How ASIC and the Australian government can kindle the fintech boom
Australia is beginning to enjoy the benefits of a fintech boom, but for this emerging industry to grow properly it needs infrastructure support. Without it, we’re at risk of seeing Aussie fintechs left behind as overseas players dominate the Australian and Asian landscape. There have been some welcome initiatives recently, like ASIC introducing a regulatory sandbox for start-ups to trial new ideas. But compared to other governments around the world, Australia doesn’t have the political support to turn this industry into a powerhouse. That’s a huge missed opportunity. Research from Frost & Sullivan predicts the Australian fintech market will add $1 billion in value by 2020. Missing out on this […]
Apple Pay coming to millions in Australia with Cuscal signing credit union deal
Up to 4 million Australians can soon start using Apple Pay following a deal between Apple and a body representing smaller banks and credit unions. Customers with debit and credit accounts held with 31 financial bodies will be able to use Apple Pay to make retail payments from their iPhone following a deal with payments provider Cuscal. A Cuscal spokesman said a starting date for the service was yet to be announced. The agreement does not include many of Cuscal’s industry partners and a number of credit unions but it does include 31 credit unions and banks. The list includes Credit Union Australia, Bank of Sydney, Horizon Credit Union, Police […]
Entersoft carries flag for Australia in finals of major Asian accelerator
A leading Brisbane-based cyber security provider is the only Australian company to have been selected to take part in a prestigious Hong Kong-based accelerator program, which aims to help promising start-ups and scale-ups grow in Asia. On Monday night, Entersoft was selected as one of eight finalists from 200 applicants located in 33 countries who wanted to be part of the SuperCharger FinTech 2.0 initiative in 2017. Each of the finalists will now participate in a 12-week program, to be held in early next year, which includes bespoke learning and working closely with a network of industry partners and mentors. It’s a significant win for Entersoft, which was founded by […]
Australian Fintech Credit Savvy Grows to 200,000 Members
Growth continues to accelerate for credit reputation website, Credit Savvy, which announced today that it has reached 200,000 Australian users. The website provides Australians with free access to their Experian credit score, monthly score updates, a knowledge centre to learn about credit and a comparison tool that lets users research and consider hundreds of home loans, credit cards and personal loans. Nearly 2 million free credit scores have been given away to the Credit Savvy member base in the past 18 months. [1] Managing Director, Dirk Hofman said, “It’s great to see that awareness of credit scores has really increased in the past year and it’s humbling to think we’ve […]
Stone & Chalk says the new paradigm is outside-in innovation
It should come as no surprise that Alex Scandurra, chief executive officer Stone & Chalk, is a passionate advocate of collaboration: the raison d’être, justification, objective and mission statement of Stone & Chalk is to help foster and accelerate the development of world-leading fintech start-ups, by leveraging greater collaboration between stakeholders in the fintech eco-system. Stone & Chalk itself is a collaborative effort between fintech entrepreneurs, venture capital (VC) firms, companies, academia and government, to incubate and nurture financial services-focused tech start-ups in ways not seen in Australia before. “Collaboration is at the core of what we do, and it’s one of the main reasons why we’ve been able to […]
Moneysoft launches new package designed to boost client engagement, satisfaction and revenue
Leading personal financial management (PFM) software provider Moneysoft has launched a complete package of resources and tools to help financial advisers introduce an effective, profitable budgeting and cashflow management service to their clientbase. Developed in conjunction with advisers, the Moneysoft Business Processes toolkit contains a series of eBooks, video tutorials, blogs, and client-facing brochures and templates. It is a complete, step-by-step guide on how to build and deliver a relevant goals-based, money management proposition; how to grow and diversify practice revenue; and how to achieve a deeper client engagement through “cashflow as a service”. According to Peter Malekas, managing director of Moneysoft, the ready availability of cloud-based Software as a […]
iSelect trials three-hour digital home loan
ASX-listed iSelect is trialling a new digital home loan process that lets home buyers get conditional approval for a home loan in three hours from multiple lenders, without needing to visit a bank or fill out paperwork. The technology is the first in Australia that digitises the home loan application process and can present offers from multiple lenders, however many of the banks offer a digital service for their own loans. Macquarie Bank, ING and Australian Finance Group are trialling iSelect’s new service, but the business has plans to do a full rollout in 2017. The new service is part of iSelect’s transition to become a “life admin” business, and […]
New tech solution for advisers
Fintech firm, Your Technology Made Lite (YTML), is integrating its Highlighter platform technology for advisers’ in-house Excel solutions to boost accessibility and integration with online systems. YTML chief executive, Kevin Liao, said that Highlighter had already been used for advice web apps and automated with an adviser’s existing IP. “Highlighter automates the development of a web app,” he said. “As long as advisers have the flow of data entry organised… we can configure and upload it into Highlighter and convert it into a web app for them. “Advisers, accountants and SMSF [self-managed superannuation fund] specialists have so much capability sitting within their practices, and by partnering with technology solutions such […]
