Digital cash not on RBA agenda
The Reserve Bank has poured cold water on the idea of a digital Australian dollar, with head of payments policy Tony Richards declaring the demand isn’t there. A group of Australian fintech start-ups through industry body FinTech Australia last year wrote a letter to the RBA calling for a new digital currency, known as the ‘DAD’ or Digital Australian Dollar. “A centrally issued Digital Australian Dollar, backed by fiat [physical] currency, would enable payments to be made between participants in real time and 24/7 along the supply chain,” AgriDigital co-founder Emma Weston said last year. Meanwhile Othera CEO John Pellew said in the letter a ‘DAD’ would help his company […]
This Aussie fintech is now helping give banking services to rural communities in Syria
Novatti Group Limited, an online financial transactions processor and financial technology developer, announces it has entered into a supply agreement with Banque Bemo Saudi Fransi (BBSF). Novatti has entered into the supply agreement with BBSF to supply its agency banking services and mobile payments platform. BBSF is a leading and trusted bank among Non-Government Organisations (NGO’s) that has been operating in accordance with global banking standards providing retail-banking services for 14 years. Under the NGO umbrella, a key program of the bank is to enable distribution of financial aid to rural consumers within Syria, most of who are not catered for in the current banking space. The platform being supplied […]
Australian global payments provider Verrency bolsters its Global Advisory Board
As part of its global expansion strategy, Australian global payments provider Verrency has appointed well-regarded global payments industry executive Royal Cole to its Advisory Board. Royal is the Executive Vice President and Head of North America at Worldpay, a global leader in integrated omni-commerce payments, processing more than 40 billion credit and debit card transactions annually. Royal joins US-based payments luminaries Michael Kennedy, founder of Zelle, and Daniel Chatelain, founder of the BayPay Forum, as recent appointees to Verrency’s Advisory Board. Verrency Founder and CEO David Link said the appointment of Royal to the Advisory Board reflects the strategic direction that the company is heading as it continues to gain […]
Alex Waislitz’s Thorney Investments, Regal back Credit Clear ahead of IPO
Rich lister Alex Waislitz’s Thorney Investments has taken a significant stake in debt payment fintech start-up Credit Clear, ahead of a potential float in mid 2019. The investment from Thorney was part of an $8.5 million capital raise, which was also supported by Regal Funds Management and some high net worth individuals. The raise was lower than its original target of $10 million, but co-founder Lewis Romano said the round was actually over-subscribed, with the company having made the decision to scale back the raise to $6 million and go after just one international market, the US, rather than expanding to the US, UK and Asia at once. “The lead […]
No wallet, no worries: Australian shops adopt Chinese payment apps
Businesses are signing up to China’s mobile payment services to tap into the lucrative Chinese tourism and international student markets. Vicky Yang pays for her groceries, not with cash or card, but by using an app on her mobile phone. The 25-year-old international student simply scans the Sydney supermarket’s QR code with her smartphone, and in seconds the transaction is completed. “It’s very convenient … you don’t need to take your bank card or cash. You just take out your mobile phone and you can pay,” Ms Yang told SBS News in Mandarin. The most popular apps are Alipay, owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba, and WeChat Pay, from messaging app […]
Australian fintech success Optal seeks new global investor
Forget Prospa, SocietyOne and the like; a new fintech has popped on to dealmakers’ radars and it is one with more than a decade’s history and a significant amount of earnings. Street Talk understands there is at least a stake up for grabs in Australian-based but globally focused business to business payments company Optal Ltd, which is the liquidity event some of its early backers have been waiting for. Optal CEO Rob Bishop and his team have hired a boutique adviser in the United States, FT, to market the stake to potentially interested parties and set up a sale process. Optal is known in fintech and payments circles worldwide, and has had no shortage […]
Australia’s mobile wallet Beem It eschews new fast-payments platform in favor of debit rails
Beem It, a startup owned by three of Australia’s largest banks, has launched a free real-time social payments app designed to run on older debit networks instead of the country’s new faster payments platform. Market research commissioned by Beem It indicates that, because of unpaid small debts between friends, Australia’s national unpaid “mate” debt is worth A$6.2 billion. To get around the embarrassment of asking a friend for repayment, Beem It offers the ability to request money through an app. Rather than use the New Payments Platform (NPP), Australia’s faster payments system, Beem It links to users’ debit cards as a means of achieving scale. “There are about 43 million […]
Link4 and Squirrel Street merge to offer full e-Invoicing service
Link4 Australia and Squirrel Street have officially merged to provide a full e-Invoicing service for small and medium businesses. During a recent London Tech Week event, Link4 Australia and Squirrel Street announced the successful merger of their respective companies. The amalgamation of both organisations provides full e-Invoicing services to small, medium and micro businesses, and brings their combined customer base to 72,500 users across Australia and New Zealand. Having previously partnered with one another to provide Link4 users with a seamless way to process PDF invoices, both companies felt there was an organic synergy during this collaboration making a merger a clear and obvious next step. “e-Invoicing is the […]
