Liberty buys MoneyPlace in personal loan push
Non-bank lender Liberty has purchased MoneyPlace, in a deal that will provide the marketplace lender with funding flexibility to target rivals SocietyOne and RateSetter along with the personal loan books of the big four banks. The acquisition suggests brokers, which currently facilitate half of all mortgages, will play a more influential role selling personal loans given Liberty’s deep broking relationships. It also suggests risk-based pricing of personal lending will become more common, given MoneyPlace and the other P2P lenders are willing to undercut bank interest rates for high quality borrowers. Liberty and MoneyPlace have not disclosed the price tag for the Melbourne-based platform, which has been operating for 18 months […]
This investment company is a step closer to a $3.5 million blockchain placement
First Growth Funds is a step closer to a blockchain-related investment with the green light from a leader in the field, Blockchain Global. In early January the pair announced a conditional placement led by Blockchain Global to raise $3.45 million for First Growth’s (ASX:FGF) expansion into the hot sector. Blockchain technology, which provides an encrypted, public ledger of transactions, is best known as the basis of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. But it has many other potential applications such as enforcing digital contracts, securing public records or regulating online voting. First Growth and Blockchain Global forged a partnership to identify blockchain-related investment opportunities. On Monday, First Growth announced the successful completion […]
China’s crypto start-up exiles like InvestDigital target Australia for ICOs
It was a futuristic deal. As the traditional capital markets took a breather in the days after Christmas, InvestDigital, a Chinese-based start-up building a funds management platform for crypto assets, raised $US23 million ($28.4 million) worth of the cryptocurrency Ether in an initial coin offering (ICO). It was also a landmark deal for the Australian market. After China last year put a halt to ICOs, the new form of fundraising allowing funds to be raised anonymously over the internet by issuing digital tokens, InvestDigital looked around for a country in which to base its offer – and chose Australia. Fintech lawyers and venture capitalists say this modern deal shows that […]
Shares in fintech payments startup Zip Co are going nuts
Shares in Zip Co — the owner of zipPay, zipMoney and Pocketbook brands — jumped after the latest quarterly results exceeded guidance. At the close, the shares were up 22.1% to $1.16.The company posted record December quarter revenue of $9.3 million, up 35%. Transaction volume was up 47% to $140 million. A record 1,800 new retailers joined the platform during the quarter, including Kogan, Fantastic Furniture, Anaconda and Spotlight, says Zip Co. The company says it has unified the Zip network, enabling a Zip wallet funded by either zipMoney or zipPay to transact at any accredited merchant. To read more, please click on the link below… Source: Shares in […]
Best interests duty extends to cryptocurrencies
Financial advisers’ will need to be well versed in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum despite them not being considered financial products, a compliance consultant has warned. Speaking to ifa, Assured Support principal Sean Graham said the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies poses a number of challenges for financial advisers. “The problem is that it’s mums and dads jumping into it at the moment, and from conversations I’ve had with advisers, they feel under pressure from clients who want to chase that growth or are asking them to do it,” he said. According to Mr Graham, while cryptocurrencies are not classed as financial products under most circumstances, advisers still need to […]
Claim your share of $4 billion
It was recently reported that the major banks cut savings interest rates over the holiday period, leaving some savings account earning as little as 0.5 per cent.* This ‘cash drag’ is needlessly costly to the public and they are urged to review how much money they have sitting in everyday bank accounts, earning low interest, and to consider alternative ways to grow their cash such as in term deposits. A term deposit allows investors to park their funds for a set period of time with an agreed fixed rate of interest paid at maturity. Investors can also choose the length of their term deposit and the bank or […]
Here’s one reason why bitcoin is so volatile
Why is bitcoin so volatile? The cryptocurrency captured headlines in the run-up to Christmas due to its rapid rise, climbing from around $5,000 at the start of November to a high above $19,000 in December. It fell back from its highs and a cryptocurrency “bloodbath” in recent weeks has seen it fall back to around $10,000. Moves of 5% or even 10% on a day are not unusual. Critics claim that the currencies extreme volatility make it not fit for purpose as a method of exchange and some retailers have in fact stopped accepting it as a result. But Andy Bryant, the European COO of bitcoin exchange BitFlyer, says that […]
Bank disrupter Prospa readies first pitch to fund managers
Privately-owned small business lender Prospa will start its search for new investors in coming weeks, when it fronts local and offshore fund managers ahead of a planned initial public offering. It’s understood Macquarie Capital and UBS’s equities desks have been booking fundies to meet Prospa management in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Hong Kong during the first week of February, for a non-deal roadshow. Prospa’s expected to be pitched as the first true major bank disrupter in small business lending. It’s expected to tell fund managers it is the biggest unsecured lender to small business and also the biggest online lender to small business, with loan originations of more than $500 million. The meetings come ahead of […]
