OnDeck Australia secures $75m Credit Suisse loan
Small business lender OnDeck Australia has secured a $75 million funding line from Credit Suisse, the latest partnership between fintech players and established institutions. The subsidiary of the New York-listed OnDeck Capital said the asset-backed revolving credit facility would be used to refinance OnDeck Australia’s loan book and to fund new loans. The facility is due to mature in June 2020. On Deck Australia managing director Cameron Poolman said the lender was striving to lower its cost of funding, origination and to build a “leading credit model”. He said the online small business lending market is growing at a faster pace than it did in the US at a similar stage in […]
How to stop your assets going to the grave with you
Have you made plans to protect or pass on your digital assets – financial and personal – after you die? If not, you’re in good company. Most Australians don’t know they are at risk of losing all their online chattels if they are killed or incapacitated. That’s because they could take their secret passwords to the grave, have their assets locked away in perpetuity by social media networks or exhumed by digital grave robbers and sold on to the dark web, an online “netherworld” for trading illegal and stolen goods from identification to drugs and guns. An estate planning report last year by Charles Sturt University and The University of […]
Decentralised forms nation’s first crypto vault, says bitcoin not a bubble
Stephen Moss-led Decentralised Capital has formed a partnership to capitalise on growing interest in digital currencies and new-age vaults, reflecting his view that bitcoin is not a bubble waiting to burst. The blockchain assets and investments firm has teamed with safety deposit box group Custodian Vaults to set up what they claim is Australasia’s first insured cryptocurrency vault. Custodian Vaults is part of precious metals firm Pallion Group. “This is a solution for the next phase of the industry and it gives real security,” Mr Moss, the son of former Macquarie Group veteran Bill Moss, said in an interview. “You can’t hack your way into the safe.” “In my opinion […]
Stone & Chalk unites Melbourne and Sydney with launch of $255 million mega-hub
Asia’s largest fintech innovation hub, Stone & Chalk, is uniting fintech across the eastern seaboard with the launch of a new national capability across its new home at the Goods Shed North in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD innovation precinct, and its residency in the Sydney Startup Hub. With Melbourne and Sydney combined representing over 80 per cent of all fintech activity across Australia, the new east-coast “mega-hub” will give start-ups, scale-ups, corporates, and investors nationwide opportunities for collaboration and resource-sharing. Given this Melbourne/Sydney fintech concentration, and with Stone & Chalk already the largest hub in the region, the new mega-hub is set to become a national asset that could […]
Fintech provided with funding facility
A fintech lender has announced it will be able to fund up to $50million in loans after it was provided a funding facility by a major lender. Through a special purpose vehicle from NAB, GetCapital will now be able to fund more loans to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) across Australia. GetCapital specialises in the fast-growing non-bank SME lending space, offering a range of products that include flexible business loans, equipment finance and trade finance. The new landmark funding facility follows unprecedented growth for GetCapital, which recently exceeded $250m of total loans written. The company hopes this will help towards reaching its goal of $1billion in funded loans by […]
AFL’s Ted Richards and the human side of robo-investing
There is a lot of talk about the entry of ‘robo advisers’ into the financial advice market. Revelations by the banking royal commission have accelerated calls for technology to provide the answer to the broadening trust deficit and intractable problem of advice being too expensive for the average investor. However, despite these tailwinds, the take up of digital advice in Australia has been relatively modest. This compares to the United States where a significant proportion of investors are embracing technology-enabled advice solutions, such as Betterment and Wealthfront. Home-grown Australian providers, such as Clover and Stockspot, have made inroads with their low cost, automated investment offerings. The challenge remains for consumers […]
More jobs for Australians as Silicon Valley Fintech opens APAC headquarters in Victoria
An announcement made by the Victoria Government focused on Melbourne being the new Asia-Pacific Headquarters of a Silicon Valley fintech innovator. Victoria’s growing fintech sector will be boosted as Nomis Solutions, a Silicon Valley fintech innovator, has announced that Melbourne will be the location of their Asia-Pacific Headquarters. This move will be creating 50 jobs in over five years. Nomis Solutions’ cutting-edge approach to big data as well as its personalised customer solutions and market analysis are being used by more than 10,000 bankers worldwide. The support of the Andrews Labor Government has secured Nomis Solutions’ base of operations in Melbourne. The Victoria Government is growing the state’s reputation as […]
Australia needs state-backed SME investment: ombudsman
The small business ombudsman has released a long-awaited report on SME access to capital, and issued a range of recommendations, including the establishment of government-backed SME investment fund. Releasing the Affordable Capital for SME Growth report, Kate Carnell, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), said that Australian lenders consider SME loans to be high-risk, which has unwanted flow-on effects. “In Australia, lenders consider SMEs high-risk and offer capital with restrictive terms and conditions, at high interest rates and demand bricks and mortar as security – which is usually the family home,” Ms Carnell said. “Unfortunately, the unintended consequences of the financial services royal commission for SMEs might […]
