Bendigo Adelaide launches “all-in-app” digital bank
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has become the latest institution to launch a new pure play digital bank. Dubbed ‘Up’, the separately branded neo play will come in the form of a dedicated and separately branded app, as Bendigo attempts to snatch younger customers disillusioned with the offerings of the Big Four. Australia’s fifth largest retail institution claims the the new mobile-centric service, now in beta, will be Australia’s first fully licenced “all-in-app” mobile banking platform. It will come with native phone payment and mobile wallet functionality in what is essentially a plastic-free play. Global payments scheme mastercard has come along for the ride and gets to bolt its mobile debit […]
Can Afterpay’s magic run continue?
As Elon Musk and Tesla have shown us, when dizzy valuations and high short interest collide, the results can be spectacular. If the Australian stock market has a battleground stock to rival Tesla it is the buy now, pay later juggernaut Afterpay, which has doubled to a market capitalisation of over $3 billion in just six weeks. In that time, the shorts have been decimated as Afterpay successfully kicked off its US adventure. As it stands, Afterpay which closed on Friday at $14.57 is now valued at 100 times forward earnings and at 50 times based on fiscal 2020 earnings forecasts. So is the run done? Not even close, if […]
InLoop has made the 2018 AFR Most Innovative Companies List
InLoop Group was honoured to be recognised as one of Australia and New Zealand’s most innovative companies. The prestigious annual list, published by The Australian Financial Review, is based on a rigorous assessment process managed by Australia’s leading innovation consultancy, Inventium, in conjunction with a panel of industry expert judges. InLoop ranked #25 on the overall list, from over 1000 nominated organisations across Australia and New Zealand. The full Top 100 list can be viewed here. The assessment measures a top innovation implemented in the past twelve months. Specifically, the judges look at how valuable the problem is that the innovation is solving, the quality and uniqueness of the solution, […]
Zip targeting $1b of sales and 1m customers
More than half a billion dollars of sales went through credit card disrupter Zip Co’s payment system over the latest financial year, more than twice the volume of the previous year but only a quarter of that spent on competitor Afterpay. But as the popularity of “buy now, pay later” offerings continues to surge among Millennial shoppers, Zip – of which Westpac Banking Corp owns 17 per cent – is targeting $1 billion of sales over the coming year. “We are only just beginning and are well positioned for a bumper 2019 financial year,” said CEO Larry Diamond. Zip announced a $1.2 million loss at the cash earnings level for […]
Fintech start-up QPay gets $1M in funding from Angels and Sharks
Student marketplace and payments app, QPay, has secured a $1 million cash injection after funding from the Sydney Angels Sidecar Fund 2 was supplemented by a $380,000 combined investment by Steve Baxter and Naomi Simson in exchange for 8.4 per cent of the firm’s equity during last night’s episode of Shark Tank. Funds were also received from American Express, and from the Chairman of the Australian British FinTech Cyber Catalyst, Andrew Chick, to make up the total $1 million. The funds will primarily be used to extend the reach of QPay’s recently launched student-targeted MasterCard to the 4,000-plus students on its waiting list, as well as to build a sales […]
Finder co-founder Fred Schebesta plans to create Australia’s first crypto-bank
He became one of the country’s youngest self-made millionaires at the age of 26 — and now he’s revealed his next “multibillion-dollar” idea. The co-founder of one of Australia’s biggest tech success stories has revealed his next “multibillion-dollar” idea — to create the “first crypto bank of Australia”. Fred Schebesta, who became one of country’s youngest self-made millionaires at the age of 26 with the sale of his first business before founding comparison website finder.com.au, describes himself as a “time traveller” who looks into the future in order to make it a reality. His bet on the online comparison space paid off. From a simple credit card blog called Creditcardfinder.com.au, […]
Grounds, Paradice dive into blockchain software float Identitii
The big end of town is piling into a small payments security firm’s initial public offering in the expectation they may have unearthed the next big thing. Street Talk understands UBS Australia chief executive Matthew Grounds, veteran fund manager David Paradice and Sydney-based institutional investors KIS Capital, Terra Capital and KTM Ventures are among the names lining up for a piece of ASX-hopeful Identitii. Identitii is a blockchain software company founded by Australians Nick Armstrong and Eric Knight. Its software is aimed at helping banks and other international payments providers comply with anti money laundering policies by attaching messages to each transfer saying exactly who is making the payment and why. Identitii is an add-on to the SWIFT payments […]
Strip banks, credit cards of digital payment powers: Productivity Commission report
Australia’s biggest banks and global payments schemes must have self-regulatory powers covering digital payments and infrastructure access forcibly removed to dismantle a harmful oligopoly. That’s the radical call from the Productivity Commission’s inquiry report into Competition in the Australian Financial System. Released Friday, the in-your-face tome has left institutions and regulators reeling from the depth of criticism levelled at them. Describing Australia as having “an oligopolistic banking system” it’s a blueprint for an earthquake rather than a shake-up. $1.0 trillion restructure If implemented, the reforms would drastically restructure how payment flows of $1.0 trillion – yes trillion – would be regulated. It would also redefine the landscape for how tens […]
