FinTech Australia calls for comprehensive credit reporting legislation to progress
FinTech Australia, the peak industry body for the financial services, technology and innovation industry today expressed growing concern that further delays in securing the passage of the comprehensive credit reporting bill would hurt consumers and small businesses. Despite a proposed 1 July 2018 implementation date, the legislation is still in the House of Representatives, with recent reports that lobbying by an unlikely partnership of consumer advocates and the banking industry is encouraging delays and calling for more time. FinTech Australia CEO Brad Kitschke said that Australia had fallen behind other established markets in passing the bill and was surprised that consumer advocates would seek to delay something that would benefit […]
How the bank can beat fintechs
According to the Millennial Disruption Index, 71 per cent of young people would prefer go to the dentist than listen to their bank. Perhaps even more worrying for the banks is that 75 per cent would prefer to access their financial services from start-ups. It is not just the younger generation that feels this way. According to research from TransferWise’s Future of Finance Report 2017, Australians of all ages are among the most likely to seek alternatives to the mainstream banks. We’re also early adopters of fintech solutions. The same report revealed that 53 per cent of Australians already use an alternative financial service provider (one that’s not part of […]
Artificial intelligence to become commonplace at instos
About 60% of Northern Trust’s Australian-based institutional investment clients believe meaningful adoption of artificial intelligence will occur within the respective businesses over the next two years. Local instos are more bullish on AI than Singapore and Hong Kong-based clients, the global custodian notes, saying the Asia Pacific counterparts anticipate adoption happening in two to five years. Half of Australian clients surveyed also noted high-level stakeholder engagement and counter-party co-operation as vital to financial services’ adoption of blockchain. The findings come from surveys conducted at Northern Trust client events in the first quarter of 2018. Northern Trust head of market advocacy and innovation research, Asia Pacific, Danielle Henderson said as the […]
HashChing puts its hand out to go it alone
Online mortgage marketplace HashChing is looking to raise up to $5 million by the end of June through the power of crowd-funding, in a bid to ensure that it is immunised from the influence of any big bank, says CEO Mandeep Sodhi. Instead, HashChing has partnered with equity crowd-funding platform Equitise to issue its first round of shares to interested investors. According to Mr Sodhi, the crowd-funding route will help HashChing remain an independent voice in the mortgage market. “Unlike many other online mortgage platforms who are backed by a lender, we are and will continue to stand separate from the banks,” he said. “We want our customers to become […]
OurCrowd reaches $1bn funds under management with $200m from Australian backers
Israel-founded equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has become one of the biggest sources of offshore venture capital for Australian investors, revealing it just surpassed $1 billion under management, globally with more than 20 per cent or $200 million coming from Australian investors. OurCrowd, which has achieved 20 exits from company investments since launching in 2012 and currently backs 150 start-ups and scale-ups including one in Australia, allows wholesale investors to back those companies with a minimum investment of $10,000. Since it launched in Australia in 2014 it has picked up 2000 accredited investors locally out of a global crowd of 25,000. It takes a minimum 5 per cent stake alongside its […]
ASX details timeline, features for new blockchain-inspired system
ASX Limited, the operator of the Australian Securities Exchange, has released new details of the system inspired by Bitcoin’s blockchain technology that will replace CHESS: The ASX’s Clearing House Electronic Subregister System. CHESS provides clearing, settlement and other post-trade services for the exchange. ASX in early 2016 revealed that it had acquired a stake in New York-headquartered Digital Asset Holdings, which develops blockchain-inspired distributed ledger technology (DLT). The intention was to explore whether a DLT-based system could potentially replace CHESS, which was originally rolled out in 1994. Although the exchange operator has emphasised that CHESS is stable and continues to function effectively, ASX says that replacing it with a blockchain-style […]
OnMarket closes world’s most popular equity crowdfunding offer
Equity crowdfunding platform OnMarket has successfully closed the world’s most popular equity crowdfunding offer. Solar energy retailer DC Power Co. has crowdfunded close to $2.5mil from over 15,000 investors. DC Power Co. is “Australia’s first solar-focused energy retailer” which offers to optimise household solar systems to use less energy and earn more money. Equity crowdfunding is the new way for everyday investors, mums and dads, and the millennial generation to invest in early-stage and growth-stage businesses. Where traditionally, this capital raising space was dominated by wealthy individuals, venture capitalists and angel investors, now everyone is able to handpick a company, invest and gain a stake. OnMarket Managing Director Rosie Kennedy […]
Soros prepares to trade cryptocurrencies as prices plunge
George Soros called cryptocurrencies a bubble in January. Now his $26 billion ($33 billion) family office is planning to trade digital assets. Adam Fisher, who oversees macro investing at New York-based Soros Fund Management, got internal approval to trade virtual coins in the last few months, though he has yet to make a wager, according to people familiar with the matter. A spokesman declined to comment. Soros, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said digital coins cannot function as actual currencies because of their volatility. But he didn’t predict the hard tumble that some observers had forecast at the time. “As long as you have dictatorships on the […]
