Open banking – Australia, behind the eight ball, report says
A report by Capgemini and Efma, entitled World Retail Banking Report 2017 (WRBR 2017), states that as the Open Banking revolution continues to unfold, banks risk disintermediation. The report offers two suggestions for how banks can avoid disintermediation: Firstly, banks must carefully choose their customer interaction business model, and secondly, they must use application programming interfaces (APIs). The report also states that banks, in collaboration with FinTechs, can lead the Open Banking movement by offering their customer bases innovative and personalised services that create new revenue streams and provide more value to customers. “FinTechs are now earning higher positive customer experience scores than traditional banks, and banks are openly seeking […]
High schooler becomes millionaire thanks to Bitcoin
The rags-to-riches stories about Bitcoin investors are a consistent theme with the rise in the value of Bitcoin over the past six months. The most recent is Erik Finman, who invested USD$1,000 in Bitcoin in 2011 when it was valued at USD$12. His parents had made an agreement with him that if he were a millionaire by 18, he wouldn’t have to attend college. A child of two Stanford Ph.D. holders, Finman was willing to take the bet. He now holds 403 Bitcoins, which, at their current valuation of USD$2,700, represent USD$1.09 mln. He also manages investments for the rest of his family, who have begun looking into Bitcoin as […]
The finalists for the 2nd Annual Australian FinTech Awards 2017
The 2nd Annual Australian FinTech Awards 2017 celebrate the achievements of the dynamic people and businesses comprising the FinTech sector. These Awards seek to recognise success in the FinTech sector in its many forms. This event will be an evening of celebrating the best innovation, created by the best innovators and entrepreneurs that live and work in Australia. Here are the finalists for the 2nd Annual Australian FinTech Awards 2017 to be held Thursday 22 June in Sydney: FinTech Innovation in payments Tyro Payments ZipMoney Afterpay FinTech Innovation in Wealth Management (Robo-Advice) Acorns Grow Australia Six Park Pocketbook FinTech Innovation in Lending SocietyOne MoneyMe Financial Group Tyro Payments […]
Big banks and fintech start-ups face up to Jack Ma’s mobile payments juggernaut Ant Financial
As Australia’s retailers steel themselves for the arrival of US online shopping giant Amazon, our banks are also set for a big disruption. They’re already staring down competition from small, home-grown digital financial start-ups, but there’s a much bigger threat on the horizon. Ant Financial is the financial services arm of the Chinese internet shopping giant Alibaba and boasts 450 million daily users worldwide. While Ant Financial says it wants to work with our banks, not against them, some are warning disruption from a global digital giant is inevitable, even if it doesn’t come from China. To find out more and hear the audio, please click on the link […]
Exchange traded fund opportunities and risks
Australia is a long way from having “biblical” exchange traded funds (ETFs), as the US does, that exclude companies that support lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender rights. But a rush of new ETFs in this market is creating controversy. Local issuers expect a massive conversion of investors into ETFs in the next five years, tripling the market’s size and disrupting the wealth-management industry. If product promoters are right, ETFs will revolutionise how hundreds of thousands of people invest. iShares Australia director Jon Howie believes Australia’s ETF market could hit $100 billion in assets by 2023, from $29 billion in May 2017. “There’s no reason why ETFs cannot account for around […]
Blockchain applications rolling out in financial markets
The blockchain gives investors transparency over loan-level data, asset provenance, payment history, loan terms and the quality of underlying security.
Bitcoin price stabilises after crypto markets crumble
A frenzied few weeks of rapid Bitcoin speculation, which saw the price rocket to $US3000 a coin, looks to be easing. The entire cryptocurrency market was rallying up until last week, when it was worth around $US106 billion. But a dramatic sell-off on Friday saw the cryptocurrency market shed around $US6 billion in the space of a few hours. The sell-off came as Bitcoin investors look to hedge against the “irrational exuberance” that has gripped the market, prompted in part by a flood of new, speculative capital from optimistic newcomers. But the top 10 cryptocurrencies appear to have stabilised over the weekend. On Sunday afternoon the combined total of Bitcoin, […]
In relief rally, bitcoin jumps more than 20% from June low
Bitcoin quickly bounced back from the lows of June, amid improved sentiment about the future of the digital currency. Bitcoin traded higher Saturday near USD$2,680, up more than 20 percent from a June low of USD$2,185.96 hit Thursday that had erased gains for the month, according to CoinDesk. Worries about overexuberance in digital currencies overall and heated debate among developers about how to upgrade bitcoin’s technology weighed on its price. “A proposal was accepted to merge the two upgrade methods, making them compatible,” Brian Kelly, a CNBC contributor and founder of BKCM, which runs a digital assets strategy, said Friday. “So we have seen a relief rally on this progress.” […]
