boost past $US8000. Applying the Elliott wave theory, the analysts deduced the crypto-asset is likely to consolidate at this price for a time, as it marks “the third of five waves up”. “The market has shown evidence of an impulsive rally since breaking above 6044,” said Sheba Jafari, vice-president of the bank’s FICC Market Strats […]
Brighte shines a light on new finance options
Innovative fintech companies have an opportunity to offer services banks can’t or won’t provide. Here’s how Brighte is doing that with interest-free finance for home improvements. Imagine having your hot water system break down and being told you need a replacement. How would you pay for it? What about if you want to install solar power but find the interest charges send your budget through the roof? It’s these types of issues that fintech startup Brighte is designed to address. Launched in 2016, the company offers homeowners an interest-free payment solution for home improvements up to $30,000. Company founder Katherine McConnell said this type of finance hasn’t been looked at […]
FinTechs present a policy wish-list
Improvements to the R&D initiative and government-mandated open data controls are top of the Australian FinTech industry’s wish-list, while gender diversity remains a major issue for the sector, a new survey has found. The 2017 EY FinTech Australia Census, released late last week, surveyed 166 local FinTech companies. This is the second year of the census and is the only industry-backed survey of its kind. The biggest things thing these companies said would help them to grow was improvements to the research and development scheme, with nearly 90 percent of the companies supporting this. The industry is still waiting on the government to respond to the controversial ‘Three F’ review […]
FinTech will change more in the next 5 years than the last 30, says PayPal CEO
PayPal’s CEO has said that the financial technology (fintech) sector is going to change more in the next five years than it has done in the last 30. Speaking with CNBC’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer, Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, said that millennials are changing the shape of many industries, in particular the finance sector. He said: You have to, to serve these markets, re-imagine how money can be managed and moved because there’s going to be more change in the next five years in financial services than happened in the past 30. According to Schulman, the millennial generation, those under the age of 30, think about everyday processes […]
Bitcoin surges to record high as controversial software ‘fork’ upgrade cancelled
Bitcoin jumped as much as 11 per cent to $US7,882 after the main architects behind an upgrade to its underlying technology known as Segwit2x, which would have caused the chain to split in what’s known as a hard fork, cancelled their controversial plans. Bitcoin experts cited a statement on the Linux Foundation website, signed by several high-profile bitcoin entrepreneurs and developers who had backed the plan, that said the “Segwit2x” upgrade would be scrapped for now as it could “divide the community”. The upgrade would have changed bitcoin’s rules in a so-called “fork”, effectively cloning the existing bitcoin to create another cryptocurrency. “Our goal has always been a smooth upgrade […]
Australia, China to co-operate on fintech
Regulatory body ASIC has entered into an agreement with the China Securities Regulatory Commission to “promote innovation” and share information on market trends and regulatory development in the financial services sector. According to a statement from ASIC, the agreement will provide a “framework for information sharing between the two regulators” and will allow them to stay updated on “fintech activity” in either jurisdiction. The agreement has a specific focus on sharing information on regulatory technology, or ‘regtech’, “in recognition of the importance of regulators keeping pace with the fintech industry”. ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft said he looked forward to the two regulators sharing insight on regtech.“Understanding new developments and their […]
Micro-investing app Acorns launches ‘Little Acorns’ feature
Acorns users can use the new feature to start saving and investing for their children. Popular micro-investing app Acorns has announced the launch of its Little Acorns feature, allowing users to start saving and investing for children under the age of 18. The new feature is a solution for Acorns users who want to start a savings fund for their child or grandchild, but don’t want to create a separate account to do this. Acorns has become increasingly popular since launching in 2016, particularly among Australian millennials who have embraced the app’s iconic round-up feature. The app allows you to round up your everyday purchases with the spare change invested […]
