P2P pioneers banking on bigger piece of market pie
As lending records are beaten on a daily basis, the nation’s biggest peer to peer (P2P) lenders are hopeful the relatively new industry will this year hit that much heralded mark: a tipping point. But Matt Symons, the chief of SocietyOne, isn’t getting “carried away” given the strong growth is off a low base. Nor has he wavered from his firm belief that the best outcome for his business — and the industry — is measured and disciplined expansion, as opposed to chasing rapid growth and writing bad loans that blow up. Indeed, three years after opening, Society One it yet to turn a profit, as ongoing investment, compliance and […]
Media Release – Turnbull Government backing FinTech
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison today announced the establishment of an expert advisory group to help make Australia the leading market for financial technology – or FinTech – in the Asia Pacific region. Financial services is the largest sector of our economy, employing around 450,000 people and contributing over $140 billion to the economy last financial year. Although Australia is a leading financial services market in the region, the sector is becoming increasingly globalised and exposed to technological disruption. Many traditional financial products are being disrupted by the FinTech sector, which is well positioned to become a leading player in the Asia-Pacific. FinTech is at the cutting […]
MoneyMe gets $30m capital raise
Consumer fintech firm, MoneyMe, has announced a $30 million capital raise from an ultra-high net worth Australian family office, which has branched out into fintech after investing mostly in large scale property on the eastern seaboard. The capital raise includes both debt and equity, and will fund the launch of a series of niche financial products aimed at millennial throughout 2016. MoneyMe chief executive, Clayton Howes, said the millennial market was important for fintech as they were inclined to spend big on lifestyle and convenience, and were willing to pay a premium for it. “Fintechs with the ability to create niche products that are delivered in a tailored way that […]
Australian Startup Rewards Customers Paying Bills with Bitcoin
An Australian startup that acts as an intermediary to enable Australians to pay their bills with Bitcoin is now rewarding customers with a first-of-its-kind loyalty program. Living Room of Satoshi, aptly named after Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto is an Australian blockchain-based payments company that enables its users to settle their bills with bitcoin. Customers can use bitcoin to pay for utilities, home and property rent, school fees, credit card payments and insurance premiums. Now, the payments company has announced a loyalty program which will reap rewards for Australians who choose to make their payments in bitcoin. The rewards include the likes of Apple TVs, PlayStation 4 consoles, Fitbit wristbands […]
Reserve Bank says Australian dollars could come in digital form in future
Death of the cheque and the rise of Bitcoin? FinTech is certainly gaining momentum in Australia with the RBA hinting at digital dollars, or a form of Bitcoin, in the future is quite a possibility. It is entirely possible that Australian dollars will come in digital form in the future, breaking the link entirely between material notes and coins, the Reserve Bank says. In a speech where he also flagged the end of the cheque, Mr Richards said the RBA had been watching the growth in demand for privately-established virtual currencies like Bitcoin, and believed there was a place for a central-bank-issued digital currency in Australia. It thinks digital […]
VC tells fintech start-ups to target superannuation sector
Australian fintech start-ups are being told to focus their efforts on selling services to the $2 trillion superannuation industry in order to attract venture capital funding. Melbourne-based Trimantium Capital is looking to deploy $700 million during the next 12 months into financial services technology, or “fintech”, ventures and its managing director Phillip Kingston said the super industry was in clear need of better technology automation options to lower administration costs and cut fees. “To date most large funds have either shied away from that challenge or tried to undertake large technology projects in house, which typically hasn’t worked out too well,” Mr Kingston said. An attempt by five of Australia’s […]
Fintech sector rejects crowdfunding bill
The fintech sector has taken aim at the government’s proposed legislation on equity crowdfunding, with particular ire focused on the requirement for crowdfunders to become unlisted public companies. The government has received 21 submissions on the Corporations Amendment (Crowd-sourced Funding) Bill 2015 [Provisions], with a number of fintech firms pointing to the bill’s shortcomings. VentureCrowd’s was one of a number of respondents to argue against the requirement that equity crowdfunding recipients be public unlisted companies. “This bill’s requirement that an equity crowdfunding start-up first becomes a public company imposes a significant (and unnecessary) regulatory, administrative and compliance burden on those start-ups,” said the VentureCrowd submission. It went on to point […]
Westpac looks to blockchain, robots and drones in fight for the future
“Blockchain is a technology that is clearly disruptive, but what it will be we don’t know. We do know that $970 million has been spent on blockchain by fintechs,” Curran said. Right now he likens blockchain to Napster – pioneering technology – not necessarily the end point. The tech expo and board update is part of Curran’s bid to ensure he and his team are recognised by the bank as “game-changing technologists”. But it’s not all toys and what-ifs. Tess (Test Enabling Super Simulator) developed in association with tech firm Infosys, is testing new systems and updates – making sure human interfaces such as ATMs, keyboards, note counters and the […]
