FinTech

Jul
26

Robo-advice and mobile alerts are the future of banking

New app aimed at reducing trader errors, while Westpac banks on bots. Banks and financial institutions are ramping up competitiveness and improving their mobile offerings in an effort to maintain and assist customers, traders and employees. A new report by US market research company Forrester says banks will increasingly use banking apps to provide money management tips to consumers, the SMH reported. This sentiment has been realised in Australia. A team of behavioural finance and math experts launched the first ever robotic trading coach, PsyQuation. The robo coach provides a feedback loop alert system that points out costly trading mistakes. How traders interact with the alert and the ways in […]

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Jul
26

Blockchain: Distributed ledger technology still misunderstood

Blockchain may be the hottest technology trend in town, but business leaders run the risk of falling down a rabbit hole unless they are able to separate fact from fiction, according to Gartner’s research fellow Ray Valdes. While industry buzz around the bitcoin blockchain plus a dozen other competitive technologies has grown to deafening proportions, Mr Valdes warns that a dangerous cocktail of wishful thinking, mythmaking and misunderstanding can confuse the long-term transformative potential of the technology. “The thing about blockchain is that you will find businesses using the term in different ways in the same conversation,” Mr Valdes said. Mr Valdes also warns that the rampant interest in the […]

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Jul
25

Why trade finance is a good use case for blockchain

Trade finance is shaping up as one of the most promising early use cases for blockchain technology. The arrival of blockchain is prompting banks to search for analogue processes across the global economy which could be digitised to reduce financing risk. As a cumbersome process using multiple paper-based contracts with settlement typically taking weeks, the $US4 trillion ($5.3 trillion) trade-financing industry is set to be revolutionised by distributed ledger technology in the coming years. Many of the world’s largest banks and various start-ups have been pumping funds into blockchain research and development. They are now branching out of their laboratories to explain the opportunity to customers. In the trade finance […]

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Jul
22

Brexit provides lessons for Australia’s FinTech start-ups

[ Extract ] Lessons for Australia Australia’s FinTech scene, scarcely acknowledged eighteen months ago, has developing rapidly and now commands the attention of policymakers, banking executives and the financial media here alike. We have a highly advanced financial services sector, one that is acknowledged globally as mature, skilful and well regulated. It contributes around AU$140 billion to GDP each year and employs some 450,000 people. We have the fourth largest pool of investment funds in the world, anchored by the AU$2 trillion-plus in our nation’s superannuation funds. That a viable FinTech ecosystem has developed Down Under should therefore come as no surprise. Australian start-ups span the FinTech spectrum across peer-to-peer […]

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Jul
22

Westpac is the world’s best at mobile banking says Forrester

Westpac is the world leader in mobile banking functionality, according to a global rating from Forrester Research. In Forrester’s annual Global Mobile Banking Benchmark, the bank — one of Australia’s Big Four — scored an impressive 86 out of 100 in the evaluation. The global industry average was 65. It was just ahead of last year’s winner, CaixaBank, on 85. Indeed, all of the Big Four banks from Australia were rated by the research company, with Commonwealth Bank and NAB both scoring well. ANZ, however, fell well below the global average, with a score of only 44. The benchmark assessed the retail mobile banking services of 46 large retail banks […]

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Quantifeed Raises US$4.5 Million in Series A Funding

Quantifeed, a leader in digital wealth management solutions in Asia, has reached a significant milestone by closing US$4.5 million in a Series A financing round. Shanghai-based PGA Venture Partners led the investment. The funds will enable Quantifeed to accelerate expansion in key markets in the Asia Pacific region, including China. “The battle in digital wealth management will be won by the institutions with the strongest distribution and the richest customer experience. We are working with some of the top institutions in Asia to build them a customer investment journey,” said Alex Ypsilanti, CEO and Co-founder of Quantifeed. “PGA Venture Partners has an incredible track record of building successful companies and […]

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Class partners with peer-to-peer lender

Cloud SMSF administration software provider, Class, has collaborated with peer-to-peer lender, RateSetter, to provide self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) accountants and their clients with a direct-connect date feed. This would allow for automated data entry and transactions processing within Class. Class chief executive, Kevin Bungard, said the increase in digitisation in the finance sector was appealing to all ages and would allow for a streamlined execution of necessary tasks. “Some industry commentators have previously suggested that peer-to-peer lending may be more attractive to Gen Ys,” he said. “RateSetter experience has shown that a significant percentage of SMSFs, which typically comprise older age groups, are very much on board with the concept […]

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Fintech lender launches unique broker portal

An alternative online lender has launched a free digital marketing portal for mortgage brokers as it looks to strengthen its relationships with the third-party channel. Small business lender Prospa recently launched the Prospa Uplift Marketing Portal (PUMP) an online marketing resource of its partners. PUMP enables brokers to download application forms and fact sheets, send customised email and direct mail to clients and download images to use for social media. “There are over 60 registered partners in the first week who took it on board and ran activities with it,” Prospa CEO Beau Bertoli told The Adviser. “It is an easy to use but very powerful online marketing platform that […]

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