Alternative Finance: Australia becoming regional leader
Australia’s alternative finance market has grown by 53% over 12 months according to a report released by KPMG, becoming the second largest in the Asia-Pacific region. The report revealed Australia’s alternative finance market increased from US$27 million in 2015 to US$610 million in 2016 as Aussies turn to peer-to-peer lending (P2P), balance sheet business lending and crowdfunding. In the US$245.28 billion Asia-Pacific alternative finance market, China was found to be the leader, accounting for 99.2% and representing 85% of the total global market. P2P consumer lending was Australia’s second most popular alternative finance model behind balance sheet business lending, increasing from US$43 million in 2015 to over US$158 million in […]
Australia’s Alternative Finance Future goes from strength to strength
Australia is emerging as a regional leader in the $300bn global Alt-Fi market. Alternative finance (or Alt-Fi) is a catch-all phrase used to describe emerging, digital financial services models such as peer-to-peer and marketplace lending (business and consumer finance), crowdfunding and invoice lending. However, for Australia to stay ahead greater consumer and business awareness is needed as well as policy and regulatory settings that continue to evolve with the development of this nascent sector. Globally this market is expanding quickly, up 100 percent year-on-year, with China the dominant world market (in terms of absolute volume), accounting for 85 percent of the total market. A staggering US$243.28 billion was raised through […]
Prospa raises $20m from Partners for Growth
Online business lender Prospa has raised $20 million from Silicon Valley-based Partners for Growth through a tailored debt facility that will allow it to ramp up loans and further develop its technology allowing credit assessments to be made in seconds. Prospa, which has lent more than $400 million to small businesses, up from $250 million in February after a strong fourth quarter, has deals with 4000 distribution partners, including finance brokers and cloud accounting platforms. It also has a referral partnership with Westpac Banking Corp. Prospa chief financial officer Ed Bigazzi said some of the new capital will be used for product development, including in invoice financing, and a stronger […]
What online finance can give you that the Big Four can’t
With dissatisfaction among the big banks continuing to rise, more Australian SMEs are attempting to figure out how they can use alternative lenders to grow their businesses. But that’s easier said than done. With so many alternative lenders arriving in Australia, it can be difficult for SMEs to figure out which is going to best suit their needs for unsecured business loans. How can they start? According to the recent SmartCompany SME survey, which questioned hundreds of SMEs around Australia, 25% of readers said they wanted to get a business loan in two years. Of those, 51% said they would approach one of the big four banks, and 31% would […]
Monash teams with Cambridge and Tsinghua universities to study Asia’s alternative finance sector
Monash University is collaborating with Cambridge University and China’s Tsinghua University to track the extraordinary growth of the Asia-Pacific’s booming alternative finance sector, valued at more than US$100 billion. The collaboration will see Monash Business School’s Australian Centre for Financial Studies partner with the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at University of Cambridge Judge Business School, and Tsinghua University Graduate School at Shenzhen to undertake an international benchmarking survey with the support of more than 20 major industry organisations across the region. This is the largest regional study to date focused on crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending and other forms of alternative finance. The benchmarking survey aims to capture the key trends, […]
Fintech platforms disrupting business finance
The term ‘fintech’ covers a wide and ever-growing range of technologies. This article explores some of the biggest game-changers, and how they’re impacting the way businesses are managing their financial affairs. Treasurer Scott Morrison said of fintech in 2016: “It has the power to completely bring in a new environment of competition. For small businesses out there who find it difficult to attract capital, for large government agencies who are struggling with convoluted and difficult payment systems … to medium-sized businesses that are trying to bring their products up to date and to connect with their consumers in ways they haven’t before.” Then on his visit to a G20 Conference […]
Scott Morrison to tell global finance leaders Australia backs fintech
The federal government wants to see the fintech sector “grow big, to thrive and deliver benefits for consumers and the economy”, Treasurer Scott Morrison will tell global central bank governors and finance ministers on Wednesday. In a speech to a high-level G20 conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, Mr Morrison will say fintech can boost banking competition and facilitate access to new forms of finance. He will also tell leaders of the global economy that Australia is “strongly pursuing” blockchain technology, and wants to unlock the “enormous untapped potential of Australia’s data”. After the Productivity Commission in November called for consumers to receive a “comprehensive right” to their data, which would allow […]
SocietyOne hits $200m milestone as growth accelerates
Total lending reaches $200 million since inception after record month in November Loan book up 315% in 2016 to $126 million Record quarter of lending in the three months to December 2016 New Chief Marketing Officer appointed SocietyOne, Australia’s leading and fastest-growing marketplace lender, has achieved another key milestone after breaking through the $200 million lending mark. The last three months of the 2016 calendar year have witnessed the strongest growth in the company’s four-year history with an additional $50 million of lending made between the first weeks of September and mid-December. November saw a record month of more than $15.3 million in lending. That took the total […]
