ACCC blocks banks’ bid to collectively bargain over Apple Pay
The competition watchdog has denied a bid by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp, National Australia Bank and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to collectively bargain with tech giant Apple over access to its Apple Pay payments platform. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a draft determination “proposing, on balance, to deny” an application for authorisation to allow the banks to form a cartel to negotiate with Apple. A final decision will be made in March. The ACCC said the banks’ proposals could distort competition between mobile operating systems, reduce competitive tension between banks individually negotiating with Apple, and reduce competition between the banks in the supply of […]
Fintech start-up Airwallex chipping away at the major players
Technology companies do not have to reinvent the industry they address – sometimes they can take a small slice of an enormous industry by being faster and cheaper. The Melbourne start-up, Airwallex, is a case in point. Offering flat-fee pricing for foreign exchange transactions will not instantly challenge the big players but given that forex sees a global daily turnover of about $US1.4 trillion ($1.9 trillion), the year-old business does not need massive market penetration to be highly profitable. “There’s 230 million foreign exchange transactions per month,” says chief executive and co-founder of the company, Jack Zhang. A former IT engineer for the big banks, Zhang says Airwallex uses some […]
Fintechs must jump many hurdles on the road to disruption
Bendigo & Adelaide Bank was one of the first Australian banks to invest in fintech start-ups. In 2012, Bendigo announced a $1.5 million investment for a 15 per cent stake in Adelaide-based NoQ, a joint venture with former Adelaide Crows AFL player Brad Moran. These days “NoQ” (no queue) provides independent supermarket and liquor retailers with e-commerce solutions. Bendigo managing director and CEO Mike Hirst has said there are excess profit pools among the diverse product range of the Aussie banks that could be targeted by single product-focused fintechs such as NoQ. Some big investors say the inexorable forces are clear. Successful fintech innovators are cutting costs and improving service. […]
Blockchain adoption in banks coming, but slower than expected
Recent headlines suggest that blockchain technology is revolutionizing financial services. JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, Commonwealth Bank, Wells Fargo and several other leading banks are using the digital ledger technology to conduct equity swaps, cross-border trades, and other transactions. You might think that blockchain has gone mainstream. Not so fast, says former UBS CIO Oliver Bussmann, who claims it may take banks two years to run blockchain in production due to regulatory hurdles, a lack of standards and other stumbling blocks. “This is real, this will come but in a very regulated environment. We will go through a lot of validation,” says Bussmann, who jumpstarted blockchain efforts when he was leading […]
DigitalX Ltd files unique blockchain patent for its money transfer app
DigitalX Ltd (ASX:DCC) has filed its second global provisional patent application, further strengthening the company’s ‘AirPocket’ blockchain-based money transfer app. AirPocket can also be used to pay bills and top-up phones. The new patent describes a method for creating and storing a digital ID on a blockchain, and providing the owner of the ID a way to grant access to historical data from a point in time. In AirPocket, this method is known as an “AirID”. An AirID is created for each user that is digitally on-boarded via AirPocket once successfully passing Know Your Customer, Sanctions and Politically Exposed Person checks. These three processes are necessary to make international payments […]
Citi Unveils Global Digital Wallet: Citi Pay
Citibank announced the launch of Citi Pay, a new digital wallet that will provide Citi customers with a simple and fast option for online, in-app and in-store payment needs. Barry Rodrigues, Head of Global Digital Payments at Citi, said the company is uniquely positioned to accelerate payment innovation on a global scale. Citi Pay will be made available to Citi customers for online and in-app purchases. As a digital extension of their current card relationship, Citi customers will be able to make online and in-app purchases using the same Citibank online user ID and password that they currently use to manage their existing online relationship with Citi. The company is […]
Payment giants Ezidebit and eWAY join forces to launch the eWAY Accelerator
Ezidebit and eWAY are delivering another innovative product launching the eWAY Accelerator, a FinTech solution which challenges the banks in the market.
Bitcoin technology could ensure grain growers get paid
A NEW company is seeking a technological answer to one of the biggest problems facing grain farmers — delays in being paid. Full Profile, established last year by Emma Weston, Bob McKay and Ben Reid, is looking at technology used in bitcoin trading to make prompt payments to farmers when they deliver grain. Ms Weston said Full Profile started building a program around the technology, known as blockchain, in April and will test it in Dubbo with a grain delivery to Fletcher International in the next four or five weeks. Ms Weston said the aim was for grain growers to know if the trader had the funds to pay them […]
