Stone & Chalk supports Indigenous startup initiative
Fintech hub Stone & Chalk has partnered with not-for-profit Barayamal to provide Indigenous entrepreneurs with co-working spaces and access to investors, as part of its Indigenous Accelerator program in Victoria. The initiative, happening for first time in Victoria, will see five Indigenous startups receive a funding total of $50,000 in grants, also receiving support through free co-working space, mentoring and training from industry experts at the Victorian Innovation Hub, Goods Shed North. The program aims to have the startups grow their businesses over three months, with a final showcase at its demo pitch night. In the lead up to it, Barayamal is also running a two-day Pre-Accelerator in late March […]
Fintech investment doubled while Australian banks hammered
Investment in financial technology startups more than doubled last year while Australian banks came under intense public scrutiny for their treatment of customers. Globally, fintechs managed to attract US$26.7 billion investments in the 2017-18 year, which was 107 per cent more than the year before, according to Accenture analysis of CB Insights data. The increase could be directly attributed to fintech’s explosive growth in China, where the amount of money that went into the sector stunningly increased nine-fold. Its US$25.5 billion of capital raising in this nation alone almost matched the US$26.7 billion generated in the rest of the world. Australia saw similar growth with US$756.7 million total investment into […]
Fintech unveils mortgage under 3.5%
Fintech and online lender loans.com.au has unveiled its newest home-loan offering for owner-occupiers with a low interest rate of 3.48%. Dubbed the Smart Home Loan, the mortgage product is a principal-and-interest loan that has no ongoing fees and has a comparison rate of 3.5%. The product has a maximum loan amount of $1m and has several features such as redraw facilities and the ability to split and make additional repayments. Homebuyers can borrow as much as 80% of the value of their targeted property. Loans.com.au managing director Marie Mortimer said the new home-loan product aims to drive competition in the mortgage space and provide other options for borrowers who are […]
Power has shifted from banks to consumers: Bendigo Bank MD
A fundamental change in banking has occurred in a relatively short period of time: power has shifted from large financial institutions to consumers. In response, banks need to rethink how they serve their customers. That’s the view of Marnie Baker, managing director, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. “The times are gone now where the power sits with the financial institution. The power is absolutely in consumers hands and they are dictating what they expect to see in an experience,” Baker told Which-50. Notably, the days of going to see a bank in their time and at their instruction have passed, Baker said, and today financial services need to be embedded into […]
Raiz starts its international expansion by launching in Indonesia
Following its success in Australia, Raiz is proud to announce its expansion into Southeast Asia with the launch of Raiz Invest in Indonesia. In Indonesia, Raiz Invest will position itself as an aspirational product to improve by hands on learning financial literacy and financial inclusion, similar to Australia. “We are very excited to bring Raiz Invest to Indonesia. We believe that just like in Australia, Raiz will be a game changer on how people invest. Raiz Invest will be the innovative solution for anyone who wants to start investing, but has never really taken the first step,” said George Lucas, CEO. “As outlined in the prospectus last year our growth […]
SocietyOne hits $600M in loans after record holiday season
Australia’s leading marketplace lender, SocietyOne, has sped past $600 million in loan originations after a record holiday period, with $64.9 million in total originations over the past three months, compared to $39.5 million over the same three months last year. The milestone comes just six months after the appointment of Mark Jones as CEO, who oversaw the launch of a broker channel in June, an improved credit assessment process in July, a marketing campaign beginning September, and an improved online customer quote and application experience from October. “We are thrilled to be growing so strongly as it’s a sure sign that Australians are increasingly turning away from one-size-fits-all options and […]
Practifi integrates with XPLAN to create an end to end business technology solution for Australian financial advisers.
Practifi, the business management platform for financial advice, has today announced their integration with Iress XPLAN, which will be available to clients in their forthcoming product update. The integration will provide advisers with a business management solution that proactively improves compliance and increases efficiency by eliminating data duplication with a single, fully integrated client record. Leveraging the recently released Iress Open API, Practifi Chief Commercial Officer, Adrian Johnstone described the integration as ‘genuinely game changing for advice firms and licensees of all sizes.’ Johnstone added, ‘this integration ensures advisers can pair Australia’s most used advice tool with a genuine industry specific business management platform for the first time. With our […]
Fintech reveals $250m funding boost
In a bid to compete head on with the traditional banks, a fintech lender has secured an additional $250m to fund Australia’s small businesses. In addition to the new funding, Moula has extended its loan terms from 24 to 36 months and doubled its maximum loan value from $250,000 to $500,000. Pricing starts from 15.95% APR and is said to be “unprecedented” in the online unsecured business lending space. CEO Aris Allegos said, “Until now, online business lenders have competed with banks on speed, ease of application and customer service. However, competition based on pricing has been largely absent. “Injecting a quarter-of-a billion dollars into Australia’s businesses and making our […]
