Meet eight fintechs changing financial services
When you have just seven minutes to sell your idea as the next big thing to change banking and investment, every moment counts. Thirty of the country’s best fintechs are pitching to a room full of 160-plus bankers, brokers and venture capitalists at the Grand Hyatt ballroom in Melbourne, where their story, business plan and even looks are all being judged. From payments to wealth management, peer-to-peer lending and crowd funding, fintech start-ups are taking aim at the heart of the financial services industry and a pot of revenues that Goldman Sachs estimates at $4.7 trillion. The banks are all vying for a stake in these disrupters before they join […]
Personal finance start-up MoneyBrilliant bought by AMP
AMP has acquired Sydney fintech start-up MoneyBrilliant, after first investing in the company in 2014. The start-up, formerly known as Cha-Ching, is an app-based personal finance platform offering users a “fun and easy” way to get their finances in order. It gives users automatic access to their bills, spending and savings to see if they are tracking in the green or are slipping into the red. The bank (AMP) made the acquisition through its ventures arm, AMP New Ventures, for an undisclosed amount, and will continue to operate the platform under the MoneyBrilliant brand. The takeover follows AMP’s investment of $1.5 million in 2014. Co-founder and CEO Jemma Enright, who […]
A big US fintech startup just launched in Australia that turns pocket change into investments
US fintech startup Acorns Grow, which turns small change into an investment portfolio, launches in Australia today after a successful trial period with 22,000 people. The service’s aim is to be an inexpensive, easy way to get into the sharemarket and is targeted at people younger than 35, of which 75% made up its trail customer base in Australia. It allows users, whether on through the website or mobile app to add their bank account so that it can see their spendings, round up daily purchases, and automatically invest the change into diversified portfolios of index funds. It can be anything from a $3.50 coffee which gets round up to […]
