Westpac launches ‘designer’ wearable payments accessories
The bank has made payment-enabled keychains, silicon tags, and some pins available, but there’s still no sign of Apple Pay. Westpac has announced the availability of “Centsitive Objects” on Wednesday, touted by the bank as a range of “designer” wearable payment-enabled accessories. Instead of just plugging into devices manufactured by others, Westpac launched its own range of wearable, hands-free, and battery-free payment accessories in October. The new range designed by Sydney-based entrepreneur Hayden Cox builds on the bank’s PayWear wearable payments play. According to Cox, his designs are ideally shaped for customers that want a payments device with a “little more flavour”. “Our customers are increasingly on-the-go with more than […]
Open banking: Refinance in 15 minutes
Open banking could see borrowers refinancing their home loans in 15 minutes, according to one panellist at a recent fintech summit. The event, held in Sydney on Tuesday (16 October), focused on how digital innovation was changing finance. The program included speakers and panel discussions on topics such as challenger brands, neo-banking and open banking. One panel session on challenger brands and neo-banks discussed the future of open banking. Panellists included CEO of VOLT bank, Steve Weston, and chief marketing officer of Athena Home Loans, Natalie Dinsdale. Athena Home Loans is still in a soft pilot phase, but Dinsdale said its “mission is to own home loans”. Other panellists were […]
ANZ in global banking consortium to digitise trade finance
ANZ Banking Group has joined forces with six global banking giants to create the “Trade Information Network”, which the lenders say will accelerate the digitisation of traditionally paper-based processes to unlock billions of dollars of funding for global exporters. “The network has the potential to transform international trade,” the banks said in a media release issued on Thursday, ahead of its official unveiling at the massive Sibos conference in Sydney on Monday. The other members of the new network are: Banco Santander, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered. The banks want to develop a new industry standard for trade finance, which has been in a challenging period […]
Mint believes the future of payments is more rewarding, unveiling a bold new brand and vision.
Australian-based Mint Payments (ASX: MNW) has unveiled a new brand, new hires, and a bold promise to make payments more rewarding for merchants in the increasingly commoditised category. Following Mint’s announcement in April 2018 that it would increase focus on its Direct-to-Customer offering, the company commissioned a strategic deep-dive into the unmet needs and drivers of customers across its key verticals, including Hospitality, Travel, Retail and On-The-Go businesses. The work resulted in a new vision to create a different kind of payment experience — one that rewards customers, not just their business. Mint Payments’ Co-founder & Group CEO, Alex Teoh, said: “To help us design a richer Direct-to-Customer offering, we […]
Afterpay, Zip await ASIC critique of buy now pay later
An in-depth investigation into the often controversial buy now pay later industry by the corporate regulator that will assess whether new laws are needed to protect consumers will be made public in December, as new criticism is levelled at the model of local giant Afterpay Touch Group. Sources told AFR Weekend the Australian Securities and investments Commission was putting the finishing touches on its deep dive into the sector in readiness for a late-2018 release, after it came up against some delays. The regulatory review kicked off earlier this year, with the aim of determining whether the industry needed further regulation, whether customers were at risk of harm or were […]
Neobanks are coming: What the revolution means for you
For the first time the big four Australian banks are about to face several new challengers at once as a group of ‘neobanks’ promise to change the way you manage your money. Eric Wilson was a senior executive at NAB, getting nagged by his father-in-law, a former bank manager for the Bank of New South Wales when he decided he’d had enough. “He used to always say to me ‘Eric, why is banking like this? It used to be about people but now it’s just about screwing people for as much money as they can,” Wilson tells Your Money. “Eventually I had a bit of an epiphany when I was […]
New SMSF admin offering hits market from fintech firm
A fintech firm has developed a new platform which provides SMSF establishment and ongoing administration services. The financial technology platform, called Selfmade, was developed by former Macquarie investment banker Robin Huender and MoneyMe Financial Group chief executive Clayton Howes. Selfmade is an online platform allowing users to establish and monitor the performance of their SMSF while admin and tax returns are taken care of in the background. “Selfmade has built its platform with integrations to Class and Macquarie. The platform targets SMSF trustees and members that might otherwise be handled by less tech-enabled accountants and administrators,” said the fintech firm. To read more, please click on the link below… […]
Ecosystems the way of the fintech future
Swiss tech giant, Avaloq, has high hopes for the future of fintech, pointing to an integrated ecosystem of start-ups that could look something like a larger-scale Silicon Valley. Avaloq’s group CTO, Thomas Beck, told Money Management that, while planners find siloed technology a problem, the solution was not to find one fintech to fix them all. Beck said leaving a particular solution to a fintech with the skillset to produce it is in fact best practice, but integrating all the vertical technologies on to the one platform would significantly improve efficiency and simplicity of use. Country head of Avaloq (Australia), Anantha Ayer, said the end goal was, at least in […]
