Banks and fintechs at war over password sharing
Micro investment company Acorns has accused ANZ Banking Group and other banks of telling customers they can’t share account passwords with the start-up, retarding its growth. Fintech Australia, the new lobby group for financial services start-ups, has formed an “open data subcommittee” to push for changes to the ePayments Code to make it clear that bank customers can give passwords to fintechs without banks having to provide approval. Sharing passwords with fintechs is a legal grey area. Acorns, which invests small change in exchange traded funds, lets users see their bank account activity and round up transactions to the nearest dollar. The app then invests the “change” in an investment […]
Founding Partner of SecondMarket joins PrimaryMarkets
PrimaryMarkets today announces that Philip H. Reicherz, former Partner and Managing Director of SecondMarket (USA), has joined its Advisory Panel.
Ignition Wealth launches “Teams” automated advice technology for Financial Businesses
Ignition Wealth today announced the launch of their new technology solution ‘Teams’, designed to support professional financial businesses as they adopt automated financial advice. Ignition Wealth will lead the presentations at the Melbourne Afiniation Fintech Showcase with the launch of their new Teams product. The Melbourne Afiniation Fintech Showcase will take place on April 14 at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne. CTO Mike Giles will demonstrate the new Ignition Wealth Teams technology to a crowd of over 200 fintech professionals and investors. “The wealth industry has traditionally been heavily paper based and the first opportunity is to bring those processes, including buying and selling of stocks and reporting, into an online […]
New finance platform Skippr to boost innovation and growth with fresh perspective on cash flow management
New finance platform, Skippr, signifies a new direction for the fintech space. Helping businesses understand cash flow better and providing them with simple and accessible tools to optimise that flow, the new start-up connects both invoice finance and cash flow forecasting through one platform. Pat Crivelli, Founder of Skippr said, “SMEs are the backbone of our economy, but nearly half will fail as a result of poor cash flow. Empowering SMEs to take control of their finances means more competition, innovation, productivity and growth for Australian businesses. “Skippr’s platform helps SMEs not just access finance, but understand how to better manage it. Our technology provides more transparency and, […]
Financial planner and bitcoin entrepreneur launch new robo-advice business
Perth-based financial planner David Pettit has teamed up with well-known Australian bitcoin entrepreneur Zhenya Tsvetnenko to fund and develop a new robo-advice platform that will advise users how to plan their financial lives. Mr Pettit, the founder and managing director of boutique Perth advice firm Advocate Private Wealth, and Young Richlister Mr Tsvetnenko conceived Future Penny six months ago, and have both personally invested, with a range of other investors, to give it $500,000 in development capital. Future Penny would be the latest player in the burgeoning robo-advice sector, which provides financial advice to users generated by algorithms. It will provide information across a broad range of areas including budgeting, […]
Simply Wall St buys US rival
Australian sharemarket visualisation fintech Simply Wall St (simplywall.st) has acquired Capp.io, its main rival in the United States, for an undisclosed amount. Simply Wall St is a stock-picking tool using software that creates visual representations of users’ stock portfolios to help them quickly work out whether they are investing their money wisely. Founder and CEO Al Bentley said Atlanta based Capp.io – started by two university students – does something similar. It has about 5000 customers in the US which will be added to Simply Wall St’s 30,000. “The acquisition allows us to strengthen our presence on the US market, where we already have majority of our customers,” Mr Bentley […]
Aussie fintech company AstuteWheel expands to South Africa
Fintech company AstuteWheel has launched its client engagement platform in South Africa, as the overseas advice market prepares to undergo similar regulatory reforms to Australia. Speaking at a media briefing in Sydney yesterday, AstuteWheel co-founder and managing director Hans Egger said the South African financial advice industry was beginning to move away from commissions, presenting an opportunity for a product that helps clients understand the value of advice. “It is a sophisticated financial advice market looking to grow and our solution really fills a gap for many of these practices, which are already providing good advice but need a more efficient and better client engagement process to demonstrate to clients […]
NAB enlists venture capitalists to invest in start-ups
National Australia Bank is turning to the venture capital sector to run its $50 million fund that will invest in fintech start-ups, a plan aimed at boosting innovation across the lender. The bank has appointed Todd Forest, an entrepreneur, angel investor and digital media executive, to run NAB Ventures, which expects to make its first investment in the next month or so. Alongside Mr Forest, NAB has hired Melissa Widner, one of the most senior women in Australian venture capital, who has also worked in the United States, as general partner. A co-founder of leading Australian fund Blackbird Ventures, Bill Bartee, will also work with the NAB fund as an […]
