Budget 2016: Innovation surprises in budget papers
Entrepreneurs developing fintech companies will get a leg up from a new program in association with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which will allow ideas to be tested with a limited number of retail clients for up to six months. These road tests in a “regulatory sandbox” will have prescribed investment limits. Australia will be promoted as a fintech destination in a government funded marketing campaign costing $200,000 next financial year. The government has also called for feedback on the best way to ensure fintech start-up activities are eligible for the venture capital tax concessions. Blockchain, the distributed ledger technology, will be the subject of a review by Data61 […]
Fintech challenges Veda, Dun & Bradstreet
CreditSME – founded by Adam Welsh, a former M&A and debt at Origin Capital Group and Goldman Sachs – is offering a sort of broker role, giving them a credit rating and then advising them on which lenders would be the best for them – be it traditional bank or online unsecured lenders. CreditSME, launching on Wednesday, is the latest in an explosion of ex investment banker-led fintechs targeting the small businesses traditionally treated with disdain by the banks. But it’s not lending them money, rather it wants to give SMEs (and their lenders) easy access to a credit rating, just like a big business. There are various operators that […]
The CSIRO is exploring Bitcoin’s blockchain technology
Announced as part of the 2016 federal budget, the government will be encouraging its agencies as well as private companies to explore blockchain technology. The government’s downsized CSIRO research body Data61 will lead the country’s blockchain development. “The Government will encourage the exploration of Blockchain technology, including through a study and pilot testing by the CSIRO’s Data61,” it said in the budget. “The benefits of this technology could be profound — extending right across our economy. We are looking to position Australia as a leading global player in this exciting new area,” treasurer Scott Morrison added. New changes to the GST will also make sure that consumers are no longer […]
Australian FinTech partners with Kikka Capital
Australian FinTech is here to benefit FinTech companies in Australia and it’s the perfect platform to promote your company, brand awareness and your amazing products and services. To assist on the finance side of your business, Australian FinTech has partnered with Kikka Capital. Kikka Capital provide business loans as small as $1,000 up to $100,000 and there’s no accountants, tax returns or anything formal required to apply. They can fund any business as long as there’s cashflow. Kikka uses an advanced underwriting platform meaning not only will Kikka be able to assist any type of business the application takes just 7 minutes to complete! In addition, as a line of […]
zipMoney records $10million in the month of April
zipMoney Limited (ASX:ZML) announced on the ASX that it originated more than $10 million in transaction volume on its platform in the month of April alone. An outstanding result from the entire team driven by the continued activation of large merchant accounts, the rollout of zipPay and a number of strategic marketing initiatives. You can read more here On 29 April 2016 zipMoney released its Quarterly Activities Report for the period ending 31 March 2016. Noteworthy highlights included: Revenue growth of 104% on last quarter including merchant fee revenue growth of 128% Transaction volume growth of 67% on last quarter; more than $23 million originated on platform to date Loan book ended the period […]
Identifying customers in the digital era
Digital identity poses an array of challenges for the consumer and the merchant. The push to perform Know Your Customer (KYC) checks online (or 100 point check as it’s known in Australia) has dramatically increased, with AML/CTF obligated merchants seeking to acquire customers remotely, and in most cases seeking to release the tether to bricks and mortar entirely. Austrac defines KYC under the AML/CTF legislation as “documentation which sets out a business’s approach to ensure that it can effectively identify, verify and monitor its customers and the financial transactions in which they engage, relative to the risks of money laundering and terrorism financing”1. Austrac also allows electronic verification, where […]
Tackling longer payment terms
InvoiceX, a recently established Australian loan company, has unveiled a new invoicing scheme to help struggling mining companies overcome the new challenges created by long payment terms. This comes following this year’s likely liquidation of Queensland nickel and Arrium’s voluntary administration. As banks are more likely to offer loans for land and real estate rather than liquid assets often incurred by mining, director of InvoiceX Dermot Crean questioned their motives. “What is the intent here? To put them [workers] out of business?” he asked, pointing to Rio’s now redacted decision. The company, which distinguishes itself from other peer to peer lending groups and consider themselves a market planner, has implemented […]
WorldRemit chooses Australia to springboard growth in Asia-Pacific
Global leader in Mobile Money transfers appoints Michael Liu to drive growth in region. Mobile Money transfer service WorldRemit – the UK’s fastest-growing technology firm1 – has chosen Australia as its base in Asia-Pacific. One of Europe’s biggest FinTech services, the WorldRemit app, lets migrants send money instantly to their friends and family abroad in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. WorldRemit is the leading sender of remittances globally to Mobile Money services, which have emerged as the payment system of choice in many developing countries where large numbers of people lack access to traditional banking services. With Mobile Money, people can instantly receive money transfers on their phones […]
