Wealth begins its blockchain reaction
Ambitious financial services firms are driving Australia’s global leadership in the development of blockchain technology, which is already delivering productivity and innovation benefits to the nation’s trillion-dollar wealth industry. BNP Paribas Securities Services has progressively stepped up its blockchain expertise in the Australian market because it sees a nation filled with opportunities. BNP Paribas global head of securities services, Patrick Colle, says Australia has been a business investment stronghold because in many areas it is “the most advanced in the world.” Colle says an important attribute making Australia one of the most sophisticated global markets on blockchain is the initiative of the ASX to replace its dated CHESS clearing and […]
Disruptive big data company Quantexa furthers global expansion
Quantexa, the disruptive big data and analytics company backed by HSBC and Albion Ventures, has furthered its international expansion by opening a new office in Sydney, Australia. This builds upon their accelerated growth this year, which has seen the opening of their Brussels office in April and the doubling in size of their Global Headquarters in London. Following on from their $3.3m fund raising earlier this year, Quantexa’s expansion reflects a growing customer base outside the UK. The Sydney office will put the company in closer proximity to its clients in APAC and forms part of its aggressive international growth plans. Quantexa can already boast an impressive client list that […]
Data61 reports blockchain will have a profound impact on the economy
A scientific study of blockchain by the CSIRO’s specialist Data61 unit has found the management of supply chains, including trade finance and insurance, as a “highly promising” use case for the emerging technology, which will enhance productivity across the agriculture, banking, healthcare, logistics and public sectors and help business and government manage the deluge of data about to be unleashed by the internet of things. But two reports to be released on Wednesday also point to various limitations of the much-hyped technology, warning it could compromise privacy, breach confidentiality, and create security concerns should encryption ever be broken by faster computing power. Data61’s reports are the product of almost a […]
Banks and fintechs want robust data-sharing standards
Both big banks and fintech start-ups want robust governance standards created to ensure customers can move data from one financial services provider to another without exposing the sector to cyber attacks. Banks are preparing for new legislation that will give their customers the right to request transaction data be given to a potential competitor under a new data access regime the Productivity Commission said this week could “reinvigorate competition policy”. The Productivity Commission’s final report on data use and availability, published on Monday, set out aggressive timelines for the creation of a “comprehensive right” in a new law designed to empower individuals and businesses throughout the economy to make better […]
Scott Morrison hints at open data green light to boost banking competition
Treasurer Scott Morrison has hinted strongly that the government will give banking customers power over their own data so they can shop around for a better deal from other financial institutions. The change could be announced as early as budget night on Tuesday, at the same time the Treasurer launches a Productivity Commission inquiry into the State of Competition in the Australian Financial System, a process which could lead to sweeping change. There has already been a Productivity Commission inquiry into so-called open data and the government has the final report. The interim report on “data use and availability” sent to the government on March 31 called for customers to […]
Data61 wants Australia to go all-in on fintech and cybersecurity innovation
Data61 has published a guide on how Australia can leverage the cybersecurity and fintech talent present in the country’s startup scene, highlighting in particular the need to combine the two sectors with the strong backing of both industry and government to advance Australia’s global competitiveness. In Startup Secrets: How Australia can create new businesses with fintech and cyber security industry collaboration, the country’s peak innovation group says it is important to look at the intersection of fintech and cybersecurity to solve complex problems via collaboration, rather than by competing. According to Australia’s Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Cyber Security Alastair MacGibbon, cybersecurity is the foundation of the country’s […]
Banks resist fintech push for open data regime
If banks were required to open their customer data to competitors, economic growth would be bolstered through financial services competition and customer service would be improved by allowing fintech companies to create better-priced financial products, argues Fintech Australia, an industry group representing financial technology start-ups. The Productivity Commission’s review into ‘Data availability and use’ is looking at whether a system of “open APIs” [application programming interfaces] could be created along the lines of a new regime in Britain to allow competitors to plug directly into data sets held by banks, such as transaction account activity. Fintech Australia has asked the commission to recommend an “open banking API” regime be mandated […]
Ethereum, rival to bitcoin, gains traction
With a rising market value and a roster of high-profile patrons, Ethereum in recent months has become the next hot thing in cryptocurrencies. Ethereum is an open software platform, comprising a currency called ether, a public “blockchain” ledger for keeping track of transactions and tools for building so-called smart contracts that automatically make payments when their terms are fulfilled. Anyone can develop new applications that make use of its code. More ambitiously, the currency’s inventors and users are revolting against the growing centralisation of the internet under big companies like Google and Facebook by creating financial structures that can run themselves. Much like its older cousin bitcoin, however, ether is […]
