AI, VR and fintech in focus as Microsoft takes on its first Aussie start-ups
Artificial intelligence and financial services based start-ups provide the majority of the first cohort of global tech giant Microsoft’s first Australian accelerator program. The program, known as ScaleUp, was announced in February and targets start-ups that have typically received initial funding and are looking to expand. It promises to help fast-track their growth by linking them with potential customers, Microsoft partners and technical guidance, without giving up any equity. The Australian start-ups selected are Auror, Daisee, FreightExchange, Hyper Anna, InDebted, Kapiche, Karbon, Makers Empire, Teamgage, SimpleKYC, Start VR, VendorPanel and Winimy AI. Many have secured funding in recent times, including virtual data scientist Hyper Anna, which raised $16 million from […]
Basiq and Verrency enable banks to drastically improve the quality of their data
Basiq and Verrency have joined forces to enable banks to store clean, categorised and enhanced transaction data – in real-time, at point of purchase. This will uncover new opportunities for banks to offer their customers innovative, and personalised products and experiences. We are all aware of how ‘unclear’ transaction data can be. Think of how often customers call banks with queries – they have no idea what an item on their credit card statement called ‘HT Willis Brook’ is. You may have heard the term ‘garbage in – garbage out’. If a bank stores unclear transaction data when a customer makes a purchase, this data is then passed downstream to […]
Raiz Invest brings financial insights to life with Facebook chatbot
Raiz Invest, the mobile-first micro-investing platform, has today launched a chatbot to improve the user experience. Customers can ask Ashlee chatbot specific questions about their account or the financial markets and get general customer support. Much like a personal fitness coach, the aim is to help Australians have a healthier relationship with their finances. With an active (paying) customer base of more than 172,000, skewing towards the under-35 demographic, Ashlee provides intuitive and real-time responses. Integrated on Facebook Messenger, it takes advantage of the personal and instant nature of the app in aligning with millennials. Personalised on-demand investment updates Ashlee further personalises the Raiz experience. She will answer personal […]
Aussie banks dragged into the ‘open source’ era via GitHub
Financial policy making is getting the open source tech treatment, courtesy of Data61. The use of GitHub to manage the development of open banking technical standards represents a significant innovation in Australian policy making. GitHub, which is used by 28 million software developers around the world, was bought by Microsoft in June for $US7.5 billion ($10.5 billion). The open banking Data Standards Body, which is being run by the CSIRO’s Data61 unit, is using the online service to manage feedback and comments for the technical standards that will govern the movement of data in the new economy. All decision proposals and final decisions for the open banking standards will be […]
ndau: World’s first “buoyant” stablecoin cryptocurrency revealed
Meet the unpegged, uncollateralised ndau, courtesy of finely-tuned tokenomic and governance elements. Stablecoins have been proliferating in the last few months. All of them are curious and flawed creations in their own way, and there are growing concerns that stablecoins of any kind, in principle, are economically impossible. But maybe ndau can buck the trend. The coin was just unveiled today, and is perhaps the most distinctive and advanced stablecoin that has been created to date. The best of both worlds, for the best of both worlds “Stable is good. Buoyant is better,” ndau says. The ndau Collective came together as a group of early bitcoin enthusiasts who aimed to […]
OnDeck small business online lending tops US$10 Billion
OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK), has announced it has achieved a milestone in the Financial Technology (FinTech) industry, becoming the first non-bank online lender to surpass US$10 billion in total loans originated to small businesses. OnDeck, with operations in the United States, Canada and Australia, is the world’s largest non-bank online lender to small business by total loan volume. Founded in 2015, OnDeck Australia is a subsidiary of OnDeck (ONDK). The achievement by OnDeck, a pioneer of the FinTech lending industry, is the latest indication that small businesses increasingly prefer to seek financing online. According to the Small Business Credit Survey from the Federal Reserve, small business owners are turning to online […]
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Create Your Own Cryptocurrency
Introduction Did you know, there are different forms of money? Not just real and counterfeit. Those categories were relevant in the 20th century. Now we have Cash money, digital money or money that can be accessed through online mediums, and plastic money which refers credit cards and debit cards. But in the last decade, the whole world has seen the emergence of a new form of money. It is definitely the cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies or virtual currencies are digital assets which can be used as a medium for exchange. Some notable instances of cryptocurrency are Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Dentacoin. There are many more such cryptocurrencies available online. It is important to […]
Cash costs Aussie SMBs big time
A national study, commissioned by payments company Square, has revealed that Australian small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are wasting an average of 216 hours (around 29 working days) each year counting and banking cash — that’s a minimum cost of $8.7 billion in annual wages for the SMB sector. Square’s research points to a growing attitude shift among the majority of Aussie SMBs (60%) who agree that the key motivator for transitioning to cashless is to reduce time waste for staff, in addition to customer preference and the security risks with storing cash on-site. Nathan Dalah, co-founder and managing director at Sydney-based Fishbowl, took his popular sashimi salad bar chain […]
