Square thinks outside the box in Australia
Big investments in chip and PIN cards and tap-and-go payment terminals by Australia’s dominant banks and supermarkets has slowed the advance of Jack Dorsey-led payment upstart Square, but it claims it has found another chink in their armour.Square has had an office in Australia since May – its fourth country after the US, Japan and Canada, since it was started by Twitter co-founder Dorsey in 2009. Australian companies have been able to use beta versions of its free apps for years, but Square – which is rumoured to be heading for a listing in the US – announced its second product offer in Australia, a “digital dashboard” for small business, […]
Afterpay: Ron Brierley backing fintech start-up | The Australian
Legendary corporate raider Ron Brierley and a host of alumni from his former Guinness Peat Group have joined a group of wealthy investors in backing online commerce-tech start-up Afterpay to target the $100 billion market for online retail and e-services. Source: Afterpay: Ron Brierley backing fintech start-up | The Australian
Finance disrupters still rely on big banks, but bitcoin may replace
Start-ups, telecommunications giants, supermarkets and postal services are all getting into banking, but they concede they are not really disrupting big lenders or dominant card networks because most have to rely on banks or Visa and MasterCard to provide financial services. Source: Finance disrupters still rely on big banks, but bitcoin may replace
CoinJar to put brakes on Bitcoin volatility | The Courier-Mail
Australian Bitcoin start-up CoinJar has taken on one of Bitcoin’s chief criticisms, allowing consumers and businesses to bypass the cryptocurrency’s volatility and peg its price against a currency of their choice.Hedged Accounts was unveiled on stage at Europe’s biggest financial technlogy conference Finovate, and means that for example if a user holds $400 worth of Bitcoin in Australian dollars, they can access $400 worth of Bitcoins in future.Bitcoin itself has seen wild volatility in recent months, crashing from a value of over $1000 per Bitcoin to under $300 this month. Source: CoinJar to put brakes on Bitcoin volatility | The Courier-Mail
Coinjar to reveal Bitcoin volatility salve
Australian bitcoin exchange Coinjar will unveil plans to fix the value of the highly volatile cryptocurrency for its clients and offer conversion to a range of different currencies at a financial technology conference in London on Tuesday as it moves to compete with remittance providers. From late Tuesday, Coinjar joins a number of other bitcoin exchanges in offering “hedging accounts” that peg the value of the bitcoins purchased to the currency originally chosen when a conversion is first made. Source: Coinjar to reveal Bitcoin volatility salve
