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 […]
Winners at The Finnies!
Congratulations to those Australian Fintech companies and their fearless leaders who won awards last night at the inaugural Finnies Fintech Awards: Female Fintech Leader of the Year: Emma Weston, AgriDigital Co-Founder & CEO Joint Male Fintech Leaders of the Year: Greg Moshal & Beau Bertoli, Prospa Co-Founders Fintech Organisation of the Year: Afterpay Emerging Fintech Leader of the Year: Emma Weston, AgriDigital Co-Founder & CEO Emerging Fintech Organisation of the Year: Spaceship Best Fintech place to work: Prospa Best workplace diversity: Timelio Marketing Campaign or Brand Initiative of the Year: Equitise – Equitise Bubble Excellence in establishing Market Presence (Australia): BrickX […]
Fintech to help consumers be their own broker
A new platform is soon to be launched that uses technology instead of a mortgage broker to help consumers find the right home loan. The fintech, Hero BroKer, aims to give back to the consumer by giving them access to the complete home loan application process. “By providing the right tools and technology to the borrower, we let them control their finances so they’re not reliant on a broker. They effectively become their own broker,” Clint Howen, founder of Hero BroKer told Australian Broker. The Hero BroKer model is similar to other tech players such as Airbnb, Howen said. “Airbnb looked at a sea of houses. They built a platform […]
NAB-owned UBank launches robot to sell home loans
In a first for an Australian bank, NAB-owned UBank has launched an artificial intelligence “chatbot” for home loans. Using IBM Watson’s supercomputer technology, it aims to reduce the time it takes to complete an application for a home loan, by providing real-time answers to questions that is available 24/7. Called RoboChat, it has been trained using data collected from customer questions and will continue to learn as more customers engage with it, becoming smarter and more user-friendly over time. Users ask it questions such as “what term do you offer on home loans” and “do you offer redraws and how do they work”, with RoboChat offering on-the-spot help. A handful […]
OnDeck launches ‘Turn That No Around’ campaign
Small business loan specialist OnDeck Australia has kicked off a campaign, #turnthatNOaround, targeted at small business owners who are looking to seize growth opportunities, but are unable to do so due to lack of funding from traditional sources. The campaign, which is already running on radio, is scheduled to run across outdoor, social (LinkedIn and Facebook) and digital media to encapsulate an integrated multi-channel outreach. With the #turnthatNOaround campaign, OnDeck aims to reach small business owners who have experienced a “no” from their banks, giving them an opportunity to secure a loan that is much faster than the banks – it takes just one business day. “Small business owners, which […]
Aussies getting ‘fleeced’ by major banks, says HashChing
A recent analysis conducted by the online mortgage marketplace has claimed that borrowers with the big four are paying up to $90,000 more than they need to for their home loans. By comparing the fixed and variable rates offered by the big four banks with those available through the HashChing platform, the analysis revealed it was possible to save up to $90,000 over the life of a home loan. HashChing pointed out that according to the RBA, one-third of borrowers have less than a month’s worth of breathing room around their mortgage, with millions of Australians at risk of falling behind on their payments. Commenting on the findings, HashChing CEO […]
Budget’s big bank levy could open the door for fintech lenders
In the 2017 Budget announcement, Treasurer Scott Morrison announced a 0.06% annual levy on key funding sources for Australia’s major banks – a cost that could be passed on to Aussie borrowers and may drive them toward alternate lending sources. The levy will apply to funding sources such as corporate bonds and large deposits and will only affect banks with debts above $100 billion – effectively limiting it to big players the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, NAB, ANZ and Macquarie. “This represents a fair contribution to the community from our major banks, is consistent with other advanced countries and helps foster competition from smaller banks,” according to budget papers. If it […]
SocietyOne welcomes proposed changes to an open banking and data regime
SocietyOne, Australia’s pioneering and leading lending marketplace, has welcomed the Turnbull Government’s commitment to introduce an open banking regime which could transform customers’ control over their own data and stimulate competition in the country’s financial services sector. Coming after the release of the Productivity Commission’s report into data availability and use of public and private sector data, Jason Yetton, SocietyOne’s Managing Director and CEO, said the initiatives, announced in last night’s Federal Budget, would put consumers in a better position to negotiate more advantageous deals with their credit provider. The changes – likely to result from an independent commission which is due to report by the end of […]
