World Bank and CBA partner to enable secondary bond trading recorded on blockchain
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) and CBA have enabled secondary market trading recorded on blockchain for bond-i
How to invest on a shoestring
Investing was once thought to be solely a pursuit of the wealthy, but new money tools have made it possible to invest with as little as a few dollars at a time. Despite this, many Australians are still under the misconception that to invest you need to have plenty of money, according to Christian Obrist, who is head of the Australian exchange-traded fund (ETF) business of global fund manager BlackRock. Obrist told Trading Day this means more people are stashing their money in long-term, low-performance saving accounts. “A lot of cash sits idle in bank accounts. And in the last 10 years in Australia specifically, interest rates have come down [and] you […]
What is micro-investing and is it worth exploring?
Back in the day, if you were looking to save up your spare change, you’d look to the ol’ faithful piggy bank. But, nowadays, as cash is slowly becoming obsolete, some are turning to micro-investing as the modern-day answer to the piggy bank. And with micro-investing apps, not only can you save up your chump change but you can invest it. How does micro-investing work? Micro-investing is about making small and irregular investments from everyday transactions. Micro-investing apps round-up your purchases to invest your spare change. For example, a large cappuccino at $4.50 will be rounded-up to $5 and the 50 cents would then be invested. Depending on how frequently […]
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 […]
Aussie-founded fintech Banked secures $2.7 million in seed funding, to launch open banking data solution
An Aussie-founded fintech, based in London, has secured £1.5 million ($2.66 million) in seed funding, while it’s still pre-product, pre-revenue, and less than a year old. Founded in early-2018 by Australian native and chief executive Brad Goodall, along with co-founders Neil Ambler, Patrick Cox and Ellen Fernandes, Banked aims to open up the possibilities of financial data by providing a trustworthy channel of communication between banks, businesses and individuals. The entirety of the seed funding has come from London-based venture capital firm Backed VC, although Goodall tells StartupSmart he is in talks with other investors regarding a potential secondary seed raise. Open banking came into effect in the UK earlier […]
Women shun financial advisers in favour of money advice from robots
Robo-advisers are reporting a substantial spike in the number of female investors, citing a “perfect storm” of the fallout from the banking royal commission and the empowerment of the #Metoo movement. Six Park reveals that accounts held solely by women have more than doubled in recent months to sit at 40 per cent, up from 20 per cent in January. The firm delivers financial advice online using algorithms and technology in place of a human financial adviser. The greatest number of Six Park accounts are held by 26-35-year-olds and 35-50-year-olds. Average account sizes are $31,761 and $43,342 respectively. Across all ages, the average amount invested by females is almost $55,000. […]
From corporate career to FinTech leader of the year. The amazing story of Katherine McConnell
Katherine McConnell is CEO and Founder of Brighte. 3 years ago, Katherine was in a comfortable corporate job. Today she is Fintech Leader of the year, running a successful, rapidly scaling business and has the backing of Mike Cannon-Brookes. Dexter Cousins has been recruiting leadership talent for 20 years and no one has impressed him as much as Katherine. She is rightly hailed as an inspiration to female entrepreneurs. But her courage, commitment, vision and focus serves as an inspiration to everyone. From corporate career to FinTech leader of the year. The amazing story of Katherine McConnell. What motivated you to start Brighte? Katherine: The idea for Brighte came in […]
Banking royal commission interim report: Banks to tap each other’s account data
There’s a clear takeaway for the fintech scene from the banking royal commission’s interim report: the major banks will have to get much more sophisticated accessing and analysing spending data generated by customers. In the wake of Commissioner Kenneth Hayne’s blockbuster report, data policy inside the banks is no longer going to be viewed solely through the prism of customer experience but also of regulatory compliance. The ability to tap reliable data sources held outside the bank, and making sense of those numbers, will become a mission critical function for all banks. This means spending on data analytics technology is set to rise, and banks are likely to accelerate engagement […]
