Alternative Finance: Australia becoming regional leader
Australia’s alternative finance market has grown by 53% over 12 months according to a report released by KPMG, becoming the second largest in the Asia-Pacific region. The report revealed Australia’s alternative finance market increased from US$27 million in 2015 to US$610 million in 2016 as Aussies turn to peer-to-peer lending (P2P), balance sheet business lending and crowdfunding. In the US$245.28 billion Asia-Pacific alternative finance market, China was found to be the leader, accounting for 99.2% and representing 85% of the total global market. P2P consumer lending was Australia’s second most popular alternative finance model behind balance sheet business lending, increasing from US$43 million in 2015 to over US$158 million in […]
Australian fintech starts exporting to the world
When Australia starts exporting more than just iron ore and coal to the world, it’s hard not to get excited. While these two exports alone carry the Aussie economy a long way – in 2015/2016 they made up 26.4 per cent of all exports at $82.3B – they certainly have a finite life. Once it’s all dug up, the party’s over. With this inevitability looming on the horizon, it’s evident Australia needs to start harnessing its brains a little more, instead exporting its ideas to the world, rather than just its dirt. So imagine how exciting it was to hear that two Australian fintech companies in the lending space are […]
Have you got your tickets to LendIt Europe 2017? It’s Europe’s largest global fintech & lending conference
LendIt Europe 2017 is Europe’s largest global fintech and lending conference, and returns to London on October 9-10, 2017. This year’s conference is expanding with the industry to cover the hottest topics in fintech including digital wealth, blockchain, insurtech, digital banking, and much more. Nowhere else can you meet 250+ industry leaders, 150+ investors and 1,000+ attendees from fintech companies, investment firms, banks, service providers, regulators and the media from across Europe and beyond. With six tracks of content including Innovations in Lending, Investor Insights, Policy & Regulation, as well as our PitchIt startup competition, there is content for everyone. You can now save 15% with Australian FinTech! Simply enter […]
IDC names top 10 fastest growing fintech companies in A/NZ
IDC Financial Insights has unveiled a list of 10 fast-growing fintechs in Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) as part of the broader FinTech 101 list for Asia/Pacific. “IDC’s FinTech Fast 101” refers to the fast-growing fintech players in Asia/Pacific based on extensive on-ground analysis of the dominant fintech players within the region. 10 Fastest Growing FinTechs in Australia and New Zealand Afterpay Touch Group Airwallex CoinJar Data Republic Harmoney HashChing identitii Prospa SocietyOne Xero Note: List is arranged alphabetically, Source IDC, 2017 IDC’s fintech list makes a reference to the Financial Insights’ Triple U framework — ubiquity, utility, and usability. This is a framework that evaluates fintech data across key metrics such as addressable […]
Australia’s Alternative Finance Future goes from strength to strength
Australia is emerging as a regional leader in the $300bn global Alt-Fi market. Alternative finance (or Alt-Fi) is a catch-all phrase used to describe emerging, digital financial services models such as peer-to-peer and marketplace lending (business and consumer finance), crowdfunding and invoice lending. However, for Australia to stay ahead greater consumer and business awareness is needed as well as policy and regulatory settings that continue to evolve with the development of this nascent sector. Globally this market is expanding quickly, up 100 percent year-on-year, with China the dominant world market (in terms of absolute volume), accounting for 85 percent of the total market. A staggering US$243.28 billion was raised through […]
One-month P2P investments popular with Millennials and Gen X
Data has revealed Millennial and Gen X peer-to-peer lending investors utilise the one-month market more than any other. Analysis of the $150 million invested in peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platform RateSetter since its 2014 launch shows over 70% of Millennial and Gen X investors on the platform have invested in the one-month market. For the one-year market, this figure was only 40% for Millennial investors and 42% for Gen X investors. CEO of RateSetter Daniel Foggo said the one-month market provides a “stable, attractive return of around 4% p.a.” with ready access to money. “Far from wasting money on avocado toast, these young investors are seizing the opportunity to make their […]
Waddle expanding into New Zealand
Sydney-based fintech outfit Waddle has announced an expansion into New Zealand, as it looks to further capitalise on Australia’s $64 billion invoice finance and factoring industry. Founded in 2014 by high school mates Simon Creighton, Leigh Dunsford and Nathan Andrews, Waddle is a cloud funding software and addresses what Mr Creighton says was an opportunity its competitors, including Scottish Pacific and banking providers, were failing to address. “The current process has been done the same way for decades and no one was building software to solve it,” Mr Creighton said. “Our technology is world-class and is transforming the approach of other lending businesses and banks, by removing how manual and […]
PledgeMe joins Equitise in eyeing Australian market
PledgeMe, the equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platform, has joined rival Equitise in signalling plans to enter the Australian market ahead of a law change coming into effect across the Tasman this month. Co-founder Anna Guenther will relocate to Brisbane for six months to establish the Wellington-based company’s Australian arm, according to a PledgeMe blog post. PledgeMe will participate in the Queensland government’s HotDesQ programme, which provides networks, support, and funding for companies to relocate to the state. “There are over 2.1 million SME’s in Australia (compared to just under 500,000 here in New Zealand), so the opportunity is pretty clear,” she says. The Australian Corporations Amendment (Crowd-sourced Funding) Act […]
