Bitcoin lures as investors fret over uncertain markets
Investors appear to be increasingly turning towards bitcoins, rather than gold, as the best way to protect themselves against unpredictable financial markets. Worries that the US Federal Reserve could make good on its threat to raise interest rates before the end of the year pushed gold to a three-week low overnight, with the price of the precious metal dropping 2.4 per cent to $US1,147.30 a troy ounce. Although the Fed kept interest rates close to zero at this week’s meeting, it flagged the possibility of a rate rise in December, and this triggered a rise both in US dollar and US bond yields – both of which are negatives for […]
Has fintech dropped the brand awareness ball?
Has fintech dropped the ball when it comes to brand building? Have we spent too much time developing great products and not enough time spruiking them? If recent research by East & Partners is anything to go by, then yes, yes we have. The study found 39 per cent of micro and SME businesses couldn’t recall a single fintech brand and of those who could, only 61 per cent could articulate what product or service it offered. Moreover, the Brokers on Non-Banks survey found lack of brand awareness was the number one reason brokers don’t refer clients to fintech lenders at the moment. Should the fintech industry be alarmed? Yes […]
Peer-to-peer lenders attract investors with double-digit returns
Savers are earning almost 10 per cent a year by lending online through banking’s answer to eBay. Peer to peer or P2P lenders, to use their cyber-savvy name, are auction sites for potential lenders and borrowers who bid an amount and an interest rate. The biggest are RateSetter, aimed at ordinary investors, and SocietyOne, which caters for professionals. The most common reason borrowers apply for a peer-to-peer loan is to buy a new car. Both run the credit checks for you. Still, it’s a big jump from investing in a government-guaranteed term deposit to an unsecured loan to somebody you don’t know and never will. But so far the risk […]
Banks back focus on technology skills, start-up investor tax incentives
A federal Liberal MP says the government is considering effectively abolishing capital gains tax for investments in very-early-stage companies. Federal Liberal MP David Coleman, a former technology entrepreneur and venture capital investor, says the government’s innovation statement is considering changes to the tax system to encourage investment in start-up companies and seek to lift technology skills. At a StartupWeek Sydney session on fintech hosted by The Australian Financial Review and Reinventure Group on Monday, Mr Coleman said he is talking to colleagues about the abolition of capital gains tax for investors in start-ups, a move that would deepen the pool of growth capital available for entrepreneurs. The government innovation statement, […]
Turnbull promises national digital identity, fintech committee
The federal government has adopted the majority of recommendations made in last year’s financial systems inquiry report, promising to deliver a national federated digital identity framework and a public-private sector innovation committee for the financial sector. In its long-awaited response to the December 2014 report, tabled today, the federal government also said it would ask the Productivity Commission to review options to improve data-sharing within the sector, and remove regulatory impediments to modern product information disclosure. By the end of next year, the government also intends to consider how to amend priority areas of regulation to make it technology neutral. Digital identity The FSI report, led by David Murray, highlighted […]
Stone & Chalk rides the fintech disruption wave
The launch for fintech hub Stone & Chalk was oversubscribed. By 7pm, 500 people had descended on the party, donning coloured T-shirts to signal where they belonged. Red T-shirts designated institutional sponsors, green was for resident start-ups, charcoal for friends, blue for government and pink for media (funny). The happiest people wore green. The 120 residents from 41 start-ups who had won the chance to work on a floor of the AMP Centre, found themselves regaled by bank chiefs, politicians, venture capitalists, accountancy heads, lobbyists and each other. The biggest boast was: “I used to be a banker.” And it was said by those in green, who hoped to disrupt […]
Melbourne fintechs rival Sydney, but help needed
Melbourne peer-to-peer lender MoneyPlace has identified a rash of new fintechs that have started up in the city in the past five years, but argues they in danger of being lured offshore without government help. The first survey of Melbourne’s fintech scene by the lender’s founder Stuart Stoyan has uncovered more than 500 people being employed by 52 companies – three-quarters of which are less than two years old. KPMG released a study of fintechs in Australia in late 2014. It identified 950 start-up businesses in Sydney and about 350 in Melbourne. It has no exact figures for what proportion are fintechs, but estimated there are at least 150 based […]
Fintech firm GetCapital ties up with China’s Alibaba | The Australian
In its last financial year, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba generated $US394 billion ($537bn) of transactions on its platforms as businesses around the world sourced and sold a bewildering range of goods. It is the sort of number that has not been missed by the swarm of new fintech (financial technology) companies scouring for partners to increase the number of customers. After flying under the radar since its formation in early 2013, GetCapital, a fintech that lends to small businesses, will today unveil a deal with Alibaba in which Australian importers and exporters can get finance on the platform. The company hopes to help businesses that struggle to get working capital […]
