Square’s Jack Dorsey muscles in where banks have failed to serve
Billionaire Square co-founder Jack Dorsey says big banks have allowed his payments disrupter to muscle in on their territory by breaking the trust of customers and serving small business borrowers poorly, or not at all. Mr Dorsey, who also co-founded social media platform Twitter, said a long history of corruption had tarnished the reputation of the financial services sector, but with Square he hoped to restore trust in the industry. “The banking industry was invented in the 1600s in Florence and there has been corruption ever since,” Mr Dorsey said while in Melbourne for the second anniversary of Square’s local launch. “It’s not something that’s new to a particular country, […]
Square boosts Australian business with new HQ and engineering hub
Square today announced it is expanding operations in Australia, opening a new, larger headquarters to support the growing team in Melbourne, which will include the company’s first engineering hub outside of North America. Square co-founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey, was in the new Melbourne CBD location today to make the announcement and celebrate the company’s two-year milestone of providing payments to Australian businesses. “We have been humbled by the support Square has received from Australia’s business community over the past two years,” said Jack. “Australia is an important market for Square, with more and more businesses joining our platform every day.” In addition to increasing engineering capabilities, Square has received […]
Afterpay lands in the US, keen for a slice of $3.8 trillion market
Afterpay (ASX: ATP) has taken its first steps into the United States market through a landmark deal with the parent company of consumer lifestyle brand Urban Outfitters. This week the company launched its payment plan services across the URBN network, which includes brands Anthropologie, Free People and Urban Outfitters, comprising one of the largest fashion and lifestyle retailers in the US. URBN boasts a total sales volume of US$3 billion across its bricks and mortar and digital channels, a figure equal to roughly the size of the entire Australian online fashion market. Afterpay says the US market represents a substantial opportunity for its business, as retail sales exceeded $3.8 trillion […]
FinTech Australia announce finalist for The Finnies 2018
FinTech Australia and Jobs for NSW have come together for the second year to host the national fintech awards, The Finnies. The Finnies will culminate in a Gala Awards Night Wednesday 13 June 2018 in Sydney. For more information go here. Here is the full list of finalists for the 2018 Finnies: Best Workplace Diversity ● BRICKX ● FirstStep Investments ● Link4 ● Valiant Finance Emerging FinTech Leader of the Year ● Brad Delamare – CEO, Tank Stream Labs ● Louis Edwards – Head of Renewable Energy Finance, RateSetter Australia ● Nick Molnar – Co-Founder & CEO, Afterpay ● Jack O’Reilly – Director, funding.com.au ● Rebecca Schot-Guppy – Community Manager, […]
MYOB and BPAY join forces to offer a new payment option for Australian small businesses
MYOB has collaborated with BPAY to add a new payment option to its Invoice Payments solution. The collaboration will see MYOB, one of Australia’s leading providers of business management solutions, offer BPAY payments solutions to small businesses, in addition to the existing credit card payment option as part of its online business solutions. MYOB’s payment software helps small businesses get paid four times faster MYOB’s customer data shows that, on average, businesses take 42.6 days to get paid, while those who convert to MYOB merchants and accept electronic payments directly through the platform are paid in under 10 days. “We know cashflow is one of the big pain points […]
60% of Australians pay bills using BPAY
Australians have a knack for downplaying their greatest inventions, and BPAY is one of them. 20 years ago BPAY was introduced across nearly every bank in the country to help people pay bills and to help businesses get paid. On average people pay 5 or 6 bills a month, and around 60% of Australians pay those bills using BPAY* 88% of Australians recognise the iconic BPAY logo, as it’s on nearly every major bill in the country and in almost every internet banking platform* According to Keith Brown, BPAY Group’s General Manager of Product, Scheme & Business Development, BPAY is still growing even after 20 years of leading bill payments. […]
Facebook is reportedly exploring the creation of its own cryptocurrency
Facebook is looking into creating its own cryptocurrency, according to a report by news network Cheddar. Unnamed sources familiar with the matter said Facebook was “very serious” about its consideration of building a decentralised digital currency, the site reported. Cryptocurrencies are digital-only money designed to be secure and anonymous. There are more than 1500 different types of cryptocurrency — of which Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most famous. Cryptocurrencies are made possible by a technology called blockchain, which provides an encrypted online ledger of transactions. Blockchain is becoming known for other applications such as enforcing digital contracts and securing public records. Cheddar’s report follows an announcement from Facebook’s head of […]
Peppermint launches international remittance business Bizmoto
Peppermint Innovation Limited announces the launch of its new online international remittance portal, Bizmoto, aiming to leverage off its burgeoning Philippines mobile-banking platform. Bizmoto, which roughly translates into “Your Business” in Filipino language, allows money to be transferred from Australia to the Philippines and is initially focussing on enabling ex-pat Filipinos living in Australia and their affiliates to easily transfer monies back to family and friends who are living in the Philippines. The growing up take of Peppermint’s mobile banking, remittance and payments technology platform in the Philippines provides an ideal marketing opportunity to promote the online Bizmoto portal to the Filipino community. The Bizmoto portal can be found at […]
