The other credit risk to watch in China: Fintech-fuelled debt
China’s government has copped what Scott Morrison is so desperate to avoid: a credit rating downgrade. But in the discussion about Moody’s surprise move last week to cut its rating for our biggest trading partner, there’s one word that has been notably absent, even though it’s a risk of growing importance to investors and officials. That word is “fintech”. Nowhere are the large potentially huge benefits of fintech – and longer-term risks – clearer than in China. This realisation comes as financial regulators everywhere, including in Australia, start to turn their attention to how these risks could eventuate, if fintech one day grabs a larger share of the financial services […]
What is Blockchain Technology and why is it so popular
In 2008, a cryptographer named Satoshi Nakamoto—a name used by the unknown person or persons—invented Bitcoin. It is a digital currency that enables people to conduct peer-to-peer transactions without the help of any third party such as banks. Whenever we do any transactions, it happens through a third party such as a bank and regulatory laws, but in the blockchain schema, these transactions happen securely but anonymously without the involvement of any intermediaries. So you might ask how the current transactions are happening online with debit and credit cards? Current transactions happen through electronic intermediaries where we depend a lot on the third parties for trust and fraud detection. More […]
Winners at The Finnies!
Congratulations to those Australian Fintech companies and their fearless leaders who won awards last night at the inaugural Finnies Fintech Awards: Female Fintech Leader of the Year: Emma Weston, AgriDigital Co-Founder & CEO Joint Male Fintech Leaders of the Year: Greg Moshal & Beau Bertoli, Prospa Co-Founders Fintech Organisation of the Year: Afterpay Emerging Fintech Leader of the Year: Emma Weston, AgriDigital Co-Founder & CEO Emerging Fintech Organisation of the Year: Spaceship Best Fintech place to work: Prospa Best workplace diversity: Timelio Marketing Campaign or Brand Initiative of the Year: Equitise – Equitise Bubble Excellence in establishing Market Presence (Australia): BrickX […]
Budget’s big bank levy could open the door for fintech lenders
In the 2017 Budget announcement, Treasurer Scott Morrison announced a 0.06% annual levy on key funding sources for Australia’s major banks – a cost that could be passed on to Aussie borrowers and may drive them toward alternate lending sources. The levy will apply to funding sources such as corporate bonds and large deposits and will only affect banks with debts above $100 billion – effectively limiting it to big players the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, NAB, ANZ and Macquarie. “This represents a fair contribution to the community from our major banks, is consistent with other advanced countries and helps foster competition from smaller banks,” according to budget papers. If it […]
What is blockchain and how can it help business?
Blockchain sounds like a way to keep boats anchored, which isn’t a bad analogy, considering what the technology purports to do. While some IT experts herald it as a groundbreaking way of creating a distributed, unchangeable record of transactions, others question the nascent technology’s usefulness in the enterprise, which has traditionally relied on centrally-administered databases to secure digital records. Even so, companies are moving fast to try and figure out how they can use it to save time and money. And IT vendors are responding to customers calls for info, with some already looking to include it as part of their services. What is blockchain? First and foremost, Blockchain is […]
Personal loan applications surge as credit cards wane
Australians are shunning high interest credit cards and turning to personal loans for large purchases. Driving the switch are tech-savvy consumers taking up loans from peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders, a new breed of online competitors to banks. Credit card applications fell by almost 4 per cent in the March 2017 quarter compared with the same quarter last year, the latest report on consumer credit by credit bureau Equifax shows. That’s the biggest fall since September 2012 quarter. Personal loan applications rose by 13.5 per cent over the same period, the biggest increase since the March 2005 quarter. The latest period of sustained growth in personal loan applications started in the second […]
SocietyOne hits new lending records
SocietyOne sets new lending record as growth continues to accelerate in 2017 $250 million in total lending originations since inception March 2017 sets new monthly record for new lending of $20 million Second best quarter on record for personal loans and agri-lending Loan book goes through $150 million – 165% increase year-on-year Significant increase in investor funding following appointment of CIO John Cummins SocietyOne, Australia’s leading and fastest-growing marketplace lender, has set a further new record for marketplace lending after passing through the $250 million lending mark following another strong quarter of growth. Strong demand from borrowers for personal loans in the post-Christmas and New Year period, and growing interest […]
Fintech Down Under
Cameron Dart is the CEO of International Fintech, a hub that connects Australian fintech companies to the rest of the world and vice versa. The company recently opened a London “launch pad” office that helps Australian startups expand globally and links startups in other countries to the Australian market. To help shed light on the state of Australian fintech, Benzinga caught up with Cameron Dart for a Q&A about innovation and how fintech solves problems for Australian users. Q&A With Cameron Dart What’s the general “lay of the land” of Australian fintech? The Australian fintech industry as a whole is in its infancy compared to the United States and the […]
