CSIRO and the University of Sydney’s Red Belly Blockchain breaks new ground for speed
The University of Sydney and CSIRO’s Data61 say they have successfully created a blockchain that can process a mass amount of transactions significantly more quickly than public blockchains, such as the one behind bitcoin. New trials of the Red Belly Blockchain run on Amazon Web Services infrastructure have shown an average transaction delay of only three seconds and a throughput of 30,000 transactions per second. In comparison, bitcoin processes only three to seven transactions per second and as of August had an average confirmation time for a transaction of 10-30 minutes (during peak trading periods in January this has reached as high as almost 3000 minutes per transaction), according to […]
CBA joins regtech group to improve compliance
CBA’s head of governance and assurance, Jasper Poos, will join the board of the RegTech Association, a one-year old industry association.
When ‘it’ happens, SocietyOne urges us not to reach for the credit card
Australia’s pioneering and leading marketplace lender, SocietyOne, has launched an integrated marketing campaign to capitalize on the fast-approaching holiday season, where demand for consumer credit typically jumps with increased expenditure on festivities and gifts. The campaign, entitled “When ‘it’ happens”, highlights how even positive situations can put financial strain on even the most savvy Australians. It tells the story of ‘regular guy’, Dave, who is financially in control until a series of unexpected events blows his budget out of the water. SocietyOne saves the day by rewarding Dave’s good credit rating with a low-rate personal loan, saving him from resorting to a credit card – which can often become a […]
Open banking: risk and opportunity
The imminent open banking scheme presents huge opportunities for Australian FinTechs, but comes with some very real risks, SocietyOne chief executive Mark Jones said. The peer-to-peer lender recently hit $500 million in lending, a record for an Australian company, and with open banking, a comprehensive credit reporting scheme and the Royal Commission driving customers away from the big banks, the future looks bright for the local FinTech sector. The open banking scheme starts from July next year, with the big four banks required to provide customer data on request to data recipients – largely FinTech companies such as SocietyOne, but also between each other. While this provides big opportunities to […]
Are Exchange-Traded Fund flows creating the mother of all opportunities?
A common excuse given by fee-charging active fund managers that have battled to beat their benchmarks has been the ever-rising popularity of exchange-traded funds. ETFs effectively allow investors to track an index – anything from the S&P 500 to obesity-related stocks – by simply buying a listed security tacking the index or a basket of stocks. The global market has grown from 580 products totalling $US728 billion of assets to more than 5000 funds with more than $US5.6 trillion of assets. But some have argued that this created multibillion-dollar flows of brainless money simply buying and selling stocks based on predetermined rules rather than any thoughtful analysis. This, it has […]
Fintechs outpacing banks in digital payments
The digital payments market is experiencing rapid disruption, with non-bank contactless/cardless mobile payment systems now being used by more Australians (6.5%) than bank-owned solutions (6.4%) according to the newly released Roy Morgan Digital Payment Solutions Currency Report. Fintech market entrants such as Apple Pay, Android Pay and Google Wallet, are taking market share from incumbents, in a market where 93.6% of Australians aged over 14 are aware of at least one digital payment solution, and 72.4% have used at least one digital payment solution in the past 12 months. Roy Morgan’s report, based on more than 50,000 face-to-face consumer interviews, provides a 12 month perspective of how consumers are changing […]
Cryptocurrency exchange Blockbid announce beta launch of live trading
Blockbid will be offering live crypto trading online. Its new feature, which will allow users to trade via secure means, is set for a beta launch on Sep. 28
The startup founder finding meaning in tap and go transactions
ImpactPay will give all Australians the opportunity to find meaning in their tap-and-go card transactions. Through a new smart digital wallet, users can accomplish humanitarian change, drive breakthroughs in healthcare, deliver global education and support local initiatives every time they make a purchase. ImpactPay founders, Adam and Regina Levine, saw an opportunity to tap into the collective power of micro-giving; developing a platform that enables Australians to support the causes of their choosing with each payment or transaction, using this world-first debit card. “More than 577 billion non-cash transactions take place every year; what if we could harness that to do good? It’s second nature for us all to use […]
