Verrency announces Series A funding round and global expansion Innovative fintech to launch operations in US and Asia
Payments platform Verrency has announced a $US 15 million Series A funding round as it continues to expand internationally. The growth-stage fintech provides payments innovation-as-a-service that enables issuers to deliver the latest payment capabilities, fast and cost effectively, through their existing payments infrastructure. By giving consumers unprecedented flexibility and control over how they pay, Verrency’s cutting edge features ensure that their issuer’s brands are top of wallet and top of mind, driving revenue. The Australian-based startup has recently completed an oversubscribed pre-commercialisation funding round raising $US 4 million and is looking to raise a further $US 15 million to expand into key international markets. Verrency aims to close the […]
Lakeba’s disruption potential attracts global investor
Sydney tech firm Lakeba Group has welcomed a heavyweight global investor to its board. The man responsible for taking global investment manager T. Rowe Price global, Todd Ruppert, is now part of the team. Lakeba has positioned itself as a start-up studio focused on the development and rapid commercialisation of digital solutions and the company’s co-founder and chief executive, Giuseppe Porcelli, said Mr Ruppert’s international experience would be a key asset. “Todd’s real-time global insights and his experience with start-ups around the world in smart securities, on-demand insurance and crowd-funding will be invaluable as Lakeba grows,” he told The Australian. Mr Ruppert, who was chief executive of T. Rowe Price […]
Bitcoin: Tulip bubble or financial market revolution for young Australians?
You are in your late 20s and live in an east coast capital city. You have a stable career and a bit of spare money, but it’s unlikely you will be able to buy a house in an area where you can hold on to your job. Wages are going nowhere. Yours has been falling behind the cost of living. You’d like more money, but you don’t even have enough to start a share portfolio. You know nothing about how to start a small business, but you do understand the internet and you’ve worked out that something is making your friends rich, very quickly. Suddenly Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies like it […]
Australia a target for international fintechs
Australia’s wealth management industry is an attractive prospect for foreign technology firms and will likely see international players enter the market in coming years, a Microsoft report has found. The Moving Past Prosperity report, which the tech giant conducted in conjunction with Harvard Business Review, said that while payments and lending dominate the Australian fintech landscape, wealth management technology is growing rapidly, according to KPMG data. “Australia hosts the world’s sixth largest pool of funds under management, substantially filled by its compulsory superannuation scheme,” the report said. “With its potential for scale and cost savings through robo-advice, wealth management is expected to attract many international entrants.” Added to this is […]
Bitcoin breaks US$100 Billion in value, soars to over US$6000 for the first time
Bitcoin, which is unarguably the world’s most prominent digital currency, just broke through one of the most important milestones ever, vaulting to over US$6000 and over US$100 billion in value. Welcome to a new kind of currency, or rather, welcome to a new kind of financial system. Today, for the first time ever, Bitcoin surpassed the $6000 barrier, proving that cryptocurrency is, in all likeliness, here to stay. Bitfinex, which has the highest volume BTC/USD exchange, broke the $6,000 barrier initially. Now, the same can be said for all of the other major exchanges. It has only been a little over a week since the price of bitcoin soared passed […]
Robo-advisers to expand into retirement advice
While automated advice providers currently cater for a lot of basic SMSF advice needs, one provider believes retirement adequacy will be the next frontier for automated advice. ASAP chief executive Jim Hennington said he expects the scope of advice that’s provided by automated advice providers to SMSFs will further expand over the next year. “At the moment, [it’s] very much focused on the transactions that accountants tend to get deeply involved with such as establishing an SMSF, purchasing property and LRBAs, and setting up SMSF pensions,” said Mr Hennington. He expects that automated advice will soon expand beyond this, however, into services such as retirement advice. “Over time automated advice […]
Praemium expands SMA model options
Platform provider Praemium has added 16 new multi-asset model portfolios to its separately managed account offering, expanding the investment options available to users. The listed fintech company announced today that it has struck deals with a number of investment managers, including the introduction of eight new models from Shaw and Partners, four from Joseph Palmer & Sons, three from State Street and one from Evans and Partners. An additional 27 managed funds and 14 exchanged-traded products have also been added to the SMA, bringing the total number of managed funds available to 301. “The addition of these new models and managed funds to the Praemium SMA is part of our […]
Are fintech companies changing the industry for the better?
FinTech is most commonly known as the abbreviation for the term “financial technology” and the name given to an emerging and rapidly growing financial services sector. Financial technology is often used to describe any technological innovations within the financial industry, ranging from banking and investments, all the way through to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. With new technologies come new businesses, and so financial technology companies were born. The question is, however, whether these businesses and the technologies on offer through them are changing the industry for the better, or are they simply a disruption to an already functioning economy? How are fintech companies changing the financial industry? One of the […]
