Bitcoin taps fresh record highs amid rising demand from Japan, China
Bitcoin climbed above USD$2,000 for the first time Saturday on increased demand from Japanese and Chinese investors. The digital currency rose more than 4.5 percent to hit an all-time high of USD$2,061.88, according to CoinDesk.com. Bitcoin was last trading near USD$2,047. Japan accounted for nearly 55 percent of trade volume, up from near 40 percent Thursday, according to CryptoCompare.com. Prices for bitcoin on the Hong Kong-based Bitfinex exchange rose, narrowing a recent gap with the global rate in anticipation that bitcoin traded on Bitfinex can soon be easily converted to U.S. dollars. Chris Burniske, a blockchain products lead analyst at fund manager ARK Invest, pointed out in a tweet Saturday […]
Ignition Wealth announces digital advice solution for users of BT Panorama
Ignition Wealth has announced that its digital advice solution will be available to investors, advisers and accountants using BT Panorama. “We are delighted to be working with BT to deliver a truly customer-first solution to their accountants, advisers and investors. For accountants the move provides a post-FOFA solution that allows them to source advice for their clients in an efficient and, most importantly, compliant manner.” – Mark Fordree, CEO, Ignition Wealth. Ignition Wealth operates a unique ‘robo-assisted’ model which allows customers to access a hybrid of the best of digital and traditional advice. Customers have the option of self-serve, some support or full advice from their own adviser […]
An Australian fintech is letting ‘bankless’ Filipinos pay without handling cash
Australian fintech Peppermint Innovation has signed a partnership deal in the Philippines to provide mobile payment services to locals that don’t have bank accounts but do have a phone. The ASX-listed company announced its new partnership with SUNMar Express Global Services, which will see the Filipino company white-label Peppermint’s technologies, on Thursday. Peppermint chief executive Chris Kain told Business Insider many Australians wouldn’t realise there are “hundreds of millions” of people in neighbouring countries that don’t possess a bank account. “Because the country is spread over thousands of islands, the Philippines has one of the lowest rates of account ownership in the region. More than two thirds of Filipinos are […]
ALI Group in lead generation agreement with fintech
Loan protection specialist ALI Group has partnered with HashChing to provide mortgage brokers with access to a consistent source of new leads. The partnership will now provide ALI authorised mortgage brokers the opportunity to use their ALI reward points to access HashChing leads and client tools. “We’re excited to partner with HashChing to help brokers build their business. We’re committed to supporting broker businesses and helping them access leads and new clients is a very direct way of doing this,” ALI Group CEO Huy Truong said. “We will continue to add similar products/services to the ALI Rewards Program over the coming month,” he said. HashChing is a lead generation platform […]
Millennials to drive huge passive funds management switch, threatening jobs
The massive generational group of Millennials will accelerate the seismic shift to passive fund management as they seek to grow and protect their wealth, costing the jobs of more stock-picking professionals, according to investment specialists. Jay Pelosky, principal of New York-based Pelosky Global Strategies, said the Millennials’ greater experience with technology compared with Baby Boomers, distrust of so-called “experts” since the 2008-09 financial crisis and debt burdens from university education, meant they were attracted to low-fee automated investing such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and robo advice. “There will be a much greater and sustained move towards passive investing in part because of the Millennials,” said Mr Pelosky, a former Morgan […]
Intuit believes it can steal market share from Xero and MYOB
The head of accounting for global accounting software giant Intuit has thrown down the gauntlet to local leaders MYOB and Xero, saying it will win market share from the major players and emerge to be the dominant force in the region. “We have internal projections where we think we’ll be at the same level of market share as Xero in the next few years,” Intuit global head of accounting Richard Preece told The Australian Financial Review. “Those companies had a significant head start in terms of time in the market… so we have to have the best product to drive market share. We believe the biggest opportunity is that the […]
VentureCrowd CEO Vivian Stewart slams lengthy crowdfunding legislation process
The newly appointed chief executive of crowd-sourced equity funding platform VentureCrowd, Vivian Stewart, has labelled the leisurely pace at which the government passed equity crowdfunding funding laws “embarrassing”. “Aussies are entrepreneurial and we’ve earned the right to stand on the world stage,” the renowned tech entrepreneur and investor told The Australian Financial Review. “But sometimes structural things around the way we do business have let us down. The delay in getting the crowd-sourced equity funding legislation up and running here is an example of an un-Australian way of not being innovative. It was embarrassing to see these other large first world countries moving faster than us.” The comments from Mr […]
Payout platform Hyperwallet expands into Sydney to target growth in APAC
Vancouver-founded, San Francisco-based payments startup Hyperwallet has expanded into Australia, looking to target growth across the Asia Pacific region from its new Sydney base. It will also have a number of staff on the ground in Melbourne. The company operates a global payout system, effectively allowing companies to easily pay out employees, contractors, or service providers in their local currency. With the gig economy a strong market for Hyperwallet, Australia and the wider APAC region are ripe for growth. The Australian office will be headed up by managing director and senior vice president of APAC, Simon Banks, a former PayPal executive. Appointed in March, Banks said the region is punching […]
