Aussie-founded fintech Banked secures $2.7 million in seed funding, to launch open banking data solution
An Aussie-founded fintech, based in London, has secured £1.5 million ($2.66 million) in seed funding, while it’s still pre-product, pre-revenue, and less than a year old. Founded in early-2018 by Australian native and chief executive Brad Goodall, along with co-founders Neil Ambler, Patrick Cox and Ellen Fernandes, Banked aims to open up the possibilities of financial data by providing a trustworthy channel of communication between banks, businesses and individuals. The entirety of the seed funding has come from London-based venture capital firm Backed VC, although Goodall tells StartupSmart he is in talks with other investors regarding a potential secondary seed raise. Open banking came into effect in the UK earlier […]
Digitisation of loan variations ‘more important than ever’
The renewed focus on responsible lending has brought into focus the need for lenders to digitise the loan variation process for brokers, a technology sales director has said. Speaking to Mortgage Business, NextGen.Net’s sale director Tony Carn said that more lenders needed to focus on offering digital loan variations in order to “empower brokers to actually look after customer transactions on an ongoing basis”. Mr Carn noted that lenders had historically focused on digital loan applications for new loans but often neglected similar offerings for variations to existing loans – such as switching from interest-only to principal and interest repayments, moving from a fixed rate to a variable rate, the […]
Fintech currency wars heat up as Pelikin prepares to launch
A travel cash mishap in Croatia was Sam Brown’s inspiration to launch startup Pelikin into the competitive space of travel money and foreign exchange. “I was in Croatia, I went to get money out, put my travel card into the ATM and then cancelled my transaction because I changed my mind. My travel provider thought that was suspicious and blocked my funds. What that led to was having to borrow money, from the people I was travelling with,” Brown says. Brown has just closed out a crowdfunding raise for Pelikin of close to a quarter of a million dollars that has been “essentially a marketing campaign” for a the company’s […]
Priviti is a finalist in Westpac’s Innovation Challenge as Australia prepares for data privacy legislation
Selected as one of five finalists, Priviti’s patented consent management solution gives users greater control over how their data is shared and mitigates companies’ compliance and reputational risk amid growing data privacy concerns. Australian bank Westpac has announced that Priviti is one of five finalists for its 2018 Innovation Challenge, an initiative that gives startups the opportunity to pitch their ideas to help businesses meet their regulatory obligations and drive game-changing enhancements to customer experience. As Australia prepares for Open Banking standards and the Consumer Data Right, this year’s Challenge features RegTech solutions addressing topical issues including responding to regulatory change, ensuring customer privacy and consent, and product management. The […]
Fiserv open banking survey shows emergence of strategic focus
Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced the results of a survey revealing insights into the implementation of open banking initiatives by banks in the U.K., Poland, France and Australia. To date, banks have primarily focused on compliance, with only 42 percent of respondents (and just 24 percent in Australia) saying their strategy for open banking goes beyond day one. However, some banks are beginning to leverage open banking for strategic initiatives such as improving customer service. Banks are united in the belief that open banking will have an impact on financial activities, with 67 percent expecting at least a moderate impact, […]
Home loan fintech raises $25m
A fintech start-up is celebrating a $25million raise as it continues on its pathway to becoming Australia’s “most innovative home loan provider”. Athena Home Loans, which is still in its pilot phase, has closed its most recent Series B raise led by Square Peg Capital. Industry super fund Hostplus and venture firm AirTree also joined the round, taking the group’s total capital raised to date to $45m. The Series B raise comes six months after the company announced a Series A fund raise led by Macquarie Bank and Square Peg Capital and three months after announcing a strategic partnership with Resimac Group. Powered by Australia’s first cloud native digital mortgage […]
Cash payments are ‘niche’ says RBA governor
The governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia has said that Australians have embraced electronic payments and will continue to favour this payment method. Philip Lowe made the statements at the second annual Australian Payment Summit where he said that cash was becoming an increasingly niche payment. “It looks like a turning point has been reached. It is now easier than it has been to conceive of a world in which banknotes are used for relatively few payments; that cash becomes a niche payment instrument,” he said. Mr Lowe said he expected Australians to keep shifting towards electronic payments as cash payments continue to decline. “At the same time as […]
Sydney commuters can use credit or debit cards to tap on and off trains
Sydney commuters can carry one less card as of today. You can now “tap on and off” at the Opal reader with your Visa, Mastercard or American Express credit or debit card. Or if you’d prefer, you can use the digital wallet on your smartphone or smartwatch to replace how you use your Opal card. This is an extension of trials that have allowed commuters to use their credit or debit cards to tap on the Manly F1 ferry since July 2017 before it was extended to all public ferry and some light rail services in Sydney in March 2018. With Australia’s widespread adoption of contactless payments to make purchases, […]
