On The Money: Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay explained
Over the last ten years, smartphones have replaced MP3 players, PDAs, cameras and – for some – even dedicated portable computing devices like laptops. Now, smartphone and wearable vendors are trying to replace your wallet by cementing themselves as a crucial part of the mobile payments space. If you’re confused about things like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay – here’s everything you need to know. What are mobile payments services? Mobile Payment services (also known as mobile payment platforms or digital wallets) is a term that refers services or apps that allow you to pay for things with your phone or smartwatch (via a connected credit or debit card). The […]
Super Plus switches to SMSF fintech
Brisbane-based SMSF administrator Super Plus is migrating its clients to Mclowd, which provides its core software for free. The administrator has entered into a five-year agreement with Mclowd – a fintech with about $1 billion in super assets under administration on its SMSF platform. The shift to Mclowd will help the Super Plus save about $165,000 in costs over the period. “This move will also reduce our prospective licensing costs by more than $33,000 per annum. As the needs and expectations of our clients evolve we need progressive partners to give us the edge. In that context, the shift to Mclowd is a no-brainer,” Super Plus managing director Phillip Whiteley […]
Australian Tax Agency Seeks Public Input Concerning Cryptocurrency Taxes
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has been researching how to formulate regulatory guidelines for taxing cryptocurrencies recently. This week the ATO is seeking input from Australian residents concerning how the country should tax digital assets. Over the past few months, the ATO has been drafting taxation guidelines for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. The Australian tax agency has already described how it wants citizens to record all of their digital asset transactions and document the Australian dollar value amount at the time of each transaction. The ATO’s “Seeking Input” letter details its recently defined descriptions “resulted in queries from the community about how to approach specific tax events.” In order to deal […]
Crowdfund laws delayed, again
Legislation extending equity crowdfunding to private companies has been delayed again despite enjoying bipartisan support, meaning the new regime won’t come into effect until at least September, a year after the bill was first introduced to Parliament. The amendments to the Corporations Act allowing private Australian companies to undertake an equity crowdfunding round were passed by the lower house in late February after first being introduced in September last year. The bill was set to be debated – with the expectation that it would pass – in the Senate on Monday night, but was put off as a result of the ongoing debate surrounding the government’s planned company tax cut. […]
‘I’m not a silly investor’: SMEs accepting cryptocurrency as payment
When Robert Tadros was asked by a client last year if he would accept cryptocurrency as payment, he was “quite taken aback”. Being a believer in blockchain technology and a crypto-investor himself, the founder of search and social agency Impress!ve Digital was open to the request. “It’s an online store that the client operates. He was paying for his stock in cryptocurrency. So I embraced the idea.” Cryptocurrency client base increases In 12 months, Impress!ve, has grown 500 per cent from $600,000 to $3.5 million in annual revenue. Tadros attributes this growth to pivoting from a being a generalist agency to specialising in SEO, SEM and Facebook advertising. Three of […]
Equitise finalises Australia’s first equity crowdfunding with Xinja raising more than $2 million
Equitise is finalising Australia’s first equity crowdfunding offer, with aspiring neobank Xinja raising more than $2 million as it prepares to launch products designed to transform the banking experience for Australians. One-in-four investors have committed the minimum $250 for Xinja’s crowdfunding raise. Almost 7-in-10 have committed less than $1000, highlighting the accessibility of equity crowdfunding for regular investors, not to mention the opportunity for startups willing to work with them. Xinja’s capital raise was the first full retail equity crowdfunding offer to go live in Australia and is still open to investors until March 31. Equitise co-founder Chris Gilbert said the success of the raise underlines the willingness of everyday […]
ING – ‘Australia’s oldest fintech’ – is reporting a sudden surge in customer growth
The CEO of ING Australia, Uday Sareen, sees his bank as Australia’s oldest digital finance house. “We are Australia’s oldest fintech and we are profitable,” Uday Sareen told Business Insider as the bank announced its full year results. ING had record customer growth in 2017, adding more than 300,000, or almost a third, to hit 1.36 million active customers. Statutory net profit after tax was up 18% to $348 million.“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved this year,” says Sareen. The Dutch multinational banking and financial services group, which entered Australia in 1999, now has 1,178 employees and holds 3% of the local banking market.Sareen believes ING is at a tipping […]
Commonwealth Nations beating America on FinTech Regulation
There’s a global competition between governments for who can best accommodate emerging financial technologies, and the United States is losing. Just last week, Australia and the United Kingdom announced that they will strengthen their “FinTech Bridge,” a collaborative program between the two nations that will facilitate the entry of FinTech start-ups into each jurisdiction’s regulatory sandbox. The agreement will also include an initiative to reduce barriers to licensing for firms that are already licensed in the other country. The agreement is fitting, given that the two nations are some of the world’s leaders for accommodating emerging financial technology. The UK is perhaps the best known, with the Financial Conduct Authority […]
