DomaCom clears regulatory hurdle for Mortgage Crowdfunding
A recent squeeze on investment loans for new customers by banks have led listed crowdfunder DomaCom to offer investors the opportunity to invest in residential mortgages after clearing a regulatory hurdle. The news broke this week that the fractional property investment firm was given ASIC approval to extend its crowdfunding model to securities, which means it can now offer fractional investment in corporate bonds as well as peer-to-peer mortgage bond sub-funds. According to the Australian Financial Review, the DomaCom platform allows investment in fractions of real property through collective investment schemes and crowdfunding. Its offerings target self-managed super funds and are on the approved product list of 41 financial adviser […]
Goodbye to the property middle man?
Our property industry has many “middle men” businesses that help get deals done and make a profit as a result. Sometimes their role is very important and they provide a valuable and efficient service, and sometimes they are little more than a tax on doing property business. These “middle men” businesses are set to be challenged profoundly as Blockchain technologies start to enter the market over the next five to 10 years. A whole lot of hype is taking place around Blockchain at the moment, in particular how the Blockchain technology behind Bitcoin will revolutionise the way we do business, trust each other, and interact without middle men. Blockchain is […]
Robo-advice using algorithms are replacing financial planners
Robo-advice is part of a new financial marketing system that could chug along without much human intervention and is aimed at giving you a sense of financial security.
US fintech SoFi targets mortgage lending in Australia
One of the best-funded financial technology companies in the US, SoFi, is preparing to launch in Australia to offer mortgages in direct competition with the banks. In recent days, the San Francisco-based SoFi has used LinkedIn to advertise for a manager of mortgage operations, based in Sydney, along with an operations manager and a marketing manager. The pending opening in Sydney would be SoFi’s first office outside the US, where it has funded more than $US7 billion in student loan refinancing, personal loans and mortgages since it was founded in 2011. Over the past two years, SoFi, which used to be called Social Finance, has raised $1 billion in new […]
Mortgage Choice joins forces with leading online lender Prospa
In a bid to better cater to the growing commercial needs of its customers, Mortgage Choice has added Australia’s leading online lender, Prospa, to its panel. “We are very excited to announce that we have partnered with Prospa to help us deliver a broader range of commercial lending and cash flow financing solutions to our customers,” said Mortgage Choice’s general manager of product Emma Dupont-Brown (pictured above with Prospa’s Matt Bauld). “Prospa is the leader in online small business lending, utilising their smart proprietary technology platform to quickly assess online applications for unsecured loans up to $250,000. “A significant proportion of our customers are small business owners who have very specific commercial […]
Apple Pay helps banks sell mortgages and deposits, ANZ Bank says
ANZ Bank chief Shayne Elliott insists his move to break ranks with rivals and do a deal with Apple to allow easy payments on the iPhone is helping the lender sell a wide range of financial products, even mortgages. A day after his key rivals suffered a major setback in their brawl with Apple, Mr Elliott on Wednesday stood by ANZ’s move to work with the US technology giant, which is moving into the bank-dominated payments market. Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank want to launch a collective boycott of Apple Pay, which requires banks to surrender revenue in order to access the iPhone’s chip […]
Hashching creates virtual ID system for first fully-digital loan approvals
Hashching, a website for home buyers to choose mortgage brokers, has built the first fully-digital process for home loan verification in Australia, which would allow banks to comply with strict regulations for identifying clients without having to send them to a branch. This weekend, Hashching, which has processed $2.6 billion of mortgages since launching 15 months ago, will begin the pilot for a biometric identity verification service allowing brokers on its platform to satisfy strict “know your client” (KYC) banking regulations by asking a customer on a video call to hold up a proof of identity to the camera on their computer or mobile phone. Across the banking industry, KYC […]
Fintech platform ‘wasn’t trying to disrupt’ broking industry
The CEO of a fintech platform that sparked controversy in the broker channel has said that the company never intended to disrupt the mortgage broking industry, but instead “bring innovation” to it. Speaking at a fintech event in Sydney earlier this week, Vince Turner, the founder and CEO of the digital mortgage service uno., clarified the platform’s intentions and thoughts regarding the third-party channel. Mr Turner said: “As far as the distribution of mortgages and mortgage broking, it’s an industry that I wasn’t trying to disrupt, but to bring innovation to. “We’ve already brought a wealth of innovation to the industry, and this is how [we] feel like it should […]
