Pay-passing the hat around: From buskers to churches, a cashless society is Australia’s future
It’s becoming ever more apparent that as a society, we’re veering more towards being completely cashless, with solutions for giving and receiving money continually popping up and challenging everything we thought we knew about transacting. Not only is new technology and state-of-the-art security helping to boost consumer confidence when it comes to transacting electronically, but financial technology or ‘fintech’ is streamlining our financial interactions — making it easier and more reliable than ever before. According to the RBA, in the early-2000s, Australians went to an ATM an average of 40 times per year, but today, we go to an ATM about 25 times a year — a downward trend that is […]
Melbourne commuters will soon be able to ditch their Myki and use their mobiles instead
Melbourne commuters will be able to ditch their Myki and use their Android smartphones to pay for public transport starting Thursday, but users of Australia’s most popular smartphone, the iPhone, are going to have to wait. Android users will be able to use Google Pay to handle their public transport expenses with a minimum top-up of $10, Public Transport Victoria said. This will remove the need for users to physically carry their Myki card. As long as the user is running the Android 5.0 operating system and has a near-field communication chip for contactless transactions, they’ll be able to use the system. Apple smartphone owners will have to wait for […]
Australian fintech Airwallex confirmed as latest fintech unicorn following Series C fundraising
Airwallex confirms unicorn status following a successful Series C fundraising round of $100m USD, valuing the company at over $1bn USD. Founded in Melbourne in 2015, Australian fintech Airwallex has grown from an emerging start-up to a global challenger in the crossborder payment space, supporting a client base of internet titans including JD.com, Tencent and Ctrip, and large financial service companies including MasterCard. Top-tier investor DST Global led the Series C fundraising round, which closed at $100m USD. DST Global has been a primary investor across a number of global technology success stories, including Facebook, Airbnb and Spotify, and other fintech leaders, such as Robinhood. Alongside new investor DST Global, […]
Apple Card is a credit card you can sign up for and start using with your iPhone
Apple’s getting into the credit card business with Apple Card, a new way to pay if you own an iPhone. It’s a credit card directly from Apple housed in the Wallet app, with no fees, lower interest rates, cash rewards, while also being private and secure. The announcement comes from the company’s event in Cupertino, California, where it debuted other services like Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, and Apple News Plus. Apple said retail acceptance of Apple Pay, which allows for contactless payments with your iPhone, is almost at 70 percent in the U.S., and in countries like Australia, it’s at 99 percent. Apple Pay will be in more than […]
Digital wallets at ‘tipping point’, says ME Bank
The use of digital wallets is at a “tipping point” and customers will soon expect all banks to provide such services, says Members Equity Bank, as its decision to develop the smart phone technology dented first-half profits. As the lender delivered results that showed it was winning market share but facing skinnier profit margins, chief executive Jamie McPhee also said he thought the housing downturn had further to run, tipping house price falls of another 5 to 10 per cent. The industry-fund owned bank, known as ME, booked a $5 million impairment in its first-half result as it stopped work on its credit card platform to divert funds to work […]
Blockchain payment solutions that simplify travel transactions
Fenex – a blockchain-powered payment and services solution for the travel and hospitality industry that provides a network of payment products to simplify B2B travel transactions. Fenex’s range of products will serve travel agents, hotels, airlines and tourism experience providers looking to speed up payment settlements, automate processing, reduce transaction fees and generate additional revenue opportunities. These products include the patent pending blockchain powered digital business to business payment platform (dB2B), BlocRec, and BlocTic, among others. Today, the current structure of the credit card issuance and acceptance costs in the hospitality industry can be as complicated as a 16-step process. Fenex is out to simplify this for its partners, offering […]
Banks must prioritise NPP, says Reserve Bank
The $1 billion New Payment Platform seems to be another headache for the big banks. Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe asked the chief executives of the big four to confirm they are putting significant resources into rolling out the high speed payment system last year. In emails sent by Lowe to the chief executives of ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank last September, he expressed concern at how long it was taking to roll out the high speed payment system, saying: “The concern is that the slow roll out is limiting both competition and innovation.” He went on to write: “Given these issues, the board has asked me […]
Novatti joins IBM World Wire network as a foundation member
Novatti Group Limited (ASX: NOV) announces it will join IBM Blockchain World Wire1, a real-time global payments network for regulated financial institutions such as Novatti’s subsidiary Flexewallet Pty Ltd. IBM World Wire is designed to optimize and accelerate foreign exchange and remittance services through a New Cross-Border Payments Network Supporting Real Time Payments and Foreign Exchange on the Stellar Protocol. By connecting to the World Wire network, Novatti now has access to a single unified network for foreign exchange and cross-border payments clearing and settlement built on blockchain technology and the Stellar public protocol. This will allow Novatti to offer clients the ability to conduct transactions across additional currencies and […]
