Putting the service back into ‘Financial Services’
Founded in 1998, well before Fintech had emerged as a moniker for disruptors in the finance industry, OFX (formerly OzForex) has been at the forefront of international money transfer services for nearly 20 years. From humble beginnings in a garage in Dee Why, the company has grown from an information only facility, providing up to the minute insights to the best available foreign exchange rates, to a global organisation, handling over $100B in transactions. Fuelled by a desire to ‘give Australians a fair go’ when it came to foreign exchange, the Company has consistently stuck to its ‘fair go’ and ‘great service’ roots. Developing partnership networks with a panel of […]
Australian alternative finance market grew by 53% in 2016: Report
The Australian alternative finance (alt-fi) market grew by 53% in 2016, despite declines in equity crowdfunding activity in the face of regulatory uncertainty, according to a study released in September. The study was undertaken by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, the Tsinghua University Graduate School, the Australian Centre for Financial Studies at Monash Business School and KPMG. It found that the Australian alt-fi market has grown 53% over the past 12 months. According to the Cultivating Growth: The 2nd Asia Pacific Alternative Finance Industry Report, which surveyed 628 alt-fi companies, Australia overtook Japan in 2016 to become the second largest alt-fi market in the Asia Pacific, with a market […]
CoinJar is the Aussie enterprise bringing Bitcoin into the everyday realm
Although Bitcoin is one of the most widespread Internet currencies, it can seem intangible compared to EFTPOS or cash. CoinJar is a Bitcoin platform based in Melbourne which offers users a seamless way to pay for anything with digital currency. Making use of an EFTPOS card means that CoinJar isn’t only for online purchases, but can give consumers more choice about their daily purchases. With the core intention of transforming the way money flows within and between communities, CoinJar is used by 70,000 customers worldwide. Techly spoke to Asher Tan, the co-founder and CEO of CoinJar, about what makes the Aussie Bitcoin biz tick. Explain what CoinJar does, and why […]
Global Payments & Mint Payments sign strategic partnership agreement
Mint Payments Limited (ASX: MNW) (Mint or the Company) and Global Payments Asia Pacific Limited, a subsidiary company of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and merchant acquiring services, today announced a partnership agreement that will equip Mint and its licensed distribution partners with the ability to provide the Company’s integrated payment technology solutions with Global Payments as the acquirer, in the territories of Malaysia and Singapore with additional territories to follow. As part of the Agreement, Global Payments will also refer its merchants to adopt Mint’s range of integrated payment solutions in these two markets. In the Asia Pacific region, Global Payments Asia […]
How automation is shaping fintech plans
Digital innovation and partner collaboration are key. A new industry report calls for investment banks to take advantage of technological innovations by optimising outdated operating models, improving automation and undertaking a digital transformation. Australian consultants EY’s Capital Markets: building the investment bank of the future report reveals that, despite continued efforts to reduce costs, investment banks are becoming less efficient. These institutions remain reliant upon maintaining decades-old, complex and inflexible IT infrastructure. The report suggests banks can do more to enhance their business by harnessing fintech innovations. For example, over the short-term investment banks can develop robotic process automation (RPA) and advanced analytics to sort through large amounts of data. […]
A great fintech border invasion
If ever there were a banking niche ripe for disruption, it would be cross-border payments. It almost defies comprehension that Amazon can deliver physical goods faster than a bank can make a credit entry. The reason, of course, is that remittances still meander through the 600 year-old correspondent banking system, which requires six players to link up to achieve the final outcome — the payer, the payer’s bank, the payer’s bank’s correspondent, the beneficiary’s bank’s correspondent, the beneficiary’s bank and the beneficiary. The system is clunky, opaque and extremely costly for users. Fintech was always going to find a better solution, and the machinery is now in place for far-reaching […]
Australia needs to foster FinTech with level playing field
The recent Presidential election in the US and the Brexit vote in the UK clearly show that the public in liberal democracies like Australia are tired of failure by governments to ensure social justice is being served on all levels. Political and corporate leaders appear to the public to act with impunity and social policies are not addressing the increasing inequality of wealth. These leaders seem to be out of touch with their constituents, illustrated by the surprise results in US and UK. Leaders in Australia should be warned — they ignore, at their peril, social justice issues such as the behaviour of the ‘Big Four’ banks, who operate in […]
Blockchain is here to stay
Blockchain, the technology that underpins Bitcoin, is the talk of the town at the moment. The financial services industry can’t get enough of it. The enthusiasm essentially boils down to the technology’s potential to reduce the financial transaction costs while ensuring robust security. While Bitcoin is unlikely to be make traditional currency extinct, blockchain has provided the impetus needed for new and innovative research into how the slow and often expensive centralised financial transaction systems that dominate banking, so what is this blockchain? Put simply, blockchain is a data structure that can be used to create digital ledgers of transactions shared among a distributed network of participating organisations. Financial institutions […]
