NAB-owned UBank launches robot to sell home loans
In a first for an Australian bank, NAB-owned UBank has launched an artificial intelligence “chatbot” for home loans. Using IBM Watson’s supercomputer technology, it aims to reduce the time it takes to complete an application for a home loan, by providing real-time answers to questions that is available 24/7. Called RoboChat, it has been trained using data collected from customer questions and will continue to learn as more customers engage with it, becoming smarter and more user-friendly over time. Users ask it questions such as “what term do you offer on home loans” and “do you offer redraws and how do they work”, with RoboChat offering on-the-spot help. A handful […]
BetaSmartz automated investment launches in Asia
BetaSmartz, the B2B automated investment platform for all sizes of investors, from institutional to retail, today announced it had opened offices in Hong Kong. BetaSmartz offers ‘hybrid ‘ digital investment or ‘robo’ advice that combines automated and face-to-face financial advice. Newly appointed Managing Director Asia, Zak Allom, said this model had been well received since its launch in 2015, with several clients now live including two in the U.S. “Robo has been a big buzzword, but for the most part the actual delivery hasn’t been different from the automated financial planning software we’ve been used to since the 90s,” he said. “BetaSmartz is much more than a sexy front end […]
Australian software startup Businest wins Global Award for Small Business App
Accountex (formerly SleeterCon) announced businest® as the winner of The Small Business App You Should Be Using at their annual accounting technology conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The award sponsored by Accountex, the leading independent accounting technology expo and conference in the world, was presented to businest® founder Rhondalynn Korolak, on stage in front of more than 1,000 attendees. Each year more than 150 new apps are added to the small business, cloud accounting ecosystem. The Meridian Awards, created by Accountex, are presented to a prestigious few apps in the accounting technology space who have displayed excellence beyond their peers in a given award category. There are only 4 awards […]
How digital automation can help offset Australia’s 492 per cent regulation boom
By Jacqui Henderson – Founder & CEO, Adviser Intelligence Damage control does not come cheap. Just ask Dongjin Koh, President of Mobile at Samsung Electronics. Koh told press in October this year that the total recall of the inflammable Galaxy Note 7 range – based on reports of just under 50 exploding units of the 2.5 million shipped products – would cost the Korean conglomerate a “heartbreaking amount”. Or to be more precise, more than $5 billion, Samsung later admitted. But, according to Chang Sea Jin, National University of Singapore business school professor, the multi-billion dollar Note 7 recall cost was worth it. “The potential damage to reputation is far […]
We need plans for when robots are in driver’s seat
Financial services companies, including technology-oriented fintech start-ups, are emerging to challenge the roles of banks and the large financial institutions. Fintechs are rapidly transforming and disrupting the marketplace by providing digital or “robo-advice” using highly sophisticated algorithms operating on mobile and web-based environments. Last month, the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer, announced the Turnbull government’s intention to introduce professional standards legislation to set higher competence and ethical standards for human financial advisers — a move that is already under pressure from the robo environment. While the financial advice sector has expanded and matured over the past two decades, fuelled in part by new technologies, the regulatory framework […]
FINCAST has secured a pilot programme with OCBC
Australian headquartered Fintech start-up, FINCAST, has secured a pilot programme with Singaporean headquartered Asian bank OCBC as its first deal. Managing Director and Co-Founder, Andrew Connors, commented, “the appetite for and commitment to innovation by Asian banks means the Australian big four banks are being left behind. Major Asian banks like OCBC aren’t just kicking the tyres on new technologies that will advance their business, they are firmly focussed on having a first-mover advantage by utilising technology”. “We are still hopeful that early adopters of our technology will include an Australian bank or corporate partner of our home, the Stone & Chalk Fintech hub”. The pilot between FINCAST […]
Australian Fintech firm recognised as global market leader
This week, Australian-owned Financial Technology (Fintech) firm, Fincast, was announced as a category winner and finalist in Sony Corporation’s global Fintech Innovation Challenge. Andrew Connors, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Fincast, said, “we are delighted to have won the “under-banked/under-invested” category in the Sony Fintech Innovation Challenge. Being recognised by a global brand like Sony is fantastic validation and endorsement of our applications”. The Challenge attracted over 50 applications from Fintech firms from across 28 countries. Fincast was the only Australian company named as a finalist. Fincast’s technology is unique amongst other automated advice capabilities, enabling appropriately licensed advice providers with 2nd generation technology that automatically adapts […]
SelfWealth announces new product offerings
Peer-to-peer investment start-up SelfWealth is preparing to launch two products at the end of this month aimed at addressing “the frustrations” that consumers face in financial advice today. Known as SelfWealth INTELLIGENCE and TRADING, founder Andrew Ward said the two products are targeted at simplifying stock trading by allowing a larger number of investors to enter the market and take control of their investments. “We’re a peer-to-peer investing group that uses the intelligence of the community to construct portfolios for investors,” Ward said. “Fintech is all about challenging the current norm [and] the end consumer is the number one piece in the puzzle. When you focus on that, [you are] […]
