Westpac strikes deal with Assembly Payments
Westpac Banking Corp has bought an equity stake in Assembly Payments and will work with the Melbourne-based fintech to integrate the bank’s merchant terminals with customers’ point-of-sale (POS) software, removing the need for transaction amounts to be entered into retailers’ systems twice. For workers in the nation’s restaurants and coffee shops, entering the dollar amount of a transaction into a banking terminal to complete a sale might be a small frustration, but the extra process can add up to real dollars for business owners. Westpac estimates that for a typical Sydney CBD cafe – which completes between 1000 and 1500 transactions a day – the three to five seconds of […]
MYOB’s $180m bid to buy Reckon in doubt as Xero considered zero competition
The competition watchdog has called into doubt accounting software company MYOB’s planned $180 million acquisition of the accounting practice software unit of rival firm Reckon, saying it was concerned that the merged product would have no competition. In a statement on Thursday morning Australian Competition and Consumer Commission commissioner Roger Featherston said that If the acquisition progressed, it would likely be the only supplier of practice software suitable for medium to large accounting firms. While the hold up of its plans represents a potential blow to MYOB’s plans, it will take comfort in the backhander delivered to its main rival Xero, which had its competing Xero HQ product dismissed as […]
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. […]
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 […]
Ignition Wealth announces new CEO Manish Prasad
Ignition Wealth Co-Founder and inaugural CEO Mark Fordree today announced the appointment of Manish Prasad to the role of CEO of Ignition Wealth. “On behalf of the Ignition Wealth Board, executive team and staff, we are extremely pleased to have engaged Manish Prasad to lead Ignition Wealth. Manish is a deeply experienced and well respected financial services executive, whose expertise and knowledge will guide Ignition Wealth as we continue to grow.”, said Mark Fordree, Executive Director, Ignition Wealth. Manish is a highly credentialed financial services executive with deep domain experience in financial advice across all channels and segments. Manish’s career includes senior roles globally for NAB/MLC, AMP/AXA, Genesys Wealth Advisors, […]
Australia’s first equity crowdfunding deal closes successfully
Equity crowdfunding platform OnMarket has successfully closed Australia’s first equity crowdfunding offer. Revvies Energy Strips Limited (Revvies) has become the first company in Australia to raise capital by utilising the government’s new equity crowdfunding legislation. Equity crowdfunding is the new way for everyday investors, mums and dads, and the millennial generation to invest in early-stage and growth-stage businesses. Where traditionally, this capital raising space was dominated by wealthy individuals, venture capitalists and angel investors, now everyone is able to handpick a company, invest and gain a stake. OnMarket founder Ben Bucknell said “Equity crowdfunding brings entrepreneurs and consumer investors together for the first time, and that is what we have […]
Sydney Angels funds QPay $570k to steal millennial students from banks
Australia’s first ever student marketplace app, QPay, has raised $570,000 from a series of high profile investors, including Sydney Angels and the Sydney Angels Sidecar Fund 2, to break into student banking through the release of a student-targeted QPay MasterCard. QPay aims to use the QPay MasterCard to capture the largest cluster of millennial consumers at the point when they’re most likely to begin making serious financial decisions – when enrolled in tertiary education. “University is the time when life decisions start to become quite future-focussed, especially regarding our finances,” said Andrew Clapham, Co-Founder of QPay. “We might be weighing up the amount of student debt we can responsibly accrue, […]
The 2018 Fintech Business Awards winners
Congratulations to all the winners of the 2018 Fintech Business Awards: Crowdfunding Innovator of the Year OnMarket Lending Innovator of the Year SocietyOne Personal Finance Innovator of the Year Pocketbook Insurance Innovator of the Year Cover Genius Payments Innovator of the Year Afterpay Australia Compliance Innovator of the Year Moneycatcha Software Innovator of the Year BGL Corporate Solutions Fintech Mentor of the Year Peta Tilse, Sophisticated Access Fintech Entrepreneur of the Year Philip Copeland, Avoka Investment Innovator of the Year Acorns Australia Fintech Thought leader of the Year Jonathon Wilkinson, Equitise Accounting Innovator of the Year Class Limited Financial Advice Innovator of the Year myprosperity Lending Platform Innovator of the […]
