PayPal ‘miles ahead’, welcomes rivals to the ecosystem
PayPal’s global head of product, Bill Ready, is confident his company’s dominance in digital payments is set to continue, declaring PayPal is just scratching the surface of its potential as it enters the Fortune 500 for the first time. Mr Ready, who remains responsible for PayPal’s Braintree unit after it was acquired in 2013 and runs PayPal’s engineering operations, said the company was miles ahead of the competition. “This is something we can solve better than anyone else in the world,” he said. “We can control the process end to end, in a way that consumers don’t have to do any extra work and the merchants don’t either.” According to […]
CBA accused of blocking fintech Acorns in password row
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has sent alarming emails to thousands of its customers who are engaging with fintech start-ups, warning that sharing internet banking passwords could invalidate the protection CBA provides from losses on accounts relating to fraud. But Acorns, which is competing with the banks’ retail wealth divisions, says CBA’s communication is designed to slow its rapid growth and thereby reduce competition. CBA is “cloaking with security messages a way of being anti-competitive to the whole fintech industry,” said George Lucas, chief executive of Acorns in Australia. “It is strategically targeted at fintechs they now see are growing, and we are a major driver of that.” Acorns, a US-based company that helps users invest spare change in exchange traded funds, has been growing its Australian users at around 2500 each week to around 130,000 since its local launch in February. Around 70 per cent […]
Banks resist fintech push for open data regime
If banks were required to open their customer data to competitors, economic growth would be bolstered through financial services competition and customer service would be improved by allowing fintech companies to create better-priced financial products, argues Fintech Australia, an industry group representing financial technology start-ups. The Productivity Commission’s review into ‘Data availability and use’ is looking at whether a system of “open APIs” [application programming interfaces] could be created along the lines of a new regime in Britain to allow competitors to plug directly into data sets held by banks, such as transaction account activity. Fintech Australia has asked the commission to recommend an “open banking API” regime be mandated […]
Square powers Kanye West “Pablo” pop-up stores Australia, the US & Canada
Square is making selling Yeezy. Kanye West announced today that Square is the exclusive point-of-sale at Kanye’s “Pablo” pop-up stores in Australia, the U.S., and Canada this weekend. The previous Pablo NYC pop-up store reportedly generated more than $1 million in a weekend from fans eager line up for blocks to purchase Kanye’s “The Life of Pablo” clothing collection. Square Reader, which launched in Australia in March 2016, will be powering the Melbourne and Sydney Pablo pop-ups with point-of-sale and credit card acceptance using the smallest, most mobile and most affordable card payment device in market. Customers will be able to check out quickly with Square and start wearing […]
Mint Payments wins two prestigious innovation awards
Payments processing technology provider Mint Payments is pleased to announce that its innovation has been recognised twice in the past week, having been named as an ABA100 Winner in The Australian Business Awards 2016 for Business Innovation and being listed at number 42 in the Australian Financial Review’s Top 50 Most Innovative Companies in Australia. The Australian Business Awards recognise organisations that prioritise innovation and technology as drivers of local and international markets. ABA100 Winners demonstrate a commitment to technologically transformative innovation through business initiatives and position themselves as industry leaders. The AFR Top 50 Most Innovative Companies in Australia is in its fifth year, and ranks the […]
The Pulse of Fintech
‘ The Pulse of Fintech ’ is a quarterly report created by KPMG along with KPMG Enterprise’s Global Network for Innovative Startups and CB Insights (the ‘go to’ name for insights related to venture capital investment) which launched on August 17th, 2016. The series analyses the latest global trends in venture capital investment data on the fintech sector. Given the significant interest in fintech globally, and its ongoing evolution in terms of market drivers, technologies and potential use-cases, KPMG and CB Insights are partnering to bring you the pulse on fintech investment globally. Each quarter, we’ll highlight key fintech deals, issues and challenges around the world, in addition to key […]
Blockchain prototype gives ASX confidence
Market operator ASX says its successful blockchain prototype has given it the confidence that it can develop a system that could eventually replace the trading platform that underpins the $2 trillion Australian market. While chief executive Dominic Stevens cautioned that he could only give a “two week view” having been appointed on August 1, the trials run on the prototype suggested that it could eventually handle the required volumes and make the market more efficient for regulators, ASX customers and other stakeholders. Further development will occur over the next 18 months with Digital Asset Holdings, the blockchain start-up run by former JPMorgan executive Blythe Masters. ASX owns 8.5 per cent […]
Apple Pay: Banks ask for help from ACCC in fight over digital payments
The big four banks are used to being the big guys in town, but Apple is bigger than all of them combined. Apple has made its name and fortune on a closed system and Apple Pay, a mobile payment service and digital wallet, is another platform that does not connect with the systems of other providers. That has become the sticking point with the banks, which have been developing their own ‘e-wallet’ offerings that Apple is refusing to accept. “This is what they’re concerned about. It’s not really about consumer choice. It’s about maintaining their monopoly position on these interchange fees and maintaining control of their consumers,” said Dr David […]
