Collection House acquires $8.5m stake in Volt Bank
A pathway set up by regulators to incentivise new entrants in the banking sector is starting to gather momentum, with Volt Bank receiving an $8.5 million investment from listed company Collection House (ASX: CLH). The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) yesterday granted Volt a licence to operate as an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) without restrictions, as part of a framework set up in May 2018 to assist small firms with limited financial resources. At the time, APRA chairman Wayne Byrnes said making it easier for aspiring ADIs to enter the market would help enhance competition and potentially innovate new business models, while the scheme would also maintain safety and stability […]
Aussie fintech brings leading Chinese mobile payment platform to local shores
AirPay Financial Technologies has teamed up with major Chinese company SwiftPass to give Australian retailers, e-commerce sites and mobile apps better access to a booming consumer market through mobile payments. The two groups have formed the new lifestyle brand ‘AirPass’, allowing local Australian businesses to accept WeChat Pay and Alipay both online and offline, as well as reaching overseas markets to capitalise on the global Chinese spending boom. AirPass will also help Australian retailers and brands set up their own WeChat eStores to tap into Chinese social marketing channels, reaching new customers in China along with Chinese communities around the globe. The Australian company has offices in Melbourne, Sydney and […]
US firm triples its stake in Radium
Rocketing growth at a fledgling Perth fintech has prompted its US financial partner to buy a bigger slice of the firm under “a multimillion-dollar” deal. New York-based Brevet Capital has tripled its stake in Radium Capital to 50 per cent by buying stock from the WA group’s seven other shareholders led by company promoter Tony Brennan. Mr Brennan’s son David founded Radium with schoolmate David Weir nearly two years ago to give cash-poor companies quick access to the Federal Government’s research and development rebate. While others also operate in the same space, Radium believes it is differentiated from those rivals by its sole focus on the R&D rebate, proprietary technology […]
ANZ Bank buys into online mortgage broker Lendi
ANZ Banking Group has taken a strategic stake in online home loans platform Lendi. Street Talk understands ANZ paid close to $40 million for a minority stake, to become Lendi’s second largest strategic shareholder behind fellow Australian financial services giant Macquarie Group. Importantly for Lendi, which has 37 banks and lenders on its open home loans platform, the business will continue to be run independently and at arms length to its strategic investors. ANZ will not be given a board seat, as consistent with Lendi’s treatment of Macquarie and other strategic investors including Pepper. It is understood ANZ agreed to write the cheque after spending much of last year talking […]
Long-dormant Bitcoin whales resuming activity could rock price action, analysts say
The number of active Bitcoin (BTC) wallets, many of which have long been dormant, has seen an uptick that could herald some major market movements, Bloomberg reports Jan. 11. Bloomberg bases its report on data and analysis from crypto analytics startup Flipside Crypto, which sealed the backing of major crypto exchange Coinbase and veteran crypto venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) back in November. According to Flipside, as of Oct. 2018, a high number of long-inactive Bitcoin holders — defined as those that haven’t transferred their Bitcoin for between six and thirty months — have begun to transfer their coins, resulting in wallets active over the past month now […]
Asset finance lender joins broker panel
A mortgage aggregator has expanded its lender panel to enable brokers to help customers with personal and asset finance. Loan Market Group has welcomed RateSetter as part of its commitment as the industry’s trusted advisor. It aims to be a single specialist broker which customers can entrust their portfolio of real estate, personal and asset finance needs to alongside their personal wealth, insurance and superannuation goals. Peer-to-peer lender RateSetter offers brokers access to personal loan and automotive loan products with rates from 7.49% and 5.90% respectively. Using a risk-based pricing model that delivers a personalised rate to borrowers in less than two minutes, RateSetter aims to deliver a simple, transparent […]
IRESS tipped to win 80% of wealth management market
Morningstar has high hopes for listed technology provider IRESS and anticipates the group’s wealth management software business to increase its market share significantly, driven by strong demand for holisitc financial advice. In a research noted released this week, Morningstar analyst Gareth James notes that the share price of IRESS has fallen 21 per cent over the last 90 days, despite the lack of trading updates since the group posted its interim results last August. Over the first half of FY18, IRESS delivered a strong result with group segment profit up 11 per cent and operating revenue up 6 per cent compared to 1H17. Morningstar’s Mr James believes the weaker share […]
Wisr added to Platform Finance panel as it strengthens business team
Wisr, Australia’s first neo lender (ASX: WZR), has joined the consumer lending panel of one of the country’s biggest finance broker communities and strengthened its business teams. Platform Finance, part of the Consolidated Operations Group (ASX: COG), has finance brokers across Australia and will now be able to offer their consumer clients access to Wisr’s unsecured personal loans. This appointment follows a period of real growth in Wisr’s personal loan business through the broker channel. The company has recorded 46% quarter on quarter growth in loan settlements through the broker channel as at 30 September 2018. Today more than half of all finance brokers are able to assist clients with […]
