Westpac fast payments rollout a ‘tipping point’
A $1 billion overhaul of Australia’s payment system has passed a key milestone, with all big four banks now offering near real-time payments to most of their customers. After banks were last year criticised for taking too long to roll out a fast payment service, Westpac has switched on the new payments platform (NPP) for 3.6 million accounts, it said. It plans to roll out access for customers of St George and other brands it owns over 2019. Westpac had previously only been offering fast payments to customers in some smaller states, not its home base of NSW, but the bank now believes it is contributing about a third of […]
Sydney fintech firm MoneyMe to invest $10m in Newcastle operations
SYDNEY-based fin-tech firm MoneyMe plans to invest up to $10 million in Newcastle and create about 100 jobs over the next three years. Co-founder Clayton Howes says the move to set up a Hunter office by MoneyMe, which specialises in offering fast credit up to $15,000 via mobile, has been a year in the making. The company will soon temporarily move 10 staff in the DASH co-working space in Charlestown and has earmarked permanent offices in the East End. Mr Howes said the company was impressed by Newcastle’s smart city credentials and innovation culture and saw its proximity to Sydney as an advantage. “It’s a bit like how San Francisco […]
Afterpay challenger Splitit up 90 per cent on first day of trade
Israeli fintech start-up Splitit has got the tech initial public offering market off to a cracking start for the year, with the payments-splitting company jumping 90 per cent on it first day of trade. Having raised $12 million and listed with an issue price of 20¢ on Tuesday, Splitit ended the day at 38¢, giving it a valuation of $100.3 million, having capitalised on the momentum behind peers such as Afterpay and Zip Co. The company, which was founded in 2012 by Gil Don and Alon Feit, has created technology that sits on top of the payments “rails” used by Mastercard and Visa to allow individuals to split the cost […]
What will new tech mean for crypto in 2019?
Ten years on from the emergence of Bitcoin, there is no doubt that crypto and blockchain technology have made a massive impact. However, many forward-thinking observers still believe that digital tokens and the processes behind them have a long way to go. New systems and ways of doing things are emerging all the time, and this year, there are plenty of developments on the cusp of debuting online. A greater public awareness and more widespread adoption is on the cards, with the world of established financial institutions continuing to make moves and government-level discussions about the future of crypto also taking place. With many insiders predicting a wide range of […]
Prospa contributes $3.65 billion to Australian GDP
Prospa, Australia’s number one online lender to small business, today revealed new research into the economic impact of its lending to small business in Australia. Prospa undertook the economic impact assessment in partnership with RFi Group and the Centre for International Economics (CIE). The project considered the value of funds lent by Prospa over the period 2013 – 2018 and assessed how funds have benefited Prospa’s customers through increases in revenue and employment and the flow-on effects of these funds to the wider economy. The results of the research showed: For every $1m in lending by Prospa there is a corresponding $4m increase in GDP Since 2013, Prospa has contributed […]
Banks cull ATMs as more customers ditch cash
Major banks removed hundreds of ATMs in the latest year, as the industry responded to the scrapping of withdrawal fees and consumers further reduced their use of cash. In a trend that is tipped to ramp up as digital payments take off, all of the big four have made cuts to their ATM networks in the latest 12 months for which figures are available, with one lender culling one in four machines. The decline of ATMs, which were first rolled out by banks in the 1980s, has been predicted by experts for several years, but it is only fairly recently that numbers have begun to fall meaningfully from their peak […]
Crowdfunding success for Australian brewers
Gold Coast brewery Black Hops has hit its fundraising target of $400,000 just six days after opening its offer to the public. Matt Vitale from equity crowdfunding platform Birchal said he was delighted with the result. “Black Hops offer was fully subscribed last night, reaching its maximum target in just six days,” Vitale said. “We are thrilled with the result, as is the Black Hops team.” The $400,000 is earmarked for finishing Black Hops’ second brewery and taproom located 30 minutes north of its current site in Burleigh Heads. Investors could invest for as little as $50 to receive ordinary shares in the company. Depending on the value of their […]
Neobank Douugh wants to take HENRYs from the big four after Regional Australia Bank deal
Douugh, an Australian fintech start-up run by SocietyOne co-founder Andy Taylor, has secured the last piece of the puzzle it needed to join the race to knock off the big four banks as one of an emerging group of neobanks. The company, which has developed a so-called “smart” bank account, with an artificial intelligence-based personal finance assistant known as Sophie, has secured a wholesale banking deal with Armidale-based Regional Australia Bank, meaning it will be able to offer full bank accounts later this year. The partnership agreement means Douugh will bypass the need to go through the APRA approval process, which saw Volt Bank announced as Australia’s newest bank on […]
