Banks and fintechs at war over password sharing
Micro investment company Acorns has accused ANZ Banking Group and other banks of telling customers they can’t share account passwords with the start-up, retarding its growth. Fintech Australia, the new lobby group for financial services start-ups, has formed an “open data subcommittee” to push for changes to the ePayments Code to make it clear that bank customers can give passwords to fintechs without banks having to provide approval. Sharing passwords with fintechs is a legal grey area. Acorns, which invests small change in exchange traded funds, lets users see their bank account activity and round up transactions to the nearest dollar. The app then invests the “change” in an investment […]
Ron Brierley backed fintech Afterpay oversubscribed
The bookbuild for Afterpay, the fintech start-up backed by corporate raider Ron Brierley and a host of alumni from his former Guinness Peat Group, has closed up to four times oversubscribed ahead of its listing on the Australian Securities Exchange next month. Afterpay is raising $25 million but had commitments for up to $100m in the process being run by Bell Potter and Wilson HTM, as first revealed by DataRoom yesterday. The company, which facilitates online transactions for consumers and merchants by providing a real-time, buy-now, pay-later credit service, has more than 40,000 end customers, up from 4000 last June. It has underlying annual sales of more than $30m. The […]
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 […]
Scott Morrison scraps GST on Bitcoin, cuts fintech red tape
Treasurer Scott Morrison said digital currencies such as Bitcoin will be exempt from GST and restrictions on crowdfunding eased, under changes to boost the fintech sector. The government will also reduce tax barriers for venture capital investing in fintech companies and is working with the corporate regulator on a “regulatory sandbox” for start-ups that will allow them to focus on developing new products first and regulatory requirements later. Other measures include tasking the Productivity Commission with deciding whether major banks should be forced to share customers’ repayments data with credit bureaus and creating a new “entrepreneur’s visa”, which was announced in December. Digital currency Bitcoin will be exempt from GST […]
KPMG buys fintech company Markets IT
Professional services giant KPMG has acquired fin-tech company Markets IT for an undisclosed sum, in an effort to expand its “big data” capability and help banking clients grapple with a barrage of regulatory change. It comes as global regulators step up their efforts in relation to trader surveillance. KPMG chief executive Gary Wingrove referred to the merger as a “timely and strategic” acquisition. It is the firm’s eleventh bolt-on acquisition in two years, as Big Four accountancy firms attempt to diversify their consulting services to align with the big gnarly problems facing the C-suite. Markets IT bills itself as the dominant supplier of Murex software in Australia- a trading platform […]
Blockchain and how it will change everything
In May, British billionaire Richard Branson invited a select posse of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and technology advisers to his Caribbean residence for an exclusive pow wow on an issue occupying some of the top markets minds in the world. The topic for discussion on the picturesque Necker Island was the “blockchain”. “Every now and then, something comes along that might just change everything. And this is one of those moments,” ASX chief executive Elmer Funke Kupper. In case you’re one of the many yet to wrap your head around the promising technology, blockchain, on a simple level, uses computer code to engender trust in digital-economy transactions. One of the attendees […]
Cryptocurrencies: what to study until there’s a ‘bachelor of bitcoin’
Joel Emery’s passion is cryptocurrencies, IT and tax law. It’s dense stuff, but despite a recent senate inquiry, legal treatment of new financial technologies is in its infancy so Emery’s Bachelor of Laws honours thesis at ANU is in some ways ahead of the regulators. Bitcoin emerged in 2008 as the first decentralised cryptocurrency, a form of cash that uses encrypted records to validate transactions and generate more bitcoin and, although crypto-currencies get a bad rap at times, the industry is estimated to already be worth more than $14 billion. Every day, ordinary people walk out of the house without a cent, yet buy coffee, lunch and dinner using a […]
Preference for digital payments makes Australian banking ripe for fintech disrupters
Australian consumers’ love of contactless payments has helped push the country up global rankings that measure the use of non-cash payments across the world. Australia had the fourth-highest number of non-cash payments per person in the world, the report by consultancy Capgemini and bank RBS said. There were more than 300 non-cash transactions per person a year, the report said, putting Australia behind only Finland, the United States and the Netherlands. This is an increased from a few years ago, when Australia was ranked sixth in the report, and the rise reflects strong growth in digital payments for smaller purchases, where “tap and go” services on credit and debit cards […]
