NAB private banking in alliance with Israel’s OurCrowd
Clients of National Australia Bank’s private bank will get special access to venture capital raisings by global technology companies, with NAB and the Israeli equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd announcing a collaboration deal on Sunday. NAB joins United Overseas Bank of Singapore and Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank of Taiwan in assisting OurCrowd to distribute deals while also getting access to start-ups funded through the platform, one of the world’s largest crowdfunding groups that has raised over $600 million for more than 120 early-stage companies. The deal was announced during an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce’s women leaders delegation in Israel, that was attended by NAB Private executive general manager Christine Yates. […]
Australian robo-advisors dismiss ING report
The new survey by finance giant ING has been dismissed by Australian robo-advisors as failing the history test and being contradicted by other studies. ING’s survey, which captured headlines, found that 90 percent of global respondents would never use robo-advice. Robo-advisors ranked below friends, family and even the internet as a source of investment advice. “Years ago our parents generation paid for everything in cash and cheque books, people were initially fearful of ATM card technology and online shopping . We now live in virtually a cashless society and online retail is the norm,” Chris Brycki, the CEO of Stockspot, told AltFi. “The idea that robo-advice can’t replace a human […]
NAB Ventures leads $32 million funding for Canadian fintech firm
NAB Ventures led a US$24 million (AU$32 million) series D funding round for cloud fintech firm Wave. The latter, based in Canada, delivers financial management software like payroll, invoicing and accounting. Melissa Widner, NAB Ventures’ general partner, said that the bank is interested in any emerging technologies that offer a connected experience to customers. NAB has more than 450,000 small and medium business customers, making it one of the largest banks in Australia. Wave co-founder and chief executive Kirk Simpson said that nobody understands small business in Australia better than NAB. He added that they are looking forward to explore how to serve businesses better alongside the bank. “We also […]
Bitcoin’s rapid rise gives reason to question all the hype
Bitcoin’s astronomical rally has cryptocurrency bulls feeling vindicated. “Not so fast!,” sceptics say. The digital currency’s more than 100 per cent surge in the past two months looks eerily familiar, argue the bears, pointing to November 2013, when the price quintupled in short order to top $US1,000 for the first time. By Valentine’s Day it was worth around half that, and spent the better part of the next two years languishing below $500. Then it absolutely exploded, jumping more than $1,400 in two months. At its height last week, one bitcoin could buy about two ounces of gold. Its champions touted the arrival into the mainstream of blockchain, the coin’s […]
MYOB founder Craig Winkler just backed a Sydney fintech’s $5 million funding round
A Sydney startup that creates accounting software has secured $5 million in a series A capital raising round. Practice Ignition announced Tuesday that Microequities Venture Capital Fund led the investment, while other new contributors included Black Sheep Capital and Right Click Capital. Craig Winkler, last week named the 12th wealthiest man in Australian tech, is an existing investor in Practice Ignition and chipped in an undisclosed amount for the latest round. Winkler is best known for establishing accounting software firm MYOB then, in 2009, investing $14.7 million in its rival Xero. Xero’s shares are now worth more than 20 times the 2009, as the New Zealand company celebrated passing the […]
Bitcoin move over – there’s a new kid on the blockchain
The digital currency bitcoin has broken new records – surging by more than 245 per cent since the start of the year. In just five months, the price of one bitcoin rose from $1,331 to its all-time-high of $3,894 on May 25. People buy bitcoins for all sorts of reasons. They range from those seeking to invest in safe haven assets in the face of political instability, speculators wanting to ride the wave of what some regard to be an asset bubble, to purchasers who want to purchase illegal goods anonymously on the dark web. Since mid-2010, when the highly-volatile currency was worth just 9 cents, it has surged by […]
The other credit risk to watch in China: Fintech-fuelled debt
China’s government has copped what Scott Morrison is so desperate to avoid: a credit rating downgrade. But in the discussion about Moody’s surprise move last week to cut its rating for our biggest trading partner, there’s one word that has been notably absent, even though it’s a risk of growing importance to investors and officials. That word is “fintech”. Nowhere are the large potentially huge benefits of fintech – and longer-term risks – clearer than in China. This realisation comes as financial regulators everywhere, including in Australia, start to turn their attention to how these risks could eventuate, if fintech one day grabs a larger share of the financial services […]
Bitcoin blows past $2,500, $2,600, and $2,700
The bitcoin rally just keeps going. Thursday’s action has run bitcoin above $US2,500, $US2,600, and $US2,700 for the first time. It hit a high of $US2,749 before paring its gains. Currently, the cryptocurrency trades up 11.2%, or $US270, at $US2,682 a coin. It has gained in 27 of the past 30 sessions and has tacked on more than 130% over that time. Bitcoin has climbed aout 20% since Tuesday’s close, propelled by news that the Digital Currency Group, representing 56 companies in 21 countries, reached a scaling agreement at the Consensus 2017 conference in New York. The announcement was the latest bit of good news for the cryptocurrency. In early […]
